Chase Hodges

The first head coach in Georgia Gwinnett tennis history, Chase Hodges has established a dynasty in Lawrenceville. In his nine-year stay at GGC, his men’s and women’s teams have captured 13 national championships, he has been named national coach of the year 13 times by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and on seven occasions by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).

A decorated coach at all levels of collegiate tennis, Hodges delivered GGC its first-ever national titles in any sport with both the men’s and women’s 2014 NAIA National Championship titles. He was able to repeat the feat with the men in 2015 guiding it to the crown while the women finished as the national runner-up. In 2016, the men’s tennis team completed a three-peat as NAIA national champions while the women’s team collected its second national title in three years of postseason eligibility. Hodges guided the men’s and women’s tennis programs to two more national titles in 2017 as the men’s team picked up its fourth consecutive title while the women’s squad repeated as champions to pick up its third NAIA title in four seasons. GGC continued its dominance in 2018 and 2019 by sweeping the NAIA national championships.

Hodges has 23 years of collegiate coaching experience–including the last 20 as a head coach–and boasts the distinction of being the only head coach in college tennis history to lead seven different programs to an ITA national ranking. Those programs include the women’s tennis teams from Longwood, UNC Asheville and GGC as well as the men’s teams from UNC Asheville, Drake, Georgia State and GGC. For six of the seven programs, it marked the first ITA rankings in school history.

He owns a career 585-113 (.838) combined men’s and women’s record as a head coach, including a 387-63 men’s record.

Hodges also oversees operations at the GGC Tennis Facility in Lawrenceville.

Hodges came to GGC from Division I Georgia State University in Atlanta, where he capped his three-year tenure by being named Colonial Athletic Association Co-Coach of the Year in April 2012. Hodges’ time with the Panthers (2010-12) featured the greatest turnaround in men’s collegiate tennis history, as he inherited a 1-20 team and led them to a 15-6 mark in his first season. He then set a school record with 21 victories in 2011 and added 20 more wins to the ledger the following year for a 56-17 mark over three years.

Before GSU, Hodges spent four successful years (2005-09) at the helm of the Drake University program, where he guided the Bulldogs to a Missouri Valley regular-season or conference tournament title in each season. He was named the Missouri Valley Coach of the Year three times, leading the squad to an 85-17 overall record. Hodges’ Drake team also achieved the highest ITA national ranking in school history at No. 33, at one point boasting the nation’s longest regular-season winning streak at 42 matches.

Before Drake, Hodges spent four combined seasons as head coach at University of North Carolina-Asheville (2002-05) and Longwood University in Farmville, Va., (2002), leading both the men’s and women’s programs. During this time, he led his teams to an overall 105-58 record and their first rankings in school history.

A native of Hickory, N.C., Hodges played two years collegiately at North Carolina State University before finishing his career at UNC-Wilmington. He earned his bachelor’s degree from UNCW in 1998 and a master’s degree there three years later while working with the Seahawks as a graduate assistant.

Hodges and his wife Vanessa are the proud parents of 13 year old, Gabriella Hodges and newborn Chase Hodges II.