Xavier University Athletics
Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1981
- Class:
- 1956
Jim Brockhoff lettered three years in football and three years in tennis as a student and later served as men's tennis coach (1962-2007) and the women's tennis team's first-ever coach (1973-2007).
Any discussion of tennis at Xavier University must begin with one name, Jim Brockhoff. Brockhoff, who lettered three years as an undergrad at Xavier, spent 45 years as the men's head coach and 34 years as the women's head coach.
It's not enough to say that Brockhoff has been around a long time, though. He has established a consistent winning tradition in the programs.
Brockhoff has enjoyed numerous highlights during his coaching career, including the men's team's 18-match win streak in the 1988-89 season that led to a school record 22 wins (22-3) and a second place finish in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Championships, XU's highest finish ever. The men's team also enjoyed a 22-match winning streak that stretched during the 1971 and 1972 seasons. Also, in 1971, Brockhoff took two players to the NCAA Championships in singles and doubles, XU's only visit to the national tennis tournament.
In 1994, he was named the MCC Women's Tennis Coach-of-the-Year and led his women's team to a school record 22Â victories in the 2003-04 season.
The winning began during Brockhoff's playing days at XU. Brockhoff, a 1956 Xavier graduate, set the XU all-time record for highest winning percentage, a mark of 92% (46-4) over 50 matches. At the time he also set the record for most singles victories ever at Xavier, which has since been broken with the more expanded schedules.
As a player, Brockhoff has captured virtually every singles and doubles title that has ever existed in Cincinnati. This includes every age group from boys and junior divisions to the men's 55-year old bracket.
Brockhoff, who was elected to the Xavier Athletic Hall of Fame in 1981, is a familiar face in tennis outside Xavier as well. He has been assistant referee at the Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati since it came to Cincinnati. His other experiences include being a Grand Prix tennis umpire. He has umpired the finals of the ATP Championship, while also working at the U.S. Open and the National Claycourt Championships. Brockhoff is also a popular local tennis instructor.
Brockhoff came to Xavier originally as a star football quarterback from Cincinnati's Purcell High School. As it turns out, though, his tennis achievements far overshadow his football laurels.
Brockhoff's first pass on Xavier's varsity football team came against Cincinnati his sophomore year. He was called in off the bench for a pass play and he hurled a 48-yard touchdown strike. Through plays like that one, Brockhoff was the starting quarterback his junior year for the first six games of the season, until he went down with an injury. He started at quarterback, defensive back, and occasionally at linebacker in his 7-2 senior year.
Brockhoff and his wife Mary have five children: Beth, Brad, Brian, Anne and Maure. The three girls are all Xavier grads.
