Union University Men's Basketball Coach
1975-1987
Jim Swope is a native of Marion, Illinois. During his senior year of high school he earned letters in four sports: basketball, football, track and baseball, and was selected as the Outstanding Senior Athlete. Swope, an all-state prep basketball star, attended the University of Tennessee at Martin on an athletic scholarship. After graduation from UTM in 1963, he earned a Master’s Degree in Physical Education from the University of Memphis (formerly Memphis State University). After only one year’s absence from his undergraduate institution, Swope returned to become part of the coaching staff, coaching some of the teammates with whom he had played only two years before. Interestingly enough, Coach Swope also coached baseball at UTM from 1968-73, earning honors as VSAC Champions, qualifying for the NCAA Mid-East Regional Tournament and finishing fourth.
Swope, head men’s basketball coach at Union University from 1975-1987, is the second winniest coach in Union men’s basketball history. He was the first men’s basketball coach to post back-to-back 20-victory seasons in 1977-78 and 1978-79. And in 12 years at Union, Swope had nine winning seasons and qualified for the district 24 playoffs four times. He coached his 200th career victory in the Bulldogs’ season home opener against Arkansas College on November 25, 1986.
Swope has also coached extensively at the junior college level. He served as head men’s basketball coach at Jackson State from 1968-70, posting a record of 30-17. And he coached both men’s and women’s basketball from 1987-1989. He was named both men’s and women’s basketball “Coach of the Year” in 1989 for the Western Division of the Tennessee Junior College Athletic Association.
He was inducted into the UTM Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992; the Jackson-Madison County Hall of Fame in 2002, and the Tennessee Junior and Community Hall of Fame in 2007. Active in his community, Swope was named “Man of the Year” in 1988 by the Bicentennial Exchange Club of Jackson.
Coach Swope has been married to his wife, Linda, for 46 years. They have one daughter Piper Taylor and one son, John. The Swopes have seven grandchildren and make their home in Jackson, Tennessee.
