Induction Year: 1989

James Alton Schulze (1920-2009) attended East Texas State University in Commerce (now Texas A&M Commerce) on a tennis scholarship where he graduated in 1945 with a BS in Industrial Arts and in 1946 with an MS in Education. His college years were interrupted by WWII from 1942-1944 when he was a US Air Force pilot. After leaving the service, he began 13 years of coaching tennis and teaching at Commerce High School followed by Greenville High School where he developed state tennis champions at both schools.

In 1967, he was hired by Wilson Sporting Goods as a Tennis Sales/Promotion Representative. He umpired and called lines for many major tournaments. He called the service line for the famous “Battle of the Sexes” match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in Houston. He enjoyed his 15 years of employment with Wilson and his association with top tennis athletes. Upon his retirement from Wilson in 1983, he became the tennis coach at Texas Woman’s University for 13 more years of wonderful tennis experiences. 

During his years on the tennis scene, he accomplished many personal honors. In 1953, at age 33, he won the Texas Sectional Men’s Open Singles as well as the Texas Men’s Doubles in 1946 and 1948, and Mixed Doubles in 1946 and 1958. He was honored for his many years of contributions to the sport of Tennis by being inducted into the East Texas State University Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco, Texas in 1990. He finished his tennis career by taking the Senior Olympic Games by storm winning 13 Gold Medals from 1984-1999, playing his last competitive match at the age of 82 in Baton Rouge, La. He was inducted into the Senior Olympic Games Hall of Fame in October of 2004.