John Shulman became the head coach at the University of Central Arkansas on March 18, 2024 after a successful stint at The University of Alabama at Huntsville and the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. Shulman is entering year 39 in his coaching career having spent 8 years coaching high school and 31 in the collegiate ranks. Shulman has been a college head coach for 15 years and has guided 2 teams to the NCAA tournament at the Division 1 and 2 levels.
Coach Shulman’s first year at UCA was a season of building culture and new standards. The Bears dealt with injuries but Shulman was able to guide them to the Atlantic Sun Tournament and earned them their second ASUN tournament victory in program history with a 77- 72 win over the defending ASUN champions, Stetson. Shulman’s teams have consistently proven themselves in tournament play, having shown consistent improvement as the season progresses. Going back to his time at UAH; in games played after January 25, his teams are a combined 52-16 (.765) overall, 37-9 (.804) in regular season games and 15-7 (.632) in postseason competition.
Shulman has accrued a 112-39 overall record in his time at UAH, which includes a 77-27 mark in Gulf South Conference matchups. In his five seasons with the Chargers, Shulman has notched five NCAA tournament berths, two GSC tournament championships, and one GSC regular season championship.
He has also guided two GSC Players of the Year, three All-South District performers, and five All-GSC selections. Moreover, under his mentorship, Sam Orf became the program's ninth All-American and the first-ever CoSIDA Academic All-American after being named the GSC West Division Player of the Year.
In his final campaign at UAH, Shulman led the Chargers to a 21-11 overall record and a 17-7 mark in the conference which earned the squad the No. 3 seed in the GSC tournament. UAH once again earned a bid to the NCAA tournament, the program’s 5th in 5 years under Shulman’s tutelage.
He arrived in the Rocket City with an extensive resume of collegiate coaching experience including serving as the head coach at Tennessee Chattanooga from 2004 to 2013. While at Chattanooga, the Mocs earned two NCAA tournament appearances following a pair of Southern Conference championships, and his team finished as the tournament runners-up in a third title game appearance. The second winningest coach in Chattanooga history, Shulman also won four SoCon North Division championships.
In 2005, he was named as the top collegiate coach in Tennessee thanks to a season that included a NCAA tournament berth and Chattanooga’s first win in 80 years over in-state foe Tennessee. Shulman’s teams were particularly strong on the glass as the Mocs finished in the top-three in the conference in both offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding in each of his nine seasons at the helm, and in eight of those nine years, Chattanooga finished in the top three in rebounding margin.
During his nine-year tenure at Chattanooga, Shulman mentored 18 players who would eventually play professionally, and his squads also featured 11 All-Southern Conference performers and 10 Southern Conference All-Tournament selections.
Shulman’s recruiting record speaks for itself as he brought to the Mocs four of the top 10 scorers, three of the top 10 shot blockers, four of the top 10 rebounders, five of the top 15 in field goals, and each of the top five best 3-point makers in program history.
Additionally, Shulman coached nine of the top 23 1,000-point scorers in Moc history.
Prior to taking over the top spot at Chattanooga, Shulman served as the team’s associate head coach from 2002 to 2004, and that came after stints as an assistant at each of Wofford, Tennessee Tech, and East Tennessee State. Shulman earned both his bachelor’s and master’s in physical education from ETSU in 1989 and 1992, respectively.
Shulman is married to his wife Amy, and they have three sons Max, Tanner, and JC.
