MOULTRIE – Longtime tennis instructor, player and Colquitt County Sports Hall of Fame member Lonnie White is leaving his home area to take a university coaching job.

White has been named the assistant men’s and women’s coach at William Peace University in Raleigh, N.C.

William Peace plays NCAA Division III athletics, and during the season White expects to run into one of his previous students, Lance Shealy, who plays at LaGrange College, another member of the USA South Athletic Conference.

The new position also will allow White to be closer to North Carolina Central University head women’s basketball coach – and fellow Hall of Fame member – Vanessa Taylor. NCCU is located in Durham.

The two are planning to be married soon, White said.

“It’s a great opportunity,” White said on Monday before leaving for Raleigh to prepare for next week’s start of tennis practice for the Pacers, who open on Feb. 5. “It’s a step up. It’s time. And the nice thing was that they called me.”

White said he also will work with junior tennis players in Raleigh area, which he says has some 40 tennis clubs.

The USA South Athletic Conference has 16 members, also including Agnes Scott College, Decatur; Averett University, Danville, Va.; Covenant College, Lookout Mountain; Ferrum College, Ferrum, Va.; Greensboro College, Greensboro, N.C.; Huntingdon College, Montgomery, Ala.; Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, Va.; Maryville College, Maryville, Tenn.; Meredith College, Raleigh, N.C.; Methodist University, Fayetteville, N.C.; North Carolina Wesleyan, Rocky Mount, N.C.; Piedmont College, Demorest; Salem College, Winston-Salem, N.C.; and Wesleyan College, Macon.

White learned tennis as a youngster from Lynda Moseley – another Hall of Fame member – in the Moultrie Recreation Department program and went on to become one of few blacks to become a successful player at Moultrie High.

He primarily played doubles at Moultrie High for future Hall of Fame coach Mike Jenkins and teamed with Johnny Windom to win the south championship during his senior year in 1978.

After playing a year for Red Hill at Abraham Baldwin College, White accepted a scholarship to play at Grambling State, where he was an all-conference player and led his team to a conference championship each season under coach Wallace Bly.

After leaving Grambling, White played professionally for several years and became a teaching professional in 1992. He also served as an assistant coach at Abraham Baldwin College.

White also has continued to play top tournaments around the country and has numerous singles and doubles championships to his credit.

He said he is especially appreciative of the parents who have trusted him to work with their children while he has been teaching in Moultrie.