Jim Cotner Last College: East Stroudsburg '72 Position: Head Coach

Phone: 570-577-3075
Email: jcotner@bucknell.edu

Jim Cotner, for nearly 30 years a teacher, coach and administrator in the Lewisburg Area School District, is in his sixth year as head men's golf coach at Bucknell. Cotner has rebuilt the Bison golf program into one of the best in the East, leading the squad to six tournament titles in the last three years, including the 2006 Patriot League championship.

Cotner has been named the Patriot League Coach of the Year in each of the last two seasons after guiding the Bison through one of the finest stretches in program history. The team was runner-up at the 2005 Patriot League Championship before breaking through with a first-ever PL title last spring. The league crown automatically qualified the Bison for the NCAA Regionals, where they played very well and finished 26th at the famed Omni Tucson National Golf Resort & Spa.

"We have been fortunate to get student-athletes who want to come to Bucknell for the top-notch education, but who are also very passionate about golf," said Cotner. "The sport means a lot to them, and they have every opportunity to get better. The facilities here are first-class, with our own Bucknell Golf Club and a great teaching pro in Brian Kelly."

A 2000 inductee into the West Branch Chapter of the Pennsylvania Athletic Hall of Fame, Cotner in 2001 retired from Lewisburg Area High School, where he served as the school's director of athletics for 11 years. Since moving to the district in September 1972, Cotner coached the Dragons' boys' varsity tennis team for four years (1972-75), the boys' varsity golf team for five seasons (1982-86), the boys' junior varsity basketball squad for two years (1972-74) and the boys' varsity basketball team for 17 years (1974-90).

A 1972 graduate of East Stroudsburg University, Cotner is active in the local golf scene, as well. For nine years he was president of the North Central Pennsylvania Golf Association, and he is a nine-year USGA Committee Member for Regional Golf Associations.

Cotner is only the fifth head coach in the 67-year history of the Bucknell men's golf program.