Men's Squash
White, John
John White
- Title:
- Head Squash Coach
- Email:
- jdw322@drexel.edu
- Phone:
- 215-571-3773
John White, who was selected to lead Drexel's squash programs in April 2011, enters his 14th season at the helm of the Dragons in 2024-25. White, who came to Drexel after serving a four-year stint as the head coach at Franklin & Marshall, was a world-class squash player and is now one of the game's top instructors. The only head coach Drexel varsity squash has ever known, White has elevated the men’s and women’s teams to national prominence.
Through 14 seasons, White has led the men to a 137-116 record and the women to a 127-115 mark. He was named the Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference Men's Coach of the Year in 2024-25.
Both the men's and women's teams finished the 2022-23 season ranked fifth in the nation. It was the highest ranking at the end of the season in the history of the men's squash program. Matias Knudsen was named a First Team All-American. It was the fourth time in his career that he was named to an All-American Team. The women had two First Team All-Americans in the same season for the first time. Alina Bushma was a back-to-back recipient of First Team All-America honors. Karina Tyma was also a First Team selection for the second time in her career.
The women's team enjoyed a breakout season in 2021-22 advancing to the national championship match. The victories against Princeton and Trinity in the national quarterfinals and semifinals were the first ever for the program against those schools in team history and highlighted a program best 16-5 record. Individually, several players had standout seasons with Alina Bushma earning First Team All-America Honors and Karina Tyma garnering a Second Team All-America nod. Bushma, Tyma, Margot Prow, Noa Romero, Sanya Vats, Dina Rosli, and Brooke Herring were named All-Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference and Bushma, Prow, Hatti Specter, Lara Varma, and Ciara Richards received MASC All-Academic accolades. Additionally, Rosli, opened her career with 17 wins in a row and Romero set a school single-season record with 18 victories.
On the men's side, Drexel advanced to the Potter Cup for the third time and earned a seventh place finish, beating Virginia on the final day of competition. Following a 12-8 regular season that included a win against No. 7 Cornell, three Dragons earned All-America honors as Matias Knudsen was named to the First Team with Lucas Rousselet and Haris Qasim picking up Second Team honors. Qasim was named the MASC Men's Co-Rookie of the Year and was joined on the All-Conference Team by Knudsen, Rousselet, Fritiof Jacobsson, and Dylan Kachur.
The Drexel women won a then program-best 12 matches in 2019-20 en route to a second-straight appearance in the Howe Cup at CSA Nationals and a win over Penn in the seventh-place match for the second time in as many years. Earlier in the season, the Dragons picked up their first win over a top-four opponent with a 5-4 result over No. 4 Stanford on Nov. 22. The next day, Drexel notched its first win over Columbia by an identical 5-4 score. Those two wins propelled the Dragons to the No. 5 spot in the CSA rankings on Dec. 10, their highest-ever placement. In the team’s first season as a member of the Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference, Drexel lifted the Gaynor Cup at the conference championships.
Individually, two Drexel women featured in the Ramsay Cup, the top-flight bracket at CSA Individual Nationals. Karina Tyma became the first Drexel woman to garner first team all-American recognition with her victory in the Ramsay Cup’s round of 16. Alina Bushma reaped second team all-American accolades to complete a stellar debut campaign.
The men’s team notched 10 wins in 2019-20, reaching the double-digit plateau for the first time in three seasons. A solid start with wins over top-10 opponents in Columbia, Yale and Rochester vaulted the Dragons to No. 5 in the CSA rankings, which matched the highwater mark set in early 2017. That 5-4 result over No. 6 Rochester on Dec. 8 marked the program’s first-ever win over the Yellowjackets. Late-season injuries curtailed Drexel’s momentum, but the Dragons made the Potter Cup at the CSA Team Championships for the second time and finished the season ranked eighth in the nation. Drexel sent six men to the CSA Individual Championships and saw both Matias Knudsen and Lucas Rousselet earn second team all-American honors.
During the 2018-19 campaign, White guided the women’s team to their first appearance in the Howe Cup and a postseason ranking of No. 7. Additionally, the Drexel women scored program-first victories over Cornell and Penn. The men’s team reached the finals of the Hoehn Cup Division ‘B’ Team Championships, where it fell to George Washington by a 6-3 score, and produced a pair of second team all-Americans in Bransten Ming and Matias Knudsen.
In 2017-18, Drexel’s women won their first ever Kurtz Cup ‘B’ Division title, outlasting Dartmouth in the finals. The victory to finish a program-best No. 9 in the country came after finishing runner-up to Dartmouth in each of the previous two Kurtz Cup finals. The men played their best season in program history in 2016-17, advancing to the Potter Cup, where they advanced to the consolation final and closed the season ranked No. 6 nationally after reaching a program-best ranking of No. 5 during the season. The 2016-17 men’s team successes, which included first-time victories over Ivy League foes Penn, Yale and Dartmouth, came on the heels of a Hoehn Cup ‘B’ Division title, a team-best 15-4 record and the team’s first Ivy League victory (Princeton) in 2015-16.
White ushered in a new era in Drexel Athletics, overseeing the varsity program’s establishment in 2011-12. Men’s player Justin Singh earned a national ranking in the program’s first season after going 17-2. In 2013-14, the Dragon men were named the CSA’s Most Improved Team, before Atticus Kelly, Luke Willemse and Hayley Hughes qualified for the ‘A’ flight at Individual Championships in 2014-15, which marked the first time in either squad's history that a Dragon had the opportunity to compete for all-American status.
In his first nine years, White has coached nine College Squash Association All-Americans. Omar El Atmas became the Dragons’ first All-America first team selection in 2015-16, and Karina Tyma broke through with the women’s first all-America first team honors in 2019-20. Hayley Hughes (2015-16), El Atmas (2016-17), Bransten Ming (2016-17 and 2018-19), Lucas Rousselet (2017-18 and 2019-20), Matias Knudsen (2018-19 and 2019-20) and Alina Bushma (2019-20) have earned all-American second team honors. Additionally, the Dragons have received national Harrow Sports College Squash Player of the Week honors five times.
The Dragons have thrived in the classroom as well during White’s tenure. Justin Singh (2011-12 & 2012-13), Noel Solomon (2017-18) and Bransten Ming (2018-19) have been named to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men’s At-Large Team. Hayley Hughes was named the 2015-16 Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Women’s At-Large Performer of the Year, while Kiran Vasudevan (2011-12 & 2013-14), Anna Schmiedicke (2012-13), Kaitlyn Money (2013-14 & 2014-15), Elisa Money (2014-15 & 2015-16) and Hughes (2017-18) have been named to the Women’s At-Large Team. White has coached 16 College Squash Association Scholar Athlete selections, including most recently Hannah Blatt, Emma MacGillivray, Ona Prokes and Emil Snyman in 2019-20.
White took over as Franklin & Marshall's Director of Squash and Head Men's and Women's Squash Coach in September of 2007. In his final season, his men's team was ranked eighth in the nation and his women were ranked 17th. In his four seasons as the men's coach, the Diplomats had a 48-36 mark. They won 11 or more matches in each of his last three seasons. On the women's side, the Diplomats improved their win total in each of the final three seasons under White and finished the 2010-11 season with an 11-10 mark.
The native of Queensland, Australia and a Scottish national, White is a former top-ranked player in the world. He has 12 Professional Squash Association titles. He was ranked No. 1 in the world in March of 2004. White earned his first win as a pro on the Italian Circuit in 1997 and has international victories in several high-profile events including the 2003 PSA Masters in Qatar, the 2003 Prince English Open and the Scottish National Championship. White represented Scotland in the 1999 European Championships, the World Cup, and World Team Championships. His titles in the United States include victories in The Dayton Open, The Virginia Pro Championship, The Motor City Open and Baltimore City Open.
White is also a fan favorite as one of the tour's hardest hitters. He had one of his shots clocked at a world-record 172 miles per hour.
Through 14 seasons, White has led the men to a 137-116 record and the women to a 127-115 mark. He was named the Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference Men's Coach of the Year in 2024-25.
In 2024–25, White guided the men’s team to an 11-9 record and their second consecutive Holley Cup victory, defeating fifth-ranked Virginia. The Dragons finished the season ranked eighth nationally, while White was honored as the Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference Men’s Coach of the Year for the second straight season. Haris Qasim earned Second Team All-America recognition, the first All-America honor of his career. On the women’s side, Drexel finished with a 10-11 record and ended the season ranked 10th in the country.
In 2023-24, White's men's team defeated No. 9 Virginia to capture the Holley Cup and win the Mid Atlantic Squash Conference for the first time in program history. Both the men's and the women's teams finished the year ranked in the top 10. The men were eighth, while the women were 10th nationally. Nico Serna was a Second Team All-American for the first time in his career at Drexel.Both the men's and women's teams finished the 2022-23 season ranked fifth in the nation. It was the highest ranking at the end of the season in the history of the men's squash program. Matias Knudsen was named a First Team All-American. It was the fourth time in his career that he was named to an All-American Team. The women had two First Team All-Americans in the same season for the first time. Alina Bushma was a back-to-back recipient of First Team All-America honors. Karina Tyma was also a First Team selection for the second time in her career.
The women's team enjoyed a breakout season in 2021-22 advancing to the national championship match. The victories against Princeton and Trinity in the national quarterfinals and semifinals were the first ever for the program against those schools in team history and highlighted a program best 16-5 record. Individually, several players had standout seasons with Alina Bushma earning First Team All-America Honors and Karina Tyma garnering a Second Team All-America nod. Bushma, Tyma, Margot Prow, Noa Romero, Sanya Vats, Dina Rosli, and Brooke Herring were named All-Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference and Bushma, Prow, Hatti Specter, Lara Varma, and Ciara Richards received MASC All-Academic accolades. Additionally, Rosli, opened her career with 17 wins in a row and Romero set a school single-season record with 18 victories.
On the men's side, Drexel advanced to the Potter Cup for the third time and earned a seventh place finish, beating Virginia on the final day of competition. Following a 12-8 regular season that included a win against No. 7 Cornell, three Dragons earned All-America honors as Matias Knudsen was named to the First Team with Lucas Rousselet and Haris Qasim picking up Second Team honors. Qasim was named the MASC Men's Co-Rookie of the Year and was joined on the All-Conference Team by Knudsen, Rousselet, Fritiof Jacobsson, and Dylan Kachur.
The Drexel women won a then program-best 12 matches in 2019-20 en route to a second-straight appearance in the Howe Cup at CSA Nationals and a win over Penn in the seventh-place match for the second time in as many years. Earlier in the season, the Dragons picked up their first win over a top-four opponent with a 5-4 result over No. 4 Stanford on Nov. 22. The next day, Drexel notched its first win over Columbia by an identical 5-4 score. Those two wins propelled the Dragons to the No. 5 spot in the CSA rankings on Dec. 10, their highest-ever placement. In the team’s first season as a member of the Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference, Drexel lifted the Gaynor Cup at the conference championships.
Individually, two Drexel women featured in the Ramsay Cup, the top-flight bracket at CSA Individual Nationals. Karina Tyma became the first Drexel woman to garner first team all-American recognition with her victory in the Ramsay Cup’s round of 16. Alina Bushma reaped second team all-American accolades to complete a stellar debut campaign.
The men’s team notched 10 wins in 2019-20, reaching the double-digit plateau for the first time in three seasons. A solid start with wins over top-10 opponents in Columbia, Yale and Rochester vaulted the Dragons to No. 5 in the CSA rankings, which matched the highwater mark set in early 2017. That 5-4 result over No. 6 Rochester on Dec. 8 marked the program’s first-ever win over the Yellowjackets. Late-season injuries curtailed Drexel’s momentum, but the Dragons made the Potter Cup at the CSA Team Championships for the second time and finished the season ranked eighth in the nation. Drexel sent six men to the CSA Individual Championships and saw both Matias Knudsen and Lucas Rousselet earn second team all-American honors.
During the 2018-19 campaign, White guided the women’s team to their first appearance in the Howe Cup and a postseason ranking of No. 7. Additionally, the Drexel women scored program-first victories over Cornell and Penn. The men’s team reached the finals of the Hoehn Cup Division ‘B’ Team Championships, where it fell to George Washington by a 6-3 score, and produced a pair of second team all-Americans in Bransten Ming and Matias Knudsen.
In 2017-18, Drexel’s women won their first ever Kurtz Cup ‘B’ Division title, outlasting Dartmouth in the finals. The victory to finish a program-best No. 9 in the country came after finishing runner-up to Dartmouth in each of the previous two Kurtz Cup finals. The men played their best season in program history in 2016-17, advancing to the Potter Cup, where they advanced to the consolation final and closed the season ranked No. 6 nationally after reaching a program-best ranking of No. 5 during the season. The 2016-17 men’s team successes, which included first-time victories over Ivy League foes Penn, Yale and Dartmouth, came on the heels of a Hoehn Cup ‘B’ Division title, a team-best 15-4 record and the team’s first Ivy League victory (Princeton) in 2015-16.
White ushered in a new era in Drexel Athletics, overseeing the varsity program’s establishment in 2011-12. Men’s player Justin Singh earned a national ranking in the program’s first season after going 17-2. In 2013-14, the Dragon men were named the CSA’s Most Improved Team, before Atticus Kelly, Luke Willemse and Hayley Hughes qualified for the ‘A’ flight at Individual Championships in 2014-15, which marked the first time in either squad's history that a Dragon had the opportunity to compete for all-American status.
In his first nine years, White has coached nine College Squash Association All-Americans. Omar El Atmas became the Dragons’ first All-America first team selection in 2015-16, and Karina Tyma broke through with the women’s first all-America first team honors in 2019-20. Hayley Hughes (2015-16), El Atmas (2016-17), Bransten Ming (2016-17 and 2018-19), Lucas Rousselet (2017-18 and 2019-20), Matias Knudsen (2018-19 and 2019-20) and Alina Bushma (2019-20) have earned all-American second team honors. Additionally, the Dragons have received national Harrow Sports College Squash Player of the Week honors five times.
The Dragons have thrived in the classroom as well during White’s tenure. Justin Singh (2011-12 & 2012-13), Noel Solomon (2017-18) and Bransten Ming (2018-19) have been named to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men’s At-Large Team. Hayley Hughes was named the 2015-16 Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Women’s At-Large Performer of the Year, while Kiran Vasudevan (2011-12 & 2013-14), Anna Schmiedicke (2012-13), Kaitlyn Money (2013-14 & 2014-15), Elisa Money (2014-15 & 2015-16) and Hughes (2017-18) have been named to the Women’s At-Large Team. White has coached 16 College Squash Association Scholar Athlete selections, including most recently Hannah Blatt, Emma MacGillivray, Ona Prokes and Emil Snyman in 2019-20.
White took over as Franklin & Marshall's Director of Squash and Head Men's and Women's Squash Coach in September of 2007. In his final season, his men's team was ranked eighth in the nation and his women were ranked 17th. In his four seasons as the men's coach, the Diplomats had a 48-36 mark. They won 11 or more matches in each of his last three seasons. On the women's side, the Diplomats improved their win total in each of the final three seasons under White and finished the 2010-11 season with an 11-10 mark.
The native of Queensland, Australia and a Scottish national, White is a former top-ranked player in the world. He has 12 Professional Squash Association titles. He was ranked No. 1 in the world in March of 2004. White earned his first win as a pro on the Italian Circuit in 1997 and has international victories in several high-profile events including the 2003 PSA Masters in Qatar, the 2003 Prince English Open and the Scottish National Championship. White represented Scotland in the 1999 European Championships, the World Cup, and World Team Championships. His titles in the United States include victories in The Dayton Open, The Virginia Pro Championship, The Motor City Open and Baltimore City Open.
White is also a fan favorite as one of the tour's hardest hitters. He had one of his shots clocked at a world-record 172 miles per hour.
Drexel's Autocomplete With Squash Coach John White.
Tuesday, March 18
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Tuesday, February 06
Drexel Athletics Happy Holidays 2023
Thursday, December 21
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Wednesday, December 21
