Nov. 6, 2008
LEXINGTON Ky. – University of Kentucky Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart announced the promotion of two Wildcat tennis coaches on Thursday. Current men’s tennis assistant coach Cedric Kauffmann has been promoted to associate head coach and current women’s tennis assistant coach Lyndsay Shosho has been named assistant head coach.
Kauffmann began his fourth year as an assistant coach to UK men’s tennis head coach Dennis Emery this fall. Prior to his current position, the former Wildcat standout served as the head professional at the Five Seasons Country Club in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“Cedric and I have a lot of goals for this team and our program and we are ready to achieve them together,” Emery said. “We want to put a top-10 program together here at Kentucky. We feel strongly in this program that once you’re a Wildcat, you are a Wildcat for life. I think Cedric’s promotion reflects all of the positive work he has done since he arrived back in Lexington.”
As a player at Kentucky, Kauffmann was a three-time All-American from 1996-98 and finished among the top 10 singles players nationally in each of those seasons. In 1997, he was ranked a career-best second in the nation after advancing to the Clay Court Singles Championship that year. Kauffmann won two-thirds of his singles matches as a Wildcat compiling a 105-54 record.
After his collegiate career, the Montsoult, France, native, went on to compete professionally on the men’s Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour. Kauffmann reached No. 170 in the world on the ATP circuit and competed in the 2000 U.S. Open and pushed tennis legend Pete Sampras to five sets at the 2001 French Open in his home country.
Lyndsay Shosho enters her second year with the UK women’s tennis team. In the 2007-08 season, Shosho helped lead the Wildcats to a top-25 finish, upset three top-25 teams and guide the program to its 12th-consecutive NCAA tournament berth. She has been an asset in the development of the No. 16 Wildcat doubles team of Carolina Escamilla and Christine Johnston as well as Megan Broderick’s rise to No. 55 in the singles rankings after just one year at UK.
The Georgia Tech alum arrived in Lexington after spending time as an assistant coach for the University of Hawaii and leading her alma mater to three consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference championships during her playing career. “Lyndsay is a great fit for our team,” UK women’s tennis head coach Carlos Drada said. “She is a passionate coach with a great work-ethic who had a great deal of experience as a player. She was and continues to be instrumental to the success of our team.”
A four-year letterwinner for the nationally-ranked Yellow Jackets, Shosho helped Georgia Tech to top-10 finishes and NCAA Sweet-16 appearances in each of her last two seasons in Atlanta. She concluded her career as the Yellow Jackets’ all-time leader in doubles wins, with 83 in her four-year career.
Shosho earned All-America honors in 2006, becoming just the second player in school history to do so. She was a two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference honoree and four-time ACC Honor Roll selection.
A native of East Amherst, N.Y., Shosho finished her playing career at Georgia Tech ranked fifth in the school’s record books with 84 career singles victories. She earned her bachelor’s degree in management in 2006 and was a four-year member of the dean’s list.
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