Cedric Rupa was promoted to associate head coach in October 2024 after joining App State as assistant tennis coach in January 2023.

In his fourth year at App State, Rupa helped guide Savannah Dada-Mascoll to five ranked wins during the ITA All-American Championships, including a major upset over the No. 1 ITA-ranked player, DJ Bennett. This performance helped Dada-Mascoll clinch a spot in the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive year.

During the 2024-25 season, Rupa helped coach the Mountaineers to a historic 17-win season, breaking the program's own record from the year prior. He also assisted Dada-Mascoll and Isabela Romanichen to the program's first ITA Conference Masters Championship win in doubles, along with the program's first NCAA Championships appearance in doubles. In the spring, he was instrumental in the Mountaineers achieving a 10-match win streak and eight consecutive Sun Belt wins, all of which are program firsts. The team also tied a program record with nine Sun Belt wins overall.

He coached three players to double-digit wins in singles: Dada-Mascoll tallied 19 singles wins, Naledi Manyube had 14 wins, and Olwyn Ryan-Bovey had 10. To end the season, Dada-Mascoll was ranked No. 20 in the Carolina region, and the team was ranked No. 9 in the region.

In his first season in the spring of 2023, Rupa helped lead the Mountaineers to 14 wins, coaching three players to double-digit singles wins: Dada-Mascoll recorded 15 wins, Helena Jansen had 11, and Virginia Poggi won 10 singles matches. He also helped guide the Mountaineers to a WNIT appearance in 2023.

He arrived in Boone after serving as a graduate assistant coach for the Cameron University women's tennis program in Lawton, Okla., helping the team to an NCAA Division II Sweet 16 appearance, conference championship and region championship.
  
During his time with the Cameron University program, Rupa helped develop four nationally ranked Division II players and coached the No. 5 doubles team in the ITA Division II rankings. Anastasia Uspenskaia earned Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year and ITA South Central Region Rookie of the Year accolades.
 
Rupa, who grew up in Fredericton, NB, Canada and attended high school in Australia, played collegiate tennis at Southern Utah and Ferris State. After his playing days, he served as a volunteer assistant for the Ferris State men's and women's teams in 2020-21. He graduated from Ferris State in 2020 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.