Distinguished Alumni

Tennis Academy of the South

Successful tennis athletes develop lifelong discipline and an approach to adversity and hard work that takes them far on the court and in life. Tennis Academy of the South doesn’t just develop players. We develop people. The TAS family includes a network of college students and professionals making their mark in the world. We are always humbled and honored to learn of the continued success of TAS players as they move out into the world beyond tennis.

TAS alum Al Parker is currently a successful private wealth advisor and director for Morgan Stanley in Atlanta. Universally recognized as the greatest junior to ever play the game of tennis, Al won a record 25 national junior titles and was the only boy to be ranked number 1 in all four USTA age divisions. He won the Grand Slam of junior tennis, the only player ever to win all national championships in singles and doubles in a single year. His competition? Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras and Jim Courier. And that’s just what he did as a junior.

Al played the #1 singles position at the University of Georgia for all four years of his collegiate career. He was named All-American and All-SEC all four years. Al racked up 10 national collegiate championships in singles and doubles. He won every time he reached a final. While fulfilling his tennis dreams, he also managed a 4.0 GPA, graduated Summa Cum Laude and was named NCAA Academic All American of All Collegiate Sports.

After a chronic back injury forced his untimely retirement from the men’s tour, Al was inducted into the University of Georgia Circle of Honor in 2001, the Georgia Tennis Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 2007.

For more on Al Parker’s remarkable tennis career, read here.

TAS alum Jim Childs is one of the top nationally ranked juniors to have trained at Tennis Academy of the South. Jim played tennis four years for the University of Georgia where he was a member of UGA’s 1987 NCAA Champion tennis team. During his junior years at TAS, Jim was the ringleader of an outstanding junior group of elite nationally ranked juniors including Al Parker, John Stimpson and Chris Hall. This remarkable threesome reached the semi-finals of the 1986 USTA Boys 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo where Al went on to win the championship trophy.

Gery Groslimond remembers Jim as the brightest tennis mind he ever coached. In addition to natural talent, Jim had a unique sense of humor. He knew how to make high pressure, competitive tennis fun.

Jim is currently a successful entrepreneur in Atlanta. He is the founder and CEO of Bowstring Advisers, a nationally recognized boutique investment bank. With an MBA from Harvard Business School, Jim has enjoyed tremendous success starting and growing companies in IT services and finance.

Bryan Shelton is currently head coach of the Florida Gators men's tennis team. Bryan played for the Georgia Tech men's tennis team from 1985 to 1988 under Tech Head Coach and now TAS director Gery Groslimond. He was the ACC singles champion in 1985 and won the ACC doubles championship in 1986. Bryan was 4 time All-ACC and named an All-American in 1988. Winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship in 1985, Bryan graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in industrial engineering. He ranks second in career singles wins with an amazing 101 collegiate victories.

Ranked as high as #55 in the world, Bryan spent 9 years on the ATP Tour. He played in the U.S. Open 7 times, Wimbledon 6 times, the Australian Open 6 times and the French Open 4 times. He reached the finals in mixed doubles at the 1992 French Open. Bryan was inducted into the Georgia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Georgia Tennis Hall of Fame in 2002.

During his outstanding helm as head coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets women's tennis team, Bryan was named ACC Coach of the Year three times. In 2007, he took the Jackets to their 3rd straight ACC Championship and their first NCAA Team Championship. That same year Bryan was awarded the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Coach of the Year.

TAS alum Caroline Price enjoyed a brilliant junior career with Tennis Academy of the South and went on to another brilliant career at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. A blue chip recruit, Caroline won the Girls 18s doubles title at the 2011 National Clay Court Championship and followed that with the singles title in 2012. Besides winning singles and doubles titles at the Easter Bowl, Caroline was named 2009 Georgia Junior Female Tennis Player of the Year and received the USTA's Bill Talbert National Jr. Sportsmanship Award. With a consistent national top 10 junior ranking, Caroline earned a spot in the U.S. Open Junior Tennis Championships.

At Chapel Hill, Caroline’s four year singles record of 128-37 earned her the second most victories in the history of UNC women’s tennis. She was the first women's tennis player to be awarded the Patterson Medal, the most prestigious athletic honor awarded at UNC. Her laurels are almost too numerous to name. Caroline was First Team All-ACC, Two Time All-American and Most Outstanding Player at the 2014 ITA National Indoor Team Championship. She led North Carolina to its second national indoor title in three years. Caroline completed her senior season at UNC with 27 dual match singles victories, the most in the country. As a USTA Player Development Fellow, Caroline was selected by the USTA in 2016 to participate in their Fellowship Program in Professional Coaching. After completing that program, she spent 2 years as assistant women’s coach at the University of Charlotte.

TAS alum Henry Jang-Milsten is currently a captain in the U.S. Army. A four star junior tennis recruit, Henry played collegiate tennis all four years at the United States Military Academy. He graduated from West Point in 2014 and was assigned to air defense at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Henry deployed to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan as a Battle Captain and then Platoon Leader. In February of 2019, Captain Jang-Milsten took command of Alpha Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment in Ansbach, Germany.

Henry’s brother Sam is also a TAS alum and a 2016 graduate of West Point who played four years on the West Point Men’s Tennis Team. Their sister Ellen followed in her brothers’ footsteps training as a junior at Tennis Academy of the South and going on to a collegiate tennis career. Ellen played at Harvard graduating in 2018.

Click here to learn how Henry relates his tennis experience to his academic success and his leadership as an officer in the Army.