Columbia High School senior Bryce Ramshur became the fourth tennis star from the Wildcats program in three years to sign a collegiate scholarship Wednesday.
Ramshur, who inked a letter of intent with Hinds Community College, took an unconventional route in his athletic career, playing tennis his eighth grade year just for fun before stepping away from the game for two years. He picked it back up as a junior and said he regretted quitting in the first place.
“When I started to play tennis, I wasn’t going to play in college. I was just going to play my two years in high school and go to college. Now that I’ve actually made the decision, I can’t believe it,” he said. “I never thought I’d be here.”
One of the biggest influences that prompted Ramshur to choose Hinds was Bryce Livingston, a CHS alum playing there now. Livingston wanted Ramshur to try out, so he did May 6 and was offered a full scholarship.
“Once I actually went on campus, I just fell in love with it. It looks amazing, and it’s huge. It’s a lot bigger than you would think being a community college.”
Ramshur was also excited about how successful the program, which is currently ranked 12th in the nation and second in the state, is and didn’t hesitate once he was offered.
“The assistant coach told me, ‘I like you. I have some things I can work with you. If you come here, I’ll give you a scholarship.’ He said he would give me some time, but as soon as he said he’ll give me some time, I said, ‘I don’t need time. I’m coming here,’” Ramshur explained.
Ramshur said without his doubles partner, Kyle Buckley, he wouldn’t be about to play in college on a scholarship.
“Going from singles to double was a huge jump. Me and him became close friends; we’re like brothers now. Without him I wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as I am now because he taught me a lot,” he said. “I went out there with him a lot to practice, and he just changed a lot about me just because of the way he plays. He helped; he fixed. I just want to give him credit where credit is due.”
The pair made it all the way to the semifinals at the Class 3A state championships before falling to the eventual champions from St. Andrew’s Episcopal. Buckley gave an impromptu speech during the signing and encouraged the younger players on the team to use Ramshur’s commitment as an example.
Tennis coach Anna Morris said every night when she drives by the tennis courts, she sees Ramshur and his teammates practicing and that commitment is a big reason why he’s had success. Fellow tennis coach Derek Jones added Ramshur always did what was asked of him, and he’s proud of him.
