Grant Bingham, second from the right, with his regional championship Johnson Central teammates
He’s a 6-6, 300-pound offensive lineman who has been part of a state football championship team and has already given his verbal commitment to the University of Kentucky so he will be playing in the Southeastern Conference. Yet Grant Bingham knows years from now he’ll look back on qualifying for next week’s state tennis tournament with an abundance of pride.
He was part of Johnson Central’s first regional team tennis championship. Bingham and his partner, Brayden Pickle, lost in a tiebreaker to their teammates Nathaniel Kumar and Hilal Sofyan.
“We thought it was a good possibility that we could do this well,” Bingham said. “We did really good and we are all really excited.”
Bingham played baseball along with football until before his eighth-grade year when he played tennis with his mother, an avid tennis player. He liked it, dropped baseball, and has played tennis since then.
“Tennis is not as pressurized as football,” Bingham said. “I am competitive and love to win but it is also nice just to have fun.”
But has there ever been another future SEC lineman play in the Kentucky high school state tennis tourney?
“I don’t believe I have ever heard of that. Actually, to say it out loud even sounds a little crazy,” Bingham laughed and said. “I hope it is a first. That would be funny.”
What’s not funny is that tennis actually helps him in football. He says his lateral movement and reaction time all benefit from playing tennis.
But imagine being across the net from Bingham? Most high school tennis players are not anywhere close to 200 pounds much less 300 pounds.
Does he intimidate opponents?
“I hope I do. If I don’t, I should,” he joked. “Since I play doubles, it’s hard to avoid me. They can try to make me run around (to get to balls) but I can do that.”
He’s looking forward to having fun at the state tennis tourney on the UK campus. Kentucky recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow and offensive line coach Eric Wofford both have indicated they will be there to watch him play Tuesday.
Obviously, his mother will be there, too. However, he wants to make sure she knows who is the family’s No. 1 player.
“She is really into tennis. She used to take lessons when we went to the beach. She went to tennis camps,” Bingham said. “She still thinks she can beat me but I promise you she cannot.”
