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In 1996, Chris Groer became the first All-America tennis player in the history of Vanderbilt University. He was also Vandy's first Academic All-American in tennis.

Groer played on the ATP Tour for three years, then went back to school. He got a master's degree in math from the University of Georgia and a doctorate in applied math and scientific computing from the University of Maryland.

Today, Groer is the director of research and development at KPMG in Knoxville, where he leads a team of data scientists, mathematicians and computer scientists in solving large scale data analysis and optimization problems.

And Groer is still juggling a full load. He's got a wife and two young children, and he still plays highly competitive tennis. In early May, Groer defended his singles title in the 40-and-over division of the Atlanta Senior Invitational, a tournament that draws more USTA senior national champions than any other in the country.

Groer recently spoke with Todd Holcomb of TennisRecruiting.net about his best memories at Vandy and the pro tour - and his thoughts on the college game and its players today. Groer discusses how he balanced academics and athletics as a student-athlete some two decades ago.

Questions and Answers

Tennis Recruiting (TR): What advice do you have for today's junior players who have the opportunity to play in college? Looking at it 20 years after you were in their tennis shoes, how do you see it?

Chris Groer (CG): First of all, it's hard to believe it's been 20 years. I still remember the backhand passing shot Jan Hermansson from South Alabama hit against me at 4-5, 30-40, in the third to knock me out of the round of 16 of the NCAAs and end my college career in 1996. In all seriousness, though, I would strongly encourage anyone to pursue college tennis if they have the ability and opportunity. Sure, you have more demands on you than many of your peers, but the memories will literally last you a lifetime, and there are lots of intangibles you'll learn as well.

You hear a lot of cliches about time management and things like that, but there really is a lot of truth to it. If you can demonstrate that you can handle the challenges of balancing competing responsibilities, those are lessons that will apply to almost any future career and family responsibilities. When I went back to school and got my PhD at Maryland, I was working full time and was carting my infant daughter around. I really think that I was able to do this in large part due to the lessons I learned while playing college tennis and juggling lots of responsibilities.

TR: What were your best memories at Vanderbilt? What are you most proud of?

CG: My best memories are about our wins as a team, particularly my freshman year. Coming into Vandy, our team had lost something like 30 SEC matches in a row. We won our first SEC match against South Carolina that year, and there were people literally crying in the stands. Later that year, we beat Tennessee in Knoxville in a night match when they were No. 4 in the country, and I won my match 6 and 6 while all my high school friends cheered me on. Obviously, the individual accolades are a great honor, but it honestly is the team victories that I still remember most vividly.