BISHOP RETURNS TO HEAD NORTH ALABAMA TENNIS PROGRAM

FLORENCE - University of North Alabama director of athletics Mark Linder has announced the hiring of Brice Bishop as head men’s and women’s tennis coach. Bishop, who lettered in tennis at UNA from 1982-85, will be in his third stint as head coach for the Lions. He replaces Al Morgan, who resigned prior to the 2009 season.

The Sheffield native coached the UNA women’s tennis teams and men’s and women’s cross country squads from 1988-90 before resigning to become tennis director at the Huntsville Athletic Club. He returned to campus in 1997 to lead the men’s and women’s tennis programs.

In 2004, Bishop left to become head tennis coach and director of women’s athletics at Shoals Christian School. During his time at UNA, he led the men’s team to five NCAA Tournament appearances and the women to six consecutive NCAA regionals.

He was inducted into the UNA Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001 and was inducted into the Colbert County Sports Hall of Fame the following year.

Bishop was North Alabama’s first All-American in tennis, posting a 54-19 singles record his final two seasons while winning back-to-back Gulf South Conference individual championships.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in health, physical education, recreation and dance from UNA and a Master’s degree in physical education from Western Carolina. He and his wife, former UNA cross country runner and fellow Hall-of-Fame inductee Carol Franklin, have two daughters (Mackenzie and Lee-Taylor) and a son (Will).