Brian Brandt: North Springs' Renaissance Man

Brian Brandt grew up with a tennis racquet practically glued to his hand, but the sport has not been the only avenue of fun for the North Springs High School senior.

The 17-year-old is ranked No. 49 in the state in tennis, and has found a way to balance his schedule of academics and athletics with his passion for acting.

The tennis player is currently playing Wilbur Turnblad in North Springs’ production of the musical, “Hairspray.”

Musical theater is a far stretch from showing off Brandt’s tennis backhand return.

“I started [acting] at the beginning of my ninth-grade year," he said. "I knew North Springs had an awesome program so it was definitely something I wanted to do.”

Brandt started playing tennis in kindergarten, but got serious about it in high school.

His parents are both tennis coaches and his mom is the former women’s coach at the University of Georgia.

“My mom was my coach until about 10th or 11th grade,” he said. “She’s been a huge influence on my tennis game.”

Carol Ciepluch, public relations liason at North Springs has known the Brandt family since Brian was in middle school.

“For all his academic achievements, he’s just an unassuming, very happy, positive person,” she said. "He is an amazing mathematician, and he has had either a major understudy role or a major part in most of our spring musicals.”

The ability to balance his interests is a remarkable feat, Ciepluch said.

Brandt has already completed most of his school credits, having taken Calculus 2 and 3 at Georgia Tech, so he spends his off periods in the afternoon playing tennis. He wraps up his day with drama class and the occasional after-school rehearsal.

He plans on majoring in chemistry when he goes to college and competing on the men’s tennis team. He’s looking at Kennesaw State University and Young Harris College, which is on the border of Georgia and North Carolina.

“Chemistry just has something really neat about it,” Brandt said. “I like working with experiments. I’ll probably major in chemistry with a minor in theater. It was something that was lodged into my brain years ago. When I was very young, I knew I wanted to keep playing tennis. It was part of my destiny and I kind of planned for it.”

Brandt has a well-rounded game with his powerful serve and conditioning standing out as his biggest weapon. His consistency and ability to keep the ball on the court wears his opponent down and ultimately leads to a decisive victory.

Last year, he led his team to a deep playoff run, advancing all the way to the round of 16. In one of his favorite matches of his career, he defeated Nazar Bilvkha from Chamblee 9-8 to help his team into a higher seed in the state tournament.

“It’s a really competitive game,” he said. “It’s not just physically demanding, but it’s also a mental and emotional game. In tennis, there’s a break between every point, so you have time to think about everything that just happened, which can be a good and a bad thing. It changes the game. I really like that aspect of it.”

With the so many things going on between classes, college prep work, in addition to starring in North Springs’ sold out musical, he still wants to taste the thrill of winning a state title.

In the meantime, he’s just enjoying the full experience of high school from academics, to athletics and even acting.

“I’ve had an exciting four years at North Springs,” he said. “Between the success of “Hairspray” and the success of the tennis team, it’s an awesome way to end my senior year.”

"Hairspray" ends Sunday. Showtimes are  2 and 7:30 p.m. today; and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $8-$20.  For more information www.nsvpa.eventbrite.com and www.northspringshigh.com.