And then there were eight.

Tom Parham, who coached for men’s tennis 19 years each at Atlantic Christian College (now Barton) and Elon University, was already enshrined in seven halls of fame when he got a call recently from Dick’s Hot Dog Stand Proprietor Lee Gliarmis, a member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors.

Gliarmis informed a surprised Parham that he was going to be inducted into the NCSHOF on May 12 in the main ballroom of the North Raleigh Hilton.

Parham, who directed Atlantic Christian to National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) men’s tennis titles in 1979 and 1984, will be enshrined at the NCSHOF’s 48th annual induction ceremony alongside former NASCAR champion Dale Jarrett; former Wake Forest University and NFL wide receiver Ricky Proehl; the late Gene Overby, who was the Wake Forest University radio sportscaster for 17 years; Jerry Tolley, a former East Carolina football and track star and former Elon College football coach; Larry Lindsey, who won eight N.C. High School Athletic Association boys basketball state championships at Youngsville and Wake Forest-Rolesville high schools and Al Proctor, a pioneer in the state as an athletic trainer and the founder of the N.C. Sports Medicine Foundation.

Parham, a native of Madison, N.C., is also a member of seven other athletic halls of fame: Atlantic Christian/Barton; Elon; the N.C. Tennis Hall of Fame, the South Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame, the NAIA Hall of Fame, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Hall of Fame; and the Wilson County Sports Hall of Fame.

In his 38-year collegiate coaching career, Parham’s teams went 597-183 (.765 winning percentage) and won three NAIA titles, including Elon’s 1990 men’s championship. He posted a 318-68 (.824) record at ACC and was 279-115 (.708) at Elon. In that span, he coached 16 All-Americans and won NAIA National Coach of the Year honors four times. His teams posted winning records in all 19 of his seasons at ACC and won 11 Carolinas Conference and 14 district championships. All total, he was named conference or district coach of the year a remarkable 28 times.

Parham, a 1963 Atlantic Christian graduate, began his coaching career in 1996 at his alma mater. He was a basketball player for the Bulldogs, so it was ironic when he came back to teach physical education classes and coach tennis, a sport that he knew little about, but one that would earn much acclaim for him, his players and the Wilson and Elon communities.

Parham coached nine NAIA All-Americans at Atlantic Christian, including two-time National Semifinalist Tom Morris, who later coached the Bulldogs and is now the head women’s coach at East Carolina University. Parham coached seven more All-Americans at Elon. With Morris as his big gun, Parham’s teams from 1975-79 won four straight conference and district titles, captured the NAIA National Championship in 1979 and posted an incredible record of 67-11 (.859). Parham served as the Bulldogs’ athletics director in 1979-80 and ’80-81 school years before returning courtside, where he coached four consecutive conference and district championship teams.

Parham moved on to Elon as men’s coach in 1985. The program hadn’t won a conference title in 35 years but Parham’s Fighting Christians celebrated the first of 11 consecutive South Atlantic Conference crowns in his second year. He coached the men’s teams until his retirement in 2004 and directed the women’s program his final three years. In 2004, he was awarded The Elon Medallion, the university’s highest honor.

Three times he has earned national community service awards and was honored in 1979 with inclusion into The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest honor accorded a civilian in the state.

Why were his tennis teams always so successful?

“Any coach that doesn’t say good players is lying,” Parham said, “but dogged persistence and a big drive also had a lot to do with it. I just loved the sport and loved the kids. I also loved teaching and coaching in a small college environment. I have always felt that a small school was the best place to be educated.

He lauded the mentoring, friendship and encouragement of educators Mildred Hartsock, Ed Cloyd and Milton Adams during his Barton tenure as a student, teacher and coach. He said the efforts of “great townspeople” like Gliarmis, Burt Gillette, George Flowers, Zeke Cozart and many others allowed Wilson to mature into a tennis city. There were five courts in the city when Parham arrived and 75 when he left. He also praised the media coverage from Russell Rawlings as “really making me look good.”

In 2008, Parham released his autobiography, “Play Is Where Life Is.” The book takes its readers through Parham’s rowdy childhood days and chronicles many episodes from his careers at Barton and Elon. A portion of the book is also dedicated to his philosophies on coaching.

“I’m just glad I had a lifetime of teaching and coaching,” Parham said. “I am nothing but grateful for that.”