In his pursuit of a professional career, Bryan Shelton took the old-fashioned route—he went to college. While attending The Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, Shelton joined the tennis team. He had a remarkable college career as an All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) selection all four years. In 1985, Shelton won the ACC Singles Championship. He and partner Richey Gilbert won the ACC doubles title the following year. In 1988, he was named an All-American player and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering.

Shelton’s eight-year professional career began in 1989. His took his first ATP Tour title at the 1991 Miller Lite Hall of Fame Tennis Championships held in Newport, Rhode Island, becoming the first African-American man to win a professional singles title since Arthur Ashe in 1978. Shelton won another title at Newport in 1992. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 55 in the world that same year. Shelton seemed on the verge of a significant breakthrough at the 1994 Wimbledon Championships. As a qualifier, Shelton upset Michael Stich—the 1991 Wimbledon champion—in the first round. Shelton advanced to the fourth round, which became his best singles result at a major.

At the 1992 French Open, Shelton partnered with fellow boundary breaker Lori McNeil, reaching the mixed doubles final before losing to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Mark Woodforde. Shelton went on to partner with fellow American Francisco Montana to win the 1994 Abierto Mexicano. In 1994, Shelton also achieved his career-high doubles ranking of No. 52.

In 1997, Shelton retired from professional play. Shelton held a few tennis-related positions before returning to Georgia Tech as head coach of the Yellow Jackets’ women’s team in 1999. One of the Yellow Jackets’ successes under Shelton’s guidance was qualification for the NCAA Tournament each year. In 2007, Shelton led the Yellow Jackets to their first NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship where they defeated UCLA in the final. The Atlantic Coast Conference honored Shelton as Coach of the Year four times during his time with Georgia Tech—2002, 2005, 2007, and 2008.

In 2012, Shelton was named head coach of the men’s tennis team at the University of Florida. Shelton guided the Gators to the NCAA quarterfinals four years later. In 2021, the Gators won their first national championship at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida when they defeated Baylor University, with his son and fellow boundary breaker Ben Shelton winning the championship-clinching match. Shelton made history with this win as he became the first NCAA Division One tennis coach to claim both a men’s and women’s national championship. He was named Coach of the Year by the Southeastern Conference for the third time in his career.

In 2016, Shelton was inducted into the Black Tennis Hall of Fame. Putting family first, Shelton stepped down from his position at the University of Florida in 2023 to focus on coaching his son Ben, whose professional career continues to blossom.