In 1998, Rhonda Blades became the first overall pick in the WNBA Expansion Draft. Twenty-seven years later, her son holds a 103-year-old Bobby Jones record. Between those milestones: a Nashville family built on competition.

Blades Brown has one sibling. Her name is Millie. She plays basketball. And the household that produced them both was anything but ordinary.

Millie Brown is the elder of the two, born around 2003, roughly four years before Blades arrived in May 2007. Both grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, attended Brentwood Academy, and inherited athletic DNA that runs deep on both sides of the family tree. The paths they chose, however, diverged sharply.

Millie followed the traditional route. She graduated from Brentwood Academy in 2022 after making more than 220 three-pointers during her high school career. She then enrolled at UNC Asheville, played Division I basketball, and eventually transferred to the University of Alabama in Huntsville. As a senior in 2024-25, she started all 32 games and led UAH with 84 three-pointers on 35.9% shooting. Her major at UAH: nursing, the same field her mother studied at Vanderbilt.

Blades took a different road entirely. He accelerated his high school graduation and finished it in December 2025. Blades turned professional at 17 in December 2024, skipping college golf entirely. No NCAA eligibility window. Just straight to the PGA Tour.

The pandemic played a role in that decision. Brown revealed on the GOLF’s Subpar podcast that the disruption to his sister’s college recruitment experience prompted their parents to approach his pathway more deliberately. Five official visits across Tennessee, Illinois, and California. Offers from Alabama and Tennessee. And then the choice to bypass all of it.

Rhonda Blades Brown set the athletic template for the household. A starting point guard at Vanderbilt, she was selected first overall by the Detroit Shock in the 1998 WNBA Expansion Draft after spending her rookie season with the New York Liberty. She made history by scoring the first three-point field goal in WNBA history. After playing overseas in Israel and Turkey, she returned to Nashville and built a coaching dynasty at Brentwood Academy: 17 years, a 361-162 record, five state championships. She also taught Anatomy and Health at the school and holds a master’s degree in nursing from Vanderbilt. The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame inducted her in 2023.

The institutional thread running through all four family members ties the story together.

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Blades Brown and the Brentwood Academy connection

Parke graduated from Brentwood Academy in 1989. Rhonda coached there for nearly two decades. Millie starred there before heading to college. Blades developed his game there before leaving early to turn pro.

Parke provided the golf foundation. A Brentwood Academy alum himself, Class of 1989, he introduced Blades to the game at Richland Country Club when his son was eight years old. He owns The Parke Company, a Nashville-based landscaping and tree service business. In 2022, Parke was diagnosed with Hairy Cell Leukemia. Doctors gave him 12 months to live. He underwent chemotherapy, endured frequent blood monitoring, and defied the prognosis. He survived to watch his son break Bobby Jones’ record at the 2023 U.S. Amateur—the youngest medalist in the event’s history—and to witness his professional debut at The American Express in January 2025.

Millie Brown is finishing her senior season at UAH, chasing three-pointers in the Gulf South Conference. Blades Brown is competing on the PGA Tour, chasing something else entirely. Different sports. Different timelines. Different decisions about college. The Nashville household that shaped them both remains the common thread.