Though the No. 15 jersey has been retired at Memorial Stadium, the Cornhusker men’s tennis team has a competitor to match the legend who wore it.
Both opposing coaches and players alike are impressed with determination of junior Calin Paar. The No. 82-ranked player in the country, Paar is hitting his stride and pacing an NU squad rocketing up the national rankings.
According to coach Kerry McDermott, Paar has all the capabilities of the legendary Nebraska quarterback.
“I compare him to former quarterback Tommie Frazier – the guy just knows how to win,” McDermott said. “He can find a way to turn things around and adapt during a match and competes to the end.”
The junior from Munich, Germany, often finds himself battling to the end of his singles matches, often long after other teammates have finished. Of his 10 singles matches, half have gone to three sets.
Paar won all five.
“He’s played a lot of matches where he’s the last one out there, second-to-last one out there trying to earn his point for the team,” McDermott said. “And the rest of the team says, ‘Coach, Calin just fights so hard.’ He just teaches that to the rest of his teammates.”
The drive so evident in his tennis is just an aspect of Paar’s perceived role on the team.
“I’m an upperclassman and a junior, so I have to help all the new guys and show them what it means to be in this program,” Paar said. “That’s why I always try to play hard, practice hard, so they look up to me and see what it takes.”
McDermott said sometimes Paar has to pick up a racket just so the “quiet leader” is audible.
“When it comes to tennis practice and his matches, that’s about the only time I hear from the guy,” McDermott said. “You know Calin’s out there fighting and screaming and kicking, doing whatever it takes to win.”
This season, Paar’s focus on tennis has been galvanized by unfortunate circumstances back in Germany. The court has been his escape, and tennis his method of coping.
“At the beginning of the semester, I lost somebody really important, so I was back home mentally,” he said. “For me, the only chance was for me to focus on my sport and my academic stuff, and I think that it’s working out so far.”
As Paar and the Huskers head out for three duals in three days this weekend in Utah, the team hopes to maintain its current high level of play. Nebraska jumped at least 39 spots this week, vaulting the Huskers from unranked to No. 36 nationally.
NU has won its last five matches – all on the road – and three victims are currently ranked. No. 65 Oregon (11-3) and No. 23 BYU (13-2) await the Huskers this weekend, but McDermott said the team couldn’t be more ready to prove it belongs in “the upper echelon” after a 6-1 upset over then No. 35 Arizona last weekend.
“With a boost of confidence like that, the guys are licking their chops, seeing we have some pretty highly ranked teams ahead of us to play as the season progresses,” McDermott said.
johnschreier@dailynebraskan.com
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