Trojan tennis player Ian Barber signs to the University of Northwestern in St. Paul
May 10—WORTHINGTON — Ian Barber loves the game of tennis and it shows. He has played the sport for many years and his game has seen lots of improvement.
The Worthington High School senior will continue to play the sport he loves at the next level as he signed on to the tennis program at the University of Northwestern in St. Paul Thursday at the high school media center.
"Man, it's one of those things where it really feels like that step towards the next thing," Barber said. "For the longest time, it's always been something in the future, something in the future, but it never felt real and (Thursday) was one of those days where it all just kind of hit and it was like, 'Yep, I'm playing tennis in college, I'm going to college next year.'"
As Barber was signing his letter of intent, his longtime head coach Mike Marquardt had high praise for his star player. Marquardt and Trojan assistant coach Matt Fletcher have had a big impact on Barber throughout his career.
"I guess even originally when I was younger I'd play tennis for the YMCA program and I'd see Marquardt and Marquardt would always tell me, 'Oh, you've got to join tennis...' and I'd see Fletcher in middle school and he would tell me the same thing," Barber said. "They always chipped away and I'd been in seventh grade playing doubles with Asrat Bonnett and ever since it's just been history, and I've loved it ever since and I've dedicated my time to it."
Barber considers his biggest areas of improvement to be his serve, along with his mental game. Growing up, he watched legendary pro players like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer with Nadal being his idol. He drew inspiration from Nadal's game and admired his hard work and dedication to the game.
"I loved Nadal, Nadal was my idol, and so I loved watching him play," he said. "And even though he was a lefty, I always wanted to model after him because of his hard work and his dedication to the sport that he just put everything in and you could tell, and he earned it."
Barber first realized that collegiate tennis was a possibility during his senior year. As he continued playing tennis throughout the winter and into the spring season, he found that it was something he wanted to continue doing.
Once that was realized, Barber was deciding on which school he potentially wanted to attend. For him, it was between Northwestern and Crown College in St. Bonifacius.
"I thought about playing there, but when it came down to it, it just came down to the school, and cost and Northwestern ended up being cheaper," Barber said. "And so I just ended up going with Northwestern and I haven't regretted it since, it's been great."
Another factor behind Barber's decision was his visit to Northwestern. He did an overnight visit there and got to play with the team's players and new recruits that he'll be playing with next season.
The Eagles are coached by Matt Swigart, who will head into his 13th season as the team's head coach, and the roster is headlined by a former opponent of Barber's.
Luverne native Griffen Jarchow played against Barber when Barber played No. 2 singles his sophomore year. Next year, they'll be teammates and Barber looks forward to that connection with him and the other Northwestern players.
With his next step into college tennis coming up, he acknowledged that he couldn't have done it without the support of his coaches and teammates.
"They helped so much, I can't I can't thank them enough for all that they've done for me but yeah, it's just been something to grow around with these people and even like Evan (Hansberger) and Dylan (Dykstra) and those are people that I've grown playing with ever since I started and it's been so cool to have them come and visit this moment with me."
