Senior Alabama men’s tennis player Andrew Goodwin was 7 years old when he first started to play tennis. He went to a tennis summer camp just to try out the sport, and as a result, it sparked a passion.
“I would just go and hit with my mom every once in a while,” Goodwin said. “I just kept getting more and more involved, so I’d just walk down and hit whenever I wanted.”
Goodwin played his first two years of collegiate tennis at Southern Miss before transferring to Alabama.
“The college experience at Southern Miss wasn’t what I was looking for,” he said. “I wanted to be surrounded by a program of teammates that have the same goals as I do as a tennis player.”
In his second year at Alabama, Goodwin said he is grateful for all the people he’s met by being a member of the tennis program.
Coach George Husack said he was excited when Goodwin transferred to Alabama since he and assistant coach Ryler DeHeart had known him from playing at Southern Miss.
“We nicknamed him ‘The Animal,’” Husack said. “When we had played against him in the fall, he was an absolute animal on the court. Really, he’s been our hardest worker since the moment he came here.”
He said he knows he can always count on Goodwin to give his full effort every day. On the court, Goodwin is known for getting fired up during matches. Off the court, he can joke around, Husack said.
Senior Stuart Kenyon knew Goodwin even before Alabama, so when he became a teammate, Kenyon knew he would be a great addition to the team.
“He’s pretty goofy, and so am I,” Kenyon said. “We get along great just because we’re a little weird and different.”
Although Kenyon said he would use “rocky,” in reference to Rocky Balboa, as his one word to describe Goodwin, Husack goes back to the older nickname, animal.
“I really couldn’t ask for a better teammate,” he said.
