Luis Heredia arrived at Marquette in 2017 with the goal of competing in college tennis.<\/p>\n
He won the Big East Championship in 2018 after coming from Spain to the United States, met his wife, earned three All-Big East second team appearances in four years and received a bachelor\u2019s degree in finance and marketing.<\/p>\n
Heredia split time between Milwaukee and New York for almost a year after graduation and then made the decision to make Milwaukee home \u2014 also occasionally going back to his native Spain to visit family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He grew up playing tennis with his dad as his coach and has traveled to 33 countries for the sport.<\/p>\n
Now, after extensive globetrotting and while balancing his career in finance, he is back in the blue & gold this season, volunteering as Marquette\u2019s assistant coach starting this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I needed to give something back to the program, if it\u2019s my time,\u201d Heredia said. \u201cHelping all those players that I\u2019ve had a connection with, even when I stopped the program, I\u2019ve always wanted to help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heredia doesn\u2019t travel with the team or attend regular practices. Instead, he finds time to instruct players whenever he can to supplement Marquette\u2019s practice schedule, while still prioritizing his career as an investment adviser at Paramount Financial Partners.<\/p>\n
It makes for some early mornings and late evenings, assisting the tennis team on top of working 10-11 hours a day. But it is all worth it to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s trying to fit it wherever I can in the day-to-day,\u201d Heredia said.<\/p>\n
Marquette men\u2019s tennis head coach Jud Shaufler has always seen Heredia\u2019s motivation, all the way back to Heredia\u2019s time as a player and Shaufler\u2019s time as an assistant under Steve Rodecap. It made Heredia one of Shaufler\u2019s all-time favorites.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a ton of respect for his competitive fire, and when a player shows me that kind of heart, it makes it easy to coach,\u201d Shaufler said. \u201cHe was always easy to coach, because I knew that he was going to lay it all on the line for me, so that immediately bonded us together a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heredia\u2019s eye for detail stood out to Shaufler in his leadership style, as this serves as his first collegiate coaching opportunity in his young career.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not going to soft soak anything, if he sees a guy isn\u2019t competing hard enough, they\u2019re not coachable or not changing a losing game, he\u2019s going to be pretty honest,\u201d Shaufler said. \u201cThat\u2019s a good quality to have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teddy Wong, a senior from River Hills, Wis., said that Heredia\u2019s insight and high-level experience has added a new perspective in which to learn from.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows what it takes to be a good team and to be successful in the Big East,\u201d Wong said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Against Creighton on April 10, sophomore Clayton Anderson found himself trailing after an 0-6 first set at the No. 3 singles position. With Heredia\u2019s help, he gave up only five more games the rest of the match and won in three sets.<\/p>\n
\u201cLuis was noticing my shot quality. It was landing short often, he helped me get through the mental block, a little bit more depth, using my spin and spreading the cord a bit,\u201d Anderson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As Heredia\u2019s first season coaching Marquette tennis wraps up soon, the aspects of combining his love of tennis with his alma mater has fueled his fire to pursue this pathway.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Marquette has been the most important period of my life,\u201d Heredia said. \u201cIn the transition from one place to another, having Milwaukee as my home \u2014 it\u2019s giving back, just being involved in the sport and being present here is what motivates me to be able to help them every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n