Senior Sascha Heinemann was the first of three straight WAC Freshman of the Year for University of Hawai'i tennis. He was selfless and smart enough to realize that one is not enough.

Heinemann played No. 1 as a freshman and shared time there with Andreas Weber — another German he convinced to come here — as a sophomore, when Heinemann was ranked as high as No. 74. He went 20-5 last year playing Nos. 1, 2 and 3, winning his last 10 matches with a streak that helped the 'Bows capture their first WAC title and advance to the NCAA Championship.

It happened because he took a chance on a third-year coach in a place far removed from Eschwege, Germany ... in every imaginable way.

"He was the first top recruit I got and as a result other kids came," said UH coach John Nelson, now in his sixth year. "He is the backbone of our program and he honestly doesn't care if he's playing 1, 2, 3 or 4. He just wants to help the team. He's worked very hard on his game. He'll be successful at anything he does in life. He has such a great work ethic. He shows up every day and gives it his all."

As UH prepares for its final regular-season home match, Saturday at noon against USF, Heinemann has been instrumental in the Rainbow Warriors' rise: He has been active and adamant about helping Nelson bring in players that could beat him.

Heinemann first heard about Hawai'i from another German, Alexander Waske, the 2000 Mountain West Player of the Year for Nelson at San Diego State. Waske has gone on to reach the Top 100 in the world in singles and Top 20 in doubles.

"Coach has the reputation," Heinemann said. "Players know about him so it was just a question of time until he got the good player. I was the first one to step up and say, 'OK, I heard you are a great coach, I'll give you a chance.' It was a great choice, otherwise, I would have left.

"I'm the one that got Andy (Weber), then Dennis (Lajola) came. Because Dennis and Andy and I were here, Leo (Rosenberg) decided to come. Now I'm talking to some other guys."

It wasn't always easy for Heinemann, and he won't be here much longer. Despite taking English since the fifth grade, his first semester was frantic as he struggled to understand professors and express himself.

"At the beginning I thought it was OK," he recalled, "but all I was doing was studying, eating, sleeping and playing tennis almost the whole first semester."

Conversational English kicked in his second semester. He has WAC Academic honors to bookend all-WAC tennis honors.

"I study less and do better," he said. "It's better that way."

The affable Heinemann is now so comfortable here, and has developed so many friendships in Hawai'i's "polite culture," he considers it his second home. But when the 'Bows' quest to defend their WAC title — at home April 24 to 26 — and break into the Sweet 16 is done, so is he, two classes short of his degree in international business.

"My goal is to make the top 300 in the world in a year," he said. "If I do that I know I can come back and get my degree."

His lifelong dream of playing professionally begins the moment his college career ends. He already has precise plans for conditioning in Germany, playing on a club team, then trekking through Europe, South America, the U.S. and Japan to play Futures events and raise his ranking inside the top 600. From there, it's on to Challengers — especially January's at CORP.

"I like coming back, like seeing the team," he said. "I know they're just going to get better. Now we made the start and won the WAC and I'm sure we'll do good this year, too. We have a great team."

Heinemann is so focused he sometimes speaks as if he is already gone, but no one worries about his loyalty. He speaks freely of "feeling responsible" for the program. Nelson admits he "built the team around" Heinemann and teammates have no problem with that.

"He's selfless, has a team attitude," Nelson said. "He wants the team to do well. In an individual sport, there are guys that are selfish. The guys here ... I look for nice guys who work hard and he was a nice guy who works hard and he brought in other people. ... He sets the tone for where we are."

NOTES

The men's tennis team will be honored at halftime of Saturday's UH mens basketball game.

A Friends and Family of University of Hawai'i Tennis group had its first meeting last week. The group is designed to help the men's and women's teams and both coaches are involved. For more information, contact UH assistant coach Mike Burger at mburger@hawaii.edu or 398-6441.

One of the first goals of the group is to help UH pay for its trip to Alabama in two weeks for the Blue Gray Classic. The 'Bows, who dropped from 52nd to 71st in this week's rankings, were one of 16 ranked teams to be invited.

Hawai'i has two more seniors on its roster — Jeff Fitch, one of the heroes at last year's WAC Championship, and Roosevelt graduate Kevin Okasaki.