After training around the world then ending up back in his home state, Auburn’s energizer Nicholas Heng set for one more ride with the Tigers in the NCAA Tournament
A native of Madison in the Huntsville area — who grew up in a family of Alabama football fans — Heng’s journey in tennis took him to Spain then Tulsa before bringing him back to his home state.
Auburn’s two wins over Alabama this season meant just a little more to Nicholas Heng.
Originally from Madison in the Huntsville area, Auburn’s fourth-year standout is the only in-state player on either team’s roster, and surely the only player on either squad to grow up a fan of one of schools in the rivalry. “To have a home-grown Alabama boy playing for our team, it means so much to us,” Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said earlier this season. Heng celebrated his Auburn career earlier this month on Senior Day, and is now gearing up for his last ride with the Tigers this postseason in the NCAA Tournament.
Of course, naturally, there’s a twist to his story: Heng grew up watching Iron Bowls every fall — however:
“My family was actually Alabama football fans growing up,” Heng explained, with a grimace and a smile, back after a 4-0 win for the Tigers over the Tide in March. “That has changed since I came to college. So, yeah, this match, it’s a personal one, because I think Auburn was one of the last schools my parents expected me to go to and choose at the end of the day. It’s really odd growing up being an Alabama football fan and completely switching it up by the time you commit and come to school.”
Heng did that, though, and has been a steady presence — and a vocal presence — for the Tigers through his four years on the Plains, all the way up to this last run with the squad in the NCAA Tournament.
Auburn is ranked No. 20 in the country in the ITA rankings ahead of the NCAA’s selection show scheduled for Monday. The Tigers went 6-8 in the SEC this year, but picked up some signature wins and lasting memories with wins over 15th-ranked Florida, No. 7 LSU, and — yes — two team wins over Alabama, with one coming in non-conference on ITA Kickoff Weekend during qualifying for ITA Indoor Nationals, and the other coming is SEC play.
“You can just feel the electricity when he’s going and screaming and yelling,” Reynolds said of Heng. That’s the vocal presence. Wearing his energy on his sleeve, Reynolds said that energy is infectious and lifts the energy level of his teammates on the courts around him as they play. Meanwhile, Reynolds said, his opponents feel the effect of his forehand: “He moves very well, and if you give him a forehand, you’re probably going to get behind in the point.”
But it wasn’t a straight shot down 65 and 280 for Heng to get to Auburn from Huntsville.
His tennis journey took him through a year of training overseas in Spain, and an academy in — of all places — Oklahoma.
Here is how: