1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - How to prepare Athletics for B1G tournament - April 20, 2026 - 11:25am

Episode Date: April 20, 2026

How to prepare Athletics for B1G tournamentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Back to one-on-one with D.P. Sponsored by the Downtown Lincoln Foundation on 93-7 the ticket. Welcome back, one-on-one coach, Hermando Magro, Husker Women's Tennis, as they head to Columbus, Ohio. For the first round of the Big Tens, and the weather, kind, sir, is going to play along, it appears, although rain on Wednesday. Wednesday we play Thursday okay so there's a break 37 yeah it's a break and I think 77 yeah I think it looked warm enough

but we play at 9 a.m. on Thursday morning so that's an early match so hopefully it's warm enough that we can play outdoors what's the know what how warm does it have to be has to be 50 and above for two the three hours of the match so let's say your match starts at nine so nine and 10 need to be or nine and 11 or whatever you want to put two or three hours of the of the mat to be 50 degrees and above.

It'll be 59 degrees at 7 a.m. So likely. Likely will be outdoors. Likely you'll be outdoors. And does that, you have players who are better players outdoors versus indoors. Does that ever play into it? I mean, it definitely plays into it.

I think it's like a combination of both, you know, you're playing or you can handle some elements better or you just feel a little more comfortable, you know. We have a few players. that, you know, play well outside and then a few others that play well inside or they feel like they like it more because there is less elements. But to me, that's more of like just being able to be adaptable

and handle a little bit of that adversity. You know, like, if players is like, well, indoors is easy because there's no wind, there's no sun, there is no variables. To me, it's more like, you know, hey, I'm, you know, if I'm not strong enough that I can handle it, you know, some game styles definitely plays into, but for the majority, I think, it's like, I like our team just to just to be like, hey, just bring whatever, I'm ready, you know.

The psychology behind all of it, you talk about playing well, you get on a roll, you get some big 10 wins, then you have two where you stub your toe before the tournament. Now, the ability to recalculate, to reset the brain. That's an interesting place to get into is the, is the ability. brain of a collegiate athlete, especially a high level collegiate athlete. Tough brain to get into, yeah. How do you reset and say, okay, you forget about, learn from the less than performance and give yourself the opportunity to prepare to win a big 10 tournament match? I think it's the biggest part I see is not to get to hunt up on one match, you know,

and then you get a look at your body of work. And then one loss or one match doesn't define you, you know? That's instead of stone. I think now it's kind of like a new season type of deal, postseason, you know, conference. So it's almost started like, you know, zero zero and then start fresh and then try to reset and learn a little bit. And hopefully it keeps you like mad enough, you know. I was like, I hope we're disappointed. I hope we're upset, you know, like.

But then not what we do, how we respond. is going to be the biggest different, you know, how we respond to what happens, right? So, yeah, we take a loss and then how we respond now is going to, you know, be more important than what happened, right? So now we just kind of try to turn the page and trying to be ready, learn a little bit from your mistakes. And kind of like maybe if you just, you know, energy wasn't great or you were too nervous, you know, I think we were a little more nervous than anything yesterday. I think, you know, kind of more like, you know, we were playing for something bigger than we have play here, you know, in my time here, right, for an interleaders, you know, like going there. So just kind of feel maybe the pressure got to us. Now we're kind of like, well, now we're just a step behind now.

So now we just got to go and chase it and go be fearless and then go compete. And then at the end of the day, I kind of told them that a little bit yesterday, too, you know, we lost the doubles point. And I was like, hey, at the end of the day, I just, you know, I just don't want us to lose because we. we were afraid to lose. I just want us to go play and play to win. And then whatever it happened, happens, you know. There's so much, there's so much brilliant in that. I was talking to Harrison yesterday.

And he asked as a coach, how do you have players in the moment? How do you, what are the things that you say to get players to reset right then, wherever they are? What do you say to your players to get them? Because it's always, no matter what? what the score is, it's next point, it's next serve, it's next return. It is clear the deck. What do you say to your young ladies?

Yeah, sometimes I think the nerds, so they start playing the score lines in their head, you know, they get that anxiety or that like, that panic almost like if something doesn't go their way, they start playing it out, you know, the ending, right? Yeah. With that happened, be like, well, if I lost this, I'm going to lose this lead or if I lose this, say that I might lose the match. So they start overthinking, over analyzing, and then just they lose control of the controllables in the now.

So try to just keep mentioning, you know, that just the process over outcome, the process over that, of that, just nothing too much about the scoreland and just play the point in front of you. Just stay in the moment the best you can, control the controllables, you know, not to get too far ahead of yourself, but that's a don't overlook the past too much, you know. A point is a point. You know, I always tell them it's like, if you lose a point,

I don't want that that point cost you three points. Because sometimes when you're like, when you get too emotional, would you lose a point? Sometimes the next point or two, you don't play them very clear. So you might lose two points instead of one. So then it's like if you win a point, also like you get you get hyped, but doesn't, don't get overhype either. You know, you got to try to stay somehow center and then manage those like ups and downs. And to me, I think the team that can think a little more clear, I have that more of a, of a calm energy, but still be energy towards the end of matches,

I think you can execute better. If we're very, like, foggy mind there and you're, your stress or you're thinking too many things at the one time, you know, I think you don't make good decisions. You, watching you in match is pretty spectacular because the women's tennis is louder than the men. And I thought it would be the opposite. I thought that, that it would, but the screen.

screaming and the yelling is almost cheering themselves on. And then maybe reminding a teammate two courts away, hey, good things are happening. Exactly, yeah. Is that how you look at it? Because you try to dance in between the yells. And it's almost like if somebody's yelling on court four, you're on court one, somebody's yelling at court four.

Your eyes are drawn to that. Yeah. And then you have to decide, is that something I need to interrupt or is that something I need to add to? Yeah, sometimes you like to see if it's a yell of excitement of a yell of frustration, you know. What are he doing? If it's too much of frustration, you'd be like, all right, let's go check, check that out. What's happening?

You know, if it's excitement, you want to, you know, acknowledge that and then, like, let's keep going, you know? No, it's good. I think it's like, you know, I think in college tennis, momentum's go up and down, like, very quick. Sometimes, you know, one or two points kind of like switch momentum around. So we try to try to tell the team, just to kind of be in the present and show presence. You know, how... Hey, Ontario. Come on down to BedMGM Casino and check out our newest exclusive.

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What do you say to that, that there are those who yell to add momentum, but there's also the thing that people will say, well, act like you've been there, right? So don't, that point, that shot I just made, I do that all the time. Exactly, yeah. Yeah, it's a good balance. You know, we have some players that are yelled, you know, enough to kind of show that, like, hey, I'm here in this match, I'm competitive. And some others that are like a little more quiet, but they're kind of, you know,

more reserve when it comes to that energy type. But yeah, you kind of want to act like you've been there before, but you also don't want to just be quiet. You know, you want to show your team. You want to show your opponents that you're like, hey, I'm invested in days. I'm in here. I'm fighting.

I'm going to do whatever it takes, you know? It's always fascinating to me again, proximity. And first of all, thank you for giving us access and having us around the program, Nick Sandert, Nick Wyman, Rudy. They've all been, like, you've opened a new space for them. It's a learn what college athletics can be at Nebraska and the behind-the-scenes work. I know Bach has, you know, there's certainly more intrigue about it and interest in it.

Getting proximity does that. So we appreciate the fact that you have trusted us to try and add to telling your story and to be able to do that. I appreciate you guys for, you know, for supporting us. and given, you know, women's tennis or tennis in general, you know, a little more of a presence, you know, to all the people that don't know much about our sport, you know, and I think so. I appreciate you guys for all your support, you know, it's been awesome. It's been a great partnership and we're going to do more. That's that I can promise you.

We were talking in the previous segment about recruiting and how a lot of the sports talk. conversation has been about facility and money and NIL and all the things. So as the leader of the program, what are the things that the athletes, and it may be athletes and parents, right? Because sometimes the parent really has to say so. Sometimes it's the athlete. Listen, mom, dad, chill. I got this. Sometimes it's a cumbo, yeah. Right. So what are the things that jump to the top of? the list because there was a ton of conversation about facility and money and resources to facilities and while I know that the Dylan Tennis Center stands it in the top third of the Big Ten and that when I hear opponents come in and go wow okay this is nice I want to know what

they tell you is the thing the reasons why they would choose Nebraska and where facilities rank in that list. You know, it's a isn't that conversation. I don't know necessarily at times will be at times depending who you, which recruit you talk to isn't their top five.

At times it's not. I think it's a, you know, academics is a high topic that we always talk about, you know, academic rankings or academic standards because in women's tennis academics seems to be a priority since about 99% of the student athletes, you know, will not go professional, you know.

There's a small percentage that will go pro, right? But the rest will not. So they look at academics very highly. Location is in that conversation quite often. But then after that is more about developing. It's about relationships. It's about the people, you know, and the resources you offer them, you know, for them to be kind of like, it's like a more holistic version.

You know, I try to approach it more of a holistic version. You know, we want to try to develop them on a number. off the core, you know, not just in life skills as well, you know, but also on the, you know, on the physical side, on the tennis side, you know, whatever is the sport performance side or the nutrition side, kind of all like, I feel like we offer a whole package. It's not just a facility or it's not just like tennis, you know, I think you offer everything. So, so we try to sell more of, that you can get better in tennis, but also you can, you know, you can be a better person when you come out of it.

You can have a successful experience. Win or lose matches. We hope that you experience here is a positive one because of the people. And I think sometimes I ask our recruits now that I've already been here and kind of what, you know, what they feel like it is, you know, and they always go around, you know, we just have great people here. You know, and then the facilities is obviously helpful, you know. It's never harmful, you know, which is a good thing, you know.

but then you go back to the people. It goes back to like, you know, like, hey, how practice are or, you know, are developing or it's like, oh, the level, you know, I'm getting better there or, you know, things like that. Depending the level of recruit you talk to, then they talk to you about money or they talk to you about level or they talk about ranking, some recruits like, I want to go to a team that is top 20 in the country, you know?

I want to go to a team that is top 10, you know, because that's the level I think I have, you know? So sometimes they tell you, they talk about, about that, you know, about a ranking, academic ranking, you know, and then a little bit of a location, a little bit of weather sometimes depending where they're coming from, you know? So it's a combination. It's just like I always ask those questions to them, like what's important to them, you know, and then depending what's important to them, then you try to navigate what you share, what you talk to them and see what's important to them. It's also what's important

to us. I mean, if we match. Yeah, I would think that sometimes in those conversations, you figure out, hey, we can date. And then sometimes as you go, no, we're not meant for each other. You've got a different priority. It's been quite a few of those conversations. You know, I've given up on a couple of recruits that I think they're really good players, but they know my big great team players. And then they're more about themselves, you know, than they are maybe about the team.

So maybe in a culture-wise and how they match, you might not be a great feat, even though I might help you win a few more matches. So it's like it is a little catch-22, you know, what you want, I just think in your process on what you do daily and the people you surround yourself, it kind of makes your experience so much better. You know, so win or lose, you want to do with the people that you care about, people that are supporting you that are in your corner. Yeah, and that thing, can you make us better? Can we make you better? Yeah. Like, it's really that meeting on the bridge. Recruiting is really that thing.

Meet me on the bridge. Tell me where you're from and where you're trying to go. We can help you get there. Maybe we can both get there together. We'll go to break. We'll come back. We'll close that with this. One, we'll set the table for the big tens. And we'll see if we can get a coach to give us a little hand on the line-up since he had to declare earlier. He probably won't, but we'll ask anyway.

But the other side of it is this. When you talk about facility, I think most fans forget the part. As an athlete, I know, I spent more time in the practice facility and in the rehab center and in the hallways, then I did the stadium we played in. The stadium we played, I spent less time in the stadium that we played in than the classrooms and the practice.

I think those are more important. Yeah. So we'll ask coach about that when we come back and close out one-on-one.