Having your dance card filled back-to-back is something entirely different.
Perhaps men's tennis graduate student Tripp Tuff said it best as DePaul prepares for Friday's NCAA Men's Tennis Championship opener at No. 8 Kentucky.
"Now, this has become our standard," he said. "It's what we expect."
You could be forgiven not sharing that expectation about a Blue Demon program that only returned three starters and had to deftly blend in five newcomers.
Last year, coach Matt Brothers dealt with an entirely different dynamic. He had three graduate students and two seniors as the nucleus of his team along with an extremely talented underclassman named Vito Tonejc who was the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and All-BIG EAST First Team in 2019.
Brothers went back to the drawing board this season focusing on development. He had no idea how Marino Jakic, Leon Huck, Matteo Iaquinto, Jona Gitschel and Sven Moser would perform at the Division I level.
How quickly would the European quintet representing Germany (Huck, Gitschel), Croatia (Jakic), Italy (Iaquinto) and Switzerland (Moser) acclimate to a different culture, a new educational system and a team concept mostly foreign to overseas players.
The way Brothers masterfully charted out the steady maturing of his younger charges while banking on the senior leadership of Tonejc, Tuff and Luuk Wassenaar is the underlying reason the Blue Demons repeated as BIG EAST champions and are headed to the Bluegrass State on Kentucky Derby weekend.
He was at his perceptive best during the fall tournament season filing away mental notes on the tendencies, characteristics and personalities of the new guys both on and off the tennis court.
Even so, there was some tinkering and experimenting during the dual-match season as he searched for the optimum lineup while noting the improvements of his three team leaders.
"As we saw in the BIG EAST tournament, these guys were super composed and got better from the quarterfinals to the semifinals and from the semis to the title match," Brothers said. "That's the most recent development in the last month.
"These guys are all business-like and there's no negativity on the court. Living in the moment for every point. It's great for our future because you typically don't see that in freshmen."
Tonejc, Wassenaar and Tuff instinctively shouldered the burden of leadership without being asked---meeting one-on-one and in player-only gatherings with the new guys.
"It's a completely different group," Wassenaar said. "Last year was led by four seniors and we were all very close. We were called the Band of Brothers. Bringing in the new guys was a little bit of a challenge. Tripp, Vito and I talked about how we see us as a team culture and how do we develop the same thing we had last year.
"We had lots of meetings with the younger guys and talked a lot about what it means to us to be a part of the DePaul men's tennis team and what we would like to see in them. They have done such a phenomenal job. I couldn't have wished for a better group of guys.
"I would say we're the Band of Brothers 2.0 now and ready to get after it."
It wasn't that long ago that Tonejc was a rookie himself, fresh out of Zagreb, Croatia. He knew exactly what Jakic & Co. were experiencing.
"When I first came here, the older guys helped me a lot," Tonejc said. "I came here with a Justin Bieber cut and looked funny. Now, I feel more like a man and not a kid.
"Luuk is one of my best friends on the team and I've been with him the longest. I also had my older brother Fran to guide me with school work and tennis. I helped teach that to the younger guys."
Living as we do in the digital age, the five newcomers were introduced to the Band of Brothers concept by watching a video of last year's BIG EAST title match when Wassenaar somehow rallied from four match points to stun St. John's and score the winning point.
It was a more vivid demonstration of what DePaul tennis is all about than anything Brothers could say or do. They saw the heart and indomitable will of a Blue Demon that has become the hallmark of these back-to-back NCAA teams.
And they wanted to be Just Like Luuk. Or Vito. Or Tripp.
"We definitely have great leadership with Vito at the top" Brothers said. "He is a true professional who leads more by example than his voice.
"I know these guys are all aspiring to be the best tennis players they can be and pay close attention to how Vito prepares, how he practices and in matches. I know they've learned a lot from him.
"Tripp and Luuk have been great captains, and I'm super pleased. The younger guys have shown a lot of composure and a lot of growth. We've been through a lot this year as any young team would.
"These guys are all business-like and there's no negativity on the court. Living in the moment for every point. It's great for our future because you typically don't see that in freshmen."
Motivation can be a powerful weapon along the one-and-done postseason front line. No doubt Brothers and his three "disciples" are on the lookout for just such a flammable spark.
"We proved to ourselves and the other teams in the BIG EAST we were the team to beat in the BIG EAST tournament," Wassenaar said. "We were kind of surprised to be seeded No. 2 and not No. 1 (St. John's). That gave us a little extra fire, especially in the final match against St. John's.
"Last year's NCAA at Illinois was the first time ever in DePaul history, and it was like testing the water. But it gave us the freedom to play our game. The pressure wasn't on us and we had nothing to lose.
"So, we came out swinging and took the doubles point."
Win or lose, Friday will be another moment to remember and cherish.
"It's definitely the team culture," Wassenaar said. "I've bonded with all the guys---they really are my brothers---and these are friendships you'll have for the rest of your life. That's one thing I will bring with me.
"It's a great way to end my career. I'm super excited to get after it with the guys one more time and make a run in the tournament."
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Behind the Scenes: Evolution of Band of Brothers 2.0 - DePaul Blue Demons
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