Trying to Make Cents From a Racket : Calabasas’ Steve Wiere Leaves College a Year Early to Give Professional Tennis a Try

A single notion occupies the thoughts and influences the actions of Steve Wiere. It’s one that made him leave college after three years and the same one that sends him through rigorous five-hour workouts every day.

Wiere is pursuing a professional tennis career.

“I knew when I was 12 that playing tennis was the only thing I wanted to do,” said Wiere, a 21-year-old from Calabasas who previously competed in soccer, track, swimming and gymnastics as well as tennis.

For Wiere, success came quickly and now his early ambitions may be a step closer to reality.

At 12, Wiere was ranked in the top 20 in his age division in California. As a 14-year-old, he was ranked 18th in the state and 22nd in the country.

In his sophomore year at Calabasas High in 1984, Wiere teamed with Steve Oliver, another sophomore, to become the youngest doubles team in 52 years to win a Southern Section individual championship.

Wiere led the Coyotes to four consecutive Frontier League and Southern Section 3-A titles and, as a senior, he was runner-up in the individual Southern Section state singles competition.

Despite being recruited by UC Irvine, Cal State Long Beach and Arizona, Wiere chose to take his talents to the Midwest to compete for Carl Neufeld at Northern Illinois.

Neufeld, who recently was appointed as an assistant at USC, saw Wiere playing at a tournament in Indiana as a junior.

“I kind of recruited him personally,” he recalled. “ I saw a lot of potential and just kept in contact with him. He was a good student and I was recruiting academics. That was most important.”

Some people thought that Wiere had lost his mind when he headed east to the rarely defrosted DeKalb campus, located 60 miles west of Chicago. But Neufeld eased Wiere’s worries about freezing to death by inviting him to visit the campus.

“I wanted him to see this place in the winter,” Neufeld said. “I wanted him to see that it wasn’t 80 degrees below zero and that we don’t walk around in space suits.”

Despite the concerns, Wiere was happy with his choice.

“I needed a change. It gets boring living in perfect weather all the time,” Wiere said. “I visited the school and talked to the players. I just fell in love with the area.”

His opponents, though, might have wished Wiere stayed home.

As the Huskies’ No. 1 player, Wiere has compiled a three-year record of 90-25, including a visit to the NCAA tennis tournament in singles competition as a freshman.

Now, however, Wiere, a sports business major, has decided to forgo his final year at Northern Illinois. He believes that he is ready to take the plunge into the professional tennis world.

“I talked it over with my dad and I just thought that the time was right. He’s kind of disappointed that I didn’t finish my degree, but he’s given me his full support,” Wiere said.

His father, Peter, acknowledged that support: “He’s done well in college and it seems logical for him to give (professional tennis) a try. He’s starting to get results and I like to see him reach his potential. I think he has the capability to be ranked among the top 100 in the world.”

Neufeld would have preferred to see Wiere graduate before tackling the pros, but the coach believes in his protege’s ability.

“He’s really progressed since he’s been here and has done just about everything he could do. There was little more to prove. He was one of the top players in the Midwest,” Neufeld said. “I have no doubt he has the potential to be a pro player. My recommendation to him was to just try it and see how he does.”

Neufeld said that it wouldn’t hurt Wiere to take a year off from school to pursue tennis. He would still retain a year of eligibility to compete collegiately with the exception of NCAA tournament play.

Wiere, however, is rather unconcerned about returning to the university level, saying, “I have confidence I can make it in the pros. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have made the decision. I really don’t see myself playing any more college tennis.”

If early results are an indication, Wiere might know what he’s talking about.

He made a surprising showing in last month’s Los Angeles Volvo Tennis Wild-Card tournament, which served as a qualifier for the actual qualifying for the event. Wiere, who was unseeded, raised some eyebrows when he advanced to the final round of the 200-player tournament before losing.

“It was a major breakthrough for me,” Wiere said. “Deep inside, I was hoping I could make it to Volvo. But to get as close as I did really boosted my confidence.”

Then, fresh off his performance at the Volvo tournament, Wiere reached the final of the Long Beach Open two weeks later.

The seeding committee, obviously impressed by his play two weeks earlier, made Wiere the third-seeded player in the 258-player tournament.

Since leaving Northern Illinois in June, Wiere has compiled a record of 42-6 in nine tournaments.

At 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, Wiere looks more like a football defensive back than a tennis player. Yet Wiere, who works out three to five hours a day incorporating running, biking and swimming into his training regimen, says that his size is an advantage.

“I’m a lot bigger than most players, but I think I’m a lot stronger. My conditioning and especially my endurance also plays a big part and helps a lot toward the end of matches,” he said.

Neufeld added: “Steve’s a pretty big guy, but quick for his size. He plays a very aggressive game. He’s got a real big serve and it’s going to get bigger.”

What will it take for Wiere to make it in pro tennis? To reach that place among the top 100 or so pros?

Neufeld says that Wiere needs to work on his play at the net.

“We’ve worked very hard on his serve-and-volley game and it’s improved, but how much it improves will determine how far he can go,” Neufeld said.

“Steve’s like a skyrocket,” said Mark Winters, a regular observer of the pro tennis scene and public-relations director at the L.A. Tennis Center. “He can be really hot or cold at times. But if he holds it together for an entire match, he’s really tough to beat.”

Wiere is preparing to compete in the ATP Nissan/Hawaiian circuit tour later this month before leaving for South America in January to play in four tournaments in Chile, Argentina and Brazil. “After that, I should have a good idea of how well I stack up,” he said.