Barthel and Coetzee Earn Degrees

Lincoln - Two former men's tennis players, Joerg Barthel and Sean Coetzee, were among the 44 student-athletes who earned degrees Saturday from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln during commencement ceremonies at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Nebraska’s graduating class of student-athletes was nearly 30 percent larger than last December’s group of 31 graduates. The Huskers’ 44-member graduating class consists of student-athletes from 14 U.S. states and three foreign countries, including Germany, Latvia and South Africa. Nearly all of Nebraska’s varsity teams are represented in the group, while the Huskers graduated with nearly 20 different majors in their fields of study. Despite the diversity of the group, a total of 20 Nebraska natives made up nearly half of the class.

Barthel and Coetzee each earned their degree after playing under head coach Kerry McDermott on the NU men's tennis team. Coetzee, who graduated with a degree in marketing, was a three-year letterwinner for the Huskers, from 2004-06. Barthel, who graduated with a degree in International Studies, was a four-year letterwinner at NU, playing from 2003-06. Barthel was just recently introduced as Nebraska's graduate assistant coach after serving as a volunteer assistant coach last season. Barthel will assume his assistant coaching duties this season and will work alongside McDermott as the Huskers begin their fall season on Jan. 19.