PROVO, Utah - The 2022-23 season will be Redd Owen's freshman year at BYU. Get to know Redd, his motivators and journey to tennis and BYU:
Journey to Tennis
Redd's father, Brandon, played tennis at the University of Utah. Redd remembers watching his father play in various tournaments after his college career, which Redd's mom, Alissa, encouraged him to do to have a break from work. After matches Redd would ask his dad to take him on the court so they could hit together, leading to his lifelong love of tennis and competition.
Choosing BYU
Because of his dad's alma mater, Redd and his siblings were raised as Utah fans, even holding football season tickets every year. But after being invited to BYU on an official visit, Redd said he fell in love with the atmosphere surrounding the team.
"I wanted to buy in to the mission of BYU, both athletically and academically," he explained.
Mindset
Redd has often been undersized compared to others in his age group, so he focuses on winning the mental game.
"My goal as a tennis player isn't to be the perfect tennis player, but it's to be the sort of tennis player that recognizes that he's not perfect and that he has weakness, but that he can consistently overcome those weaknesses," Redd said.
He takes that same approach to academics. In high school Redd had a 4.0 GPA while still excelling on the tennis court, winning three individual state championships. He was also presented with the Robert Christopher O'Brien Memorial Scholarship, a national award for academic excellence presented by the Washington Crossing Foundation. Redd believes his academic success is another part of developing a winning mindset.
"I think the body and the mind are integrally connected," he adds. "I am of the mindset that as I excel academically, it will only help me on the tennis court. Because I'm not particularly blessed with all the physical gifts that bigger guys may have, I feel like my mind is one of my greatest tools on the tennis court. I view pursuing the growth and life of the mind as working on my tennis game as well."
Family and Faith
Redd is the oldest of four children, all boys, and they all play tennis. The next oldest, Hardy, is committed to join the team in 2024 after his mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Redd served a mission of his own from 2020-22 in West Virginia and Benin and is grateful to have built-in hitting partners at home when he needed to shake off the post-mission rust before coming to BYU.
"Our family loves tennis, it's brought us closer together," Redd says. It's given us all life experiences that taught us much deeper lessons than anything to do with a ball and a racquet."
Redd's BYU debut will be this weekend, Friday and Saturday Sept. 23-24, at the ITA Bedford Cup in the Mountains.