From the streets of Madrid to the brick sidewalks of N.C. State comes a great example of the diversity found within the Wolfpack community. Jaime Pulgar, a junior tennis player, is no doubt one of the key assets to the success of the men’s tennis team. Having been born in Spain, living in Madrid his entire life, and a great deal of school-searching, Pulgar decided he felt at home in Raleigh.
“I had an agent that was looking at several schools and scholarships,” Pulgar said. “I came here for a visit and I liked it so much that I decided to come here.”
Pulgar found his knack for tennis during a chance encounter while on a vacation with his brother, who also plays college tennis.
“I have a twin brother so I started to play with him when we were at the beach,” Pulgar said. “After one summer, someone suggested that we start taking tennis lessons.”
From that point on, Pulgar only got better and better at the sport. When he came to visit State in 2008, he was ranked 83 nationally in Spain’s senior division. This did not go unnoticed, especially not by men’s tennis coach Jon Choboy.
“He was nationally ranked pretty high in the men’s ranking over there,” Choboy said. “He had very good results and he played a lot of men’s tennis. There are a lot of other players there and he was ranked 83 in Spain in the men’s national ranking when, obviously, [Rafael] Nadal was number 1. He has very good credentials.”
Since joining the Wolfpack, Pulgar has worked extremely hard to reach his potential and earn the respect of his coach and his teammates.
“One good thing about him is he’s becoming an all around player,” Choboy said. “He was sort of one dimensional when he got here even though he did very well. He’s got an all around game now. He’s a very good doubles player, as well.
“He’s emerging as a leader, somebody who’s able to talk to the rest of the guys, especially the younger guys. He works so hard so they listen when he has something to say.”
During the past summer, Pulgar’s hard work paid off when he made it onto the ACC rankings. Currently he is the highest ranked player on the team, ranked no. 61 nationally in singles play.
“I think that [becoming nationally ranked] was a great memory,” Pulgar said. “I feel like all the hard work I put in paid off.”
Some coaches complain about their players not working hard enough. With Pulgar, the coaching staff has the opposite problem.
“I have to kind of tell him sometimes to back down a little bit on how much he’s putting in, as far as work,” Choboy said. “I have to tell him to turn it down a little. We’ll practice for two and a half hours and he may practice another two hours that day. At certain times of the year that is fine but he’s just used to working a lot. But I’d rather have that then have it the other way around. He’s an extremely hard-working kid.”
The court is not the only place that you will find Pulgar putting his skills to work. He is ahead of schedule academically and has been on the ACC Honor Roll since he has been a part of the Pack; he is very close to completing his first degree even though it is only his third year at State.
There is a lot more to Jaime then just school and tennis, as he enjoys all sports but his favorites are football (soccer) and basketball.
“I love football,” Pulgar said. “Real football. Well, soccer, in America. I am a huge fan of Real Madrid. My favorite player is Ronaldo. I also love Rafa Nadal. When I am warming up, I’m either wearing a Rafa shirt, a Spanish national team shirt, or a Real Madrid jersey.”
Choboy likes to joke around with Pulgar about his love for Real Madrid.
“You don’t want to talk to him about Barcelona football as opposed to Madrid,” Choboy said. “I’m going to tell him Barcelona’s the best. You don’t want to get into it with him. He takes it pretty seriously.”
So far this season, Pulgar has helped N.C. State achieve the No. 57 rank nationally and is 3-1 in both singles and doubles.