Northwestern University Athletics
Spotlight: Northwestern Baseball's Most Interesting Man
5/11/2016 2:24:00 PM | Baseball
Story by Preston Riley Michelson
Cooper Wetherbee was ready for more. He had played club baseball at Northwestern for two years, but it wasn't enough for him.
He needed more of a challenge.
When he came to Evanston in 2013, he joined the Northwestern University Marching Band and played the trumpet, an instrument he took up in the fifth grade.
Wetherbee yearned for a deeper connection to Northwestern athletics.
Before this school year, first-year head coach Spencer Allen held open tryouts for the baseball squad. Wetherbee had thought about walking on to the varsity team over the summer and he emailed the new head coach to tell him he was coming.
"I just felt like it was a great opportunity to finally see if I had what it took to be a Division-I baseball player," the junior said.
He came and he impressed.
"He threw against our guys and had some success," said Allen. "And so we said, 'Hey, what are you doing this spring?' And the rest is kind of history."
Wetherbee was added to the roster and has made 11 appearances out of the Wildcats' bullpen, in addition to four spot starts over the course of his first varsity campaign.
He has had to ramp up his intensity to compete in high-stakes Big Ten play. Allen says he has come a long way.
"He's always had the stuff," he said. "His pitches are good. … It's been fun to watch him continue to grow."
Wetherbee's growth has come off the field as much as it has between the lines. Wetherbee is an economics and environmental science double-major and he says that he took most of his tough classes when he was an underclassman. Now, professors are more understanding, he says. He's able to make it work, and he thinks he would not have been able to a couple of years ago.
Allen is looking forward to watching the Piedmont, California, native impress even more this season — and next year.
"The biggest thing for Coop was making sure that he feels like he can really fit in and compete at this level," he said. "He's had some really, really big spots and so it's been exciting just to watch his maturation as we've gone along this year."
Cooper Wetherbee was ready for more. He had played club baseball at Northwestern for two years, but it wasn't enough for him.
He needed more of a challenge.
When he came to Evanston in 2013, he joined the Northwestern University Marching Band and played the trumpet, an instrument he took up in the fifth grade.
Wetherbee yearned for a deeper connection to Northwestern athletics.
Before this school year, first-year head coach Spencer Allen held open tryouts for the baseball squad. Wetherbee had thought about walking on to the varsity team over the summer and he emailed the new head coach to tell him he was coming.
"I just felt like it was a great opportunity to finally see if I had what it took to be a Division-I baseball player," the junior said.
He came and he impressed.
"He threw against our guys and had some success," said Allen. "And so we said, 'Hey, what are you doing this spring?' And the rest is kind of history."
Wetherbee was added to the roster and has made 11 appearances out of the Wildcats' bullpen, in addition to four spot starts over the course of his first varsity campaign.
He has had to ramp up his intensity to compete in high-stakes Big Ten play. Allen says he has come a long way.
"He's always had the stuff," he said. "His pitches are good. … It's been fun to watch him continue to grow."
Wetherbee's growth has come off the field as much as it has between the lines. Wetherbee is an economics and environmental science double-major and he says that he took most of his tough classes when he was an underclassman. Now, professors are more understanding, he says. He's able to make it work, and he thinks he would not have been able to a couple of years ago.
Allen is looking forward to watching the Piedmont, California, native impress even more this season — and next year.
"The biggest thing for Coop was making sure that he feels like he can really fit in and compete at this level," he said. "He's had some really, really big spots and so it's been exciting just to watch his maturation as we've gone along this year."
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