As he approaches the conclusion of his time at Auburn and upcoming commencement exercises this weekend from the Harbert College of Business, Brandon Laubser has accomplished much during his Auburn career.
On the tennis court, the senior from Johannesburg, South Africa, was a four-year regular for the Tigers, posting 66 career wins in singles and 44 wins in doubles, and helping Auburn post 48 team wins. Laubser's top Oracle/ITA national rankings came during his senior season, at No. 77 in singles and No. 45 in doubles paired with Tad Maclean.
An honor student in accounting, he was recognized at the 2018-19 AUSPY awards as the top male scholar-athlete on campus with a 3.91 overall GPA. A nominee for the SEC scholar-athlete of the year and Academic All-America, Laubser has been recognized as an ITA Scholar-Athlete and an Academic Top Tiger and is a member of the SEC academic honor roll, the AD Honor Roll and Chi Alpha Sigma national student-athlete honor society.
Yet this Auburn Man is more than a list of accomplishments, and will leave the Plains with fond memories.
"I've grown a lot coming to Auburn," Laubser explains. "Back home, I had a lot of things done for me, so I didn't really have to do things for myself. Coming here to Auburn gave me the opportunity to grow as a person and a tennis player.
"I feel like I've improved as a tennis player and that I've put in a lot of hours at Auburn. I feel like Auburn has helped me improve every aspect of my life and I'm thankful. I am going to be able to use that going forward, whether that's in tennis or my professional career.
"And the memories have been amazing, the friends I've met and relationships I will keep forever. My favorite memory has to be the 2017 Iron Bowl, where we got to storm the field, but I've made so many countless memories during my time here at Auburn."
"There's not a bad thing anyone who knows him could say about Brandon," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds adds. "I think the best way to describe him is that he is the prototypical student-athlete that every coach is looking for.
"It's everything that he means and brings to the team. He is an unbelievable student in the classroom. He takes care of everything that needs to be done for him to succeed.
"He's got unbelievable grades in accounting, he shows up every day to practice with a smile on his face, he works his tail off in conditioning and lifting, and on the tennis court, he gives 110%. He just comes out, works and gives his best. It's no secret why his GPA is so good, and that focus follows him on the tennis court. He walks out here every day ready to go and leads by example.
"This year, with him being the only senior on the team, we've had to pull him a little out of his comfort zone, but because of his character and work ethic, guys look up to him," Coach Reynolds adds. "It's always interesting to see what guys will do following graduation, whether that's continue to play tennis and try the tour or going to get a master's somewhere. Brandon has the opportunity to do both because of how he's set himself up."