Alex Kerr's union with Texas Tech soccer a success playing for dad's college teammate

In Tom Stone's experience, graduate transfers switch schools for a few different reasons.

The Texas Tech soccer coach has heard it all. Maybe they're not quite ready to let the game go. Perhaps it's in search of a different ending to their career, a change of scenery, a new experience.

Alex Kerr was different.

Stone's known Kerr most of her life. The daughter of Stone's former college teammate, Kerr first met Stone when she was about 1½ years old. She was seated next to her twin brother Cameron in a stroller rolling toward Stone's mother's home. Their relationship, though, didn't extend much beyond reunions for the 1986 Duke men's soccer national championship team — which came from Stone's game-winning kick and Kerr's dad, John, being the nation's top player that season.

Stone knew Kerr enough to call her when she entered the transfer portal. Four years at Vanderbilt were enough for Kerr. She got away from home, had the big-city experience, had some success with the Commodores.

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It wasn't enough.

"For Alex, it was like, 'I've got more to do,'" Stone said.

Kerr wanted to be a full-time player, to give herself a chance to play beyond college. Stone liked what he heard. And Texas Tech needed another scoring punch.

Nothing was promised to Kerr, but they decided to go for it. The union has gone even better than either had hoped.

"The team is just so close and just so awesome," Kerr said. "It's just so fun to be around them all the time."

Going exploring

The Kerrs are to soccer as fish are to water.

It begins with Kerr's grandfather, John Sr., who was a prominent figure in the Washington, D.C., soccer scene. The patriarch of the family dynasty was an all-star midfielder for the New York Cosmos, for a time teammates with the legendary Pele. John Sr. was also a youth coach and, in 1979, led the North American Soccer League player strike that resulted in higher salaries.

His son, John Jr., took the lead from there. A standout at Duke, John Jr. won the Herman Trophy, awarded to the nation's best soccer player, in the 1986 campaign. He later married Tracy, a standout at the University of Virginia herself, and became the Blue Devils coach, where he coaches Cameron and Kerr's younger brother, Drew.

John and Tracy didn't force soccer on their three kids. Kerr said she and her two brothers were encouraged to try other sports, though they all wound up following the family tradition. It took until high school for Kerr, with her mom coaching her club team, to dedicate herself to the pitch after giving basketball and tennis a try.

Duke would've been an obvious choice for Kerr's college career. As would Virginia, which she also considered. She decided to head to Nashville instead.

"I knew that I didn't want to stay close to home," Kerr said. "My brothers are a little bit more homebodies than me, and I like to explore. I like to kind of try new things."

Stone knew Kerr wasn't going to Duke, but he also knew she wasn't going to head too far west. Tech wasn't in the running for her services at first.

Then the stars aligned.

Better than imagined

Kerr picked up more than soccer ability from her parents. Stone sees her steely resolve and likens it to what he saw from her father.

"She is emotionally invested in the game and the team," Stone said. "She is not playing with her emotions on her sleeve. She is freaking straight-faced, poker-faced. Focus. She's not 'ah' when she doesn't score. She's not barking at the ref. She is laser-focused on the task at hand. There's no emotional wavering in the game. She is absolutely solid, and that's exactly how John played."

That mentality came through in Tech's first match of the NCAA Tournament. The Red Raiders hammered away at the Florida Gulf Coast defense but couldn't get the ball in the net. Kerr found a way to get it done, scoring what wound up as the game-winner in the 78th minute.

"We were knocking on the door all day," Kerr said after the 1-0 win. "We just had so many chances and we just didn't panic, and we just knew it was coming."

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Kerr has more than made the most of her last college season. Entering Friday's match against Princeton, Kerr has almost doubled every career best from Vanderbilt. She's second on the team in goals (11) and points (27), while playing the most minutes of her career.

With that success comes confidence, which Kerr found with a little nudging from Stone.

"They needed to hear from Alex," Stone said, "and when she started to speak up in team meetings and stuff, it was really impressive. I was pretty much blown away by her immediate assimilation into the team setting and then how she's made it better not only on the field, but in the locker room."

Stone needed another scorer. Kerr needed one last chance to prove herself. Joining forces couldn't have worked out better for either.

"I'm just so grateful," Kerr said. "I never, never imagined that my final year would be this good."

Texas Tech vs. Princeton

What: NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament (Second Round)

When: 6 p.m. Friday

Where: John Walker Soccer Complex

Records: Texas Tech 16-1-4; Princeton 10-5-3

Notable: The winner of the Texas Tech/Princeton match will face the North Carolina/Alabama winner in the third round, which will be Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Walker Soccer Complex. The Tar Heels and Crimson Tide open Friday's action at 2:30 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Alex Kerr's union with Texas Tech soccer a success playing for dad's college teammate