COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - Taylor Duncan doesn't have many idle moments.

The Saint John's senior never has. And that's just the way he likes it.

"That's my whole life story," said Duncan, a veteran leader on the Johnnie tennis team. "I'm always picking things up, but I'm never able to put stuff down. I'm always adding new hobbies. There's now a 3D printer in my room because I started getting interested in that last year.

"I love learning new things and stimulating my brain. That's what makes being at a liberal arts school like this so exciting. I constantly have the chance to gain new knowledge and experience in just about every category under the sun."

Duncan has cut a broad swath during his time on campus. In addition to tennis, where he's been a regular contributor for four years now, he also plays in the CSB and SJU Jazz Ensemble, serves on the SJU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and has worked as a student orientation leader – helping new students find their way around campus and into college life.

"I stay pretty busy," said Duncan, a global business leadership major and data analytics minor who earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Scholar-Athlete status a year ago.

"It was the same way in high school (in Benson, Minn.). It's a smaller community. My graduating class only had around 50 students. So if you wanted to have a band or choir, if you wanted to have a tennis or cross-country team, you needed a lot of that group to participate. I tried to fill in any gaps as best I could."

That's still the case now. Duncan – whose father Brock was the longtime band director at Benson High School – played percussion in the jazz ensemble as a freshman and sophomore. But when a need for trombone players arose last year, he eagerly volunteered to make the switch to an instrument he'd never previously played.

"It was a challenge at first, but now it's really cool to be able to play something new," said Duncan, whose mother Anne is an elementary school teacher in Benson. "A year ago, I never dreamed I'd be playing trombone and now I love it. On the drums, you're only playing patterns. On trombone, you get to play the actual melody."

That adaptability extends to the tennis court where Duncan has always been willing to do what's asked of him – including now serving as a mentor to the team's younger players.

"The guy is amazing," SJU head coach Jack Bowe said. "We leave practice and all the guys pile into Taylor's car so he can give them a ride home. He's an amazing team leader. If I need someone to have lunch with a recruit, or give them a tour, he's my go-to guy. He's always there to help with any prospective student.

"I've never seen Taylor have a bad day. He's always up, up, up with people."

Duncan said it's really an example of things coming full circle. He began taking lessons from Bowe – who has long run a tennis academy in the St. Cloud area – when he was in eighth grade, making the hour-plus drive each way from Benson.

"That was how I first got introduced to Saint John's and the tennis program here," he said. "I got to know a lot of the players on the team at that time. They gave me tours of campus and encouraged me in my game. They talked to me about how much they liked it here and that got me interested too.

"Thomas Gillach '21 and Logan Lintvedt '21 were two guys who really took me under their wing," he continued. "I still talk to them all the time, even to this day. Those guys are the role models I'm trying to emulate with the younger guys and potential recruits. 

"It's crazy to think that I'm in their role now. Last year, I played doubles with (current sophomore) Cole Haabala. He's a guy I coached in group lessons before he came here. One day, he'll be doing that for someone else. That's the kind of community that exists here."

It's a community Duncan is grateful to be part of.

"You have the chance to be involved in so many different things here," he said. "I'm really lucky to be able to continue to play music and be part of a tennis team … to have coaches who understand I'm involved in a lot of stuff and find ways to make it work.

"I can't imagine having a better college experience."