Naperville North honors alum who became Olympian, broadcaster

Kevin Barnett's successes as a two-time Olympic volleyball player and a three-time Olympic broadcaster made him a recipient of the Learners to Leaders award from his alma mater, Naperville North High School.

But as he told roughly 70 students Wednesday, his failures and the tough times he's faced truly made him who he is.

Barnett described his high school approach to academics and behavior as less than exemplary and his 10-year professional volleyball career as an up-and-down trajectory, but said he's found success by simply being passionate enough to show up.

"I made two careers out of things you don't make careers out of," said Barnett, who played for the 2000 and 2004 Olympic volleyball teams. "I got to be a professional athlete and now I get to be a professional broadcaster."

Barnett, who is now a play-by-play announcer for volleyball, basketball, football and racing on NBC, ESPN, FOX Sports and the Pac-12 Network, received the Learners to Leaders award Tuesday night before a boys volleyball game against Benet Academy.

Naperville North has awarded two alumni with the honor each year since 2006. Also recognized this year was children's book author Meg Fleming. Past recipients include "Biggest Loser" trainer Jennifer Widerstrom, political and public policy leader Michael Sommers and radio broadcaster Carmen DeFalco.

Barnett, 42, said the award came as a surprise because he wasn't a good student at North, but he appreciated the chance to return and share his story.

With just two years' experience playing volleyball at North, Barnett headed west 17 days after his 1992 high school graduation to spend a year playing volleyball on the beach.

He worked odd jobs at restaurants, a record store and a fitness center - mainly at night - so he could practice his beach game during the day. When he was kicked out of his uncle's house after a month, he rented an apartment he could barely afford and was surprised to find that unlike everywhere else he had lived growing up, it didn't contain a bed. He slept on the floor to start and scraped by.

"I had a little bit of maturing to do after leaving here in 1992," he said. "I struggled through that year."

But soon he was going to junior college and playing as a sub on the LA Pierce school team. He transferred to Pepperdine University and worked his way onto the team there, then got a spot on the U.S. National team in 1997. He improved from sub to starter to team MVP in 1998, but then he got injured.

Barnett said he barely secured a spot on the 2000 Olympic team and didn't play much that year. His playing time with the national squad and on professional teams overseas in Italy, Austria and Belgium rose and fell with his injury status, but by the 2004 Olympics he was ready to shine.

The U.S. men finished fourth in the Olympics that year, with Naperville's hometown player as MVP. But with one too many knee injuries in his past, Barnett's volleyball career was over.

"At 31, I went from MVP to 'What am I going to do? What am I going to be?'" he said. "That is an incredible challenge to go from the pinnacle of something back to the bottom of whatever."

In 2007, Barnett got a chance to be a broadcast analyst, traveling with the U.S. team and serving as the volleyball expert for games aired on TV. But because volleyball isn't on TV too often, he needed to diversify, so he started asking to be the play-by-play broadcaster and calling games for other sports.

"If people ask, 'Have you ever done it?' or 'Can you do it?' the answer is 'yes,'" he said. "Structure your life around your passion and go get what you want."

Naperville North senior volleyball player Emily Housey said she enjoyed Barnett's talk and found it interesting and inspiring that he encouraged students to work at what they enjoy, not necessarily what makes the most money.

"You have to just be willing to work and show up and get better," he said.