Catching Up with College News at MEQ

College Notes from MEQ

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Awesome catching up with so many people at MEQ. Between college coaches, 2027 prospects and even some VBAdrenaline alumni, I was able to gain quite a bit of insight on some thoughts, perspective and on college programs from people on the inside.

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Rejuvenated and Tall in Boiler Land:

Awesome catching up with Purdue assistant coach John Klanac this weekend. He talked about fun it has been working with their “new group” in West Lafayette. This will be the tallest team ever at Purdue and with 7 new faces showing up in January it truly has felt like a clean start for the program. “We have a great group and so many new faces that want to be here and are excited. They are taking in the training and coaching and are buying in to what Purdue volleyball is all about. I know the focus was on what we lost, but we are really excited about what we added and I’m telling you this group is hungry, come August I think people are overlooking us.” He also talked about how much fun the staff is having with this new group. “It’s been nice to block out the outside noise and just be in our “lab” and do what we love which is COACH girls that want to learn and buy in and get better. We really are jacked up for this group, we are going to be good.”

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The Ville on the Radar

Talking with several top 2027s and the coaching change at Louisville has not swayed the momentum of the program one bit. If anything they are gaining more interest from top 2027 recruits than they did in the past. Here are some quotes from potential prospects for the Cards, that I ran into in Indy…. (Read all comments on The Ville Report Sunday).

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“They are my top school right now. I really like their staff and Dan will do a great job. I have heard great things about the culture there from other players and really like coach CC (McGraw)”

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“Louisville is on my list. The coaching change doesn’t factor in at all, Dan will do a great job also Louisville has a great fanbase now and they win a lot.”

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“I will look at Louisville they do things the right way. Every player I’ve talked to has had great things to say about Dan and the staff. Their fans are supportive and they are the hottest program in that conference.”

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CC McGraw has been a very strong hire for the Cardinals and many recruits have talked about really having a strong connection with her. The entire staff was in attendance at MEQ on Saturday.

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Vandy is really playing volleyball.

I caught up with Vandy Assistant Coach Russel Corbelli on Friday and he talked about how nice it is to be playing volleyball again and how competitive the new Commodores are playing. “You know we thought there might be way more early jitters in the Spring, but our transfers have come in and really set the tone and helped relax and lead our young girls. We were so happy vs. Tennessee in our first Spring match, they didn’t show nervousness at all and really competed from point #1.”

Now of course the program has inexperience and youth, but Coach Corbelli said there is so much excitement around the athletes, staff and Nashville community. “We have so much to do before August, but it’s going to be so worth it. People are really excited and the campus community is really buying in and making this a big deal to support the program. Our athletes are doing their jobs. Obviously as coaches we are ready to get on the court.”

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I also ran into Vandy Freshman OH Maya Witherspoon, who was in town to watch her little sister Shaye. Maya talked about the adjustment to college, but said the staff was really making things easy for the team and helping them through the long transition year without matches. She also talked about training at the college level and how different it is from club.

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DBK itching to get indoors

New Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly was in Indy for a day of the MEQ and it was great to say hello for a few minutes. Even though we talked more about the move and how her family was adjusting we did touch on some volleyball and she was definitely ready to get indoors and “see what she has”. I’ve been on the record several times saying that I witnessed her “culture” at Louisville from a fairly close distance and she had my respect by how she ran things and treated people. I have also been on record saying this…..anytime a new coach takes over certain things are different. Culture things will be the biggest changes at Nebraska (only my opinion). I have mentioned several times (again my observation ONLY) that I feel DBK has certain type of players she favors. Yes she loves players that are super athletic and talented, every coach does, but I also feel like you are going to have to buy in to certain culture standards to be a DBK type player. That might not have always been the case in the past. So again I have said whenever there is something new, some players just don’t accept it and thus change needs to occur. Dani is NOT afraid to make changes to benefit the culture of the team. Remember she made a pretty decent sacrifice during her playing career to help the team…..

All that rambling means the DBK Era is really just getting ready to begin at Nebraska when INDOOR Spring practices begin.

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Programs on the Decline?

We won’t name the names, but I was a bit surprised to hear multiple top prospects say they had negative things about a couple of programs who have been mainstays in the Top 10 lately and that they are being looked at as “on the decline with players”

One is because of multiple reports of poor culture

The second is just a program that just doesn’t have as much attraction as it has had in the past when maybe it was a Top program.

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Michigan State on the upswing

As predicted things are on the upswing with KK at the helm at Michigan State. Heard a lot of positive regarding camps and interest from 2027s and the B1G program. We talked about this way back in January that MSU and Kansas would be the two hottest programs in NCAA and from the talks I’ve been having that is 100% correct. Kelsey has built relationships from her time at NTDP, Minnesota, 1st stop at MSU and those relationships are paying dividends now. I really look for this to be a big class in 2027 for Sparty.

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Baylor Camp a Big Thing

Great talking with Baylor staff at MEQ. Every time I have met a Baylor staff member they have been so welcoming and friendly (also one of the most supportive staffs as far as liking and commenting on our content on social media). We talked about the success of their Summer Select Camps and last year’s class. Baylor seems like that class that could be pushing Kansas for Top Dawg in the Big XII if they can put together a deep 2027 class to go with their 2026s.

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Northern Iowa 

Ran into one of my favorites in the business today, Northern Iowa Head Coach Bobbi Petersen.  Coach has been one of the most positive coaches in my little volleyball media journey and I’ve been able to know her as a mom and a coach. We took a few minutes to catch up on the heartbreaking loss to Louisville in December’s NCAA tourney (that loss literally brought me to tears because I can’t image how hard that was for her as a mom and a coach). I really think that was the kind of “Cinderella Upset” the volleyball tourney needs to make it more popular like the Men’s Hoops tourney, but I also really loved the Louisville squad and didn’t want them to lose.  

Then we talked about recruiting and sustaining her UNI program for as long as she has and having two daughters playing D1 while she coaches. If you get a chance reach out to Coach Bobbi at UNI she is one of the good ones in the sport and is an energy-giver for sure!!

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Auburn Building 

Last Summer we talked about the deep talent of the Auburn Summer Camps and how that was step one to improving recruiting classes (getting the talent on campus). After talking with assistant coach Rachel Corbelli today that is exactly their plan going forward. “We have really found that if we can get kids to camp early (14s, 15s summer) they love it once they are here. We want to continue that and build off last summer’s success.” Corbelli also talked about their Spring schedule and said the Tigers are really stressing being visible. “Our Spring schedule is set up around really being seen and playing in places were we are visible and give people a chance to see our new look squad.”  

I really like the young, hard working assistant coaches on the Tiger staff and they seem to be nailing talent evaluations. They were in on some very solid prospects last year and will see if their camp philosophy leads to an even stronger Class of 2027.

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NIL the most awkward three letters in volleyball, but why?

I’ve spent a lot of time the last few months trying to talk with people within the game about NIL and what volleyball athletes are receiving for monetary compensation to attend programs the last couple of years. I have also run into to many brick walls when asking those questions, which makes me by nature just want to ask all the more. Why is volleyball so hesitant to talk about $ for athletes? Football and basketball talk about openly and realize one that it is legal and two that it is part of the modern college game. I do know that the top wrestling recruit signed an NIL deal for nearly $5 million over 4 years!!!! So you are telling me that wrestling is so much more popular of a sport that the top prospect in that sport gets $5 million and any recent top 5 prospect in volleyball simply signs on because of the nice campus?

Also, females don’t need to feel guilty asking for NIL. Several of the sports top coaches haven’t felt guilty in asking for contract extensions or pay raises lately…..people show up to watch the athletes and trust me $ is available at most of the top universities and if it isn’t then those coaches should be raising a stink with their boosters to get $ in their collectives so they can afford a couple of stars to improve their programs.