Prospect Power Value Levels: What Is It? Why Do They Matter For Recruiting?

**Precursor many of these ideas are generalizations that we have gathered from SEVERAL conversations with D1 college coaching staffs over the past 18 months in an attempt to come up with the most accurate form of evaluation and "ordering" of volleyball prospects. There will NEVER BE A 100% accurate method. So yes though the PPV concept has been approved and tested through conversations with some of the top recruiting minds in the game, these ARE NOT the beliefs OF EVERY COLLEGE COACH IN D1!!!

We try and explain our PPVs because they are projections from professional evaluators. If you follow our content, you know that no one on staff can evaluate college prospects well enough to put together quality rankings, so why would we try? Why would anyone try (other than to make a lot of $) so we talk with people connected to the game? We get input from pros who have done this for a living before, (and done it very well btw) people who help places like UA determine the All-American roster, and people who were amazing at the D1 level and have moved onto the Pro Level....Pros like that. So we feel like we have a national network of anonymous and unbiased evaluators who have made a living having to be really good at this. It's the input and constructive criticism from them that we feel makes this system the most accurate for athletes.

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So with all of that out of the way here is what the PPV Level System is and why it may be important

PPV (Prospect Power Value) = the total D1 recruitability value they have in comparison to their overall class. IT IS NOT A RANKING

The higher the score the higher your expectation or expected value to perform at the higher levels of D1 volleyball throughout your college career.

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What PPV IS NOT:

It is NOT perfect so don't let this define you good or bad. It's a ballpark based on what 1 or more evaluators have seen of you in limited action.

It is NOT how good you are today. It's projecting your college ability.

It is NOT necessarily how good you are by a position. You may be looked at as a better X in college who knows.

It is definitely NOT where you are ranked by some other national publication ranking. Those are not taken into consideration

It is NOT Final it evolves with you based on what evaluators see Up and Down throughout your career Both Volleyball Skills and Intangibles are factored in.

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What PPV IS: (we will teach much more of this in our upcoming "Straight Talk Recruiting" Ed Course this Fall)

Your projected IMPACT in college, based on evaluators' PROJECTION of what they see from you

Potential for growth where they see you based on training in a college gym.

How you have performed vs other top competitors and much more. What level have you played against and how well?

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Giving you an idea of the PPV Levels:

**These are NOT SET in stone these are NORMS. Yes, there are always amazing examples (Jill Gillen) that proved norms wrong and thank goodness for them, but there are also thousands of 5'10" OHs that don't make it to All-American that coaches probably were right about. This is just what some top D1 programs look at when they recruit. We have simply used our own colors and #s to fit our PPV system.

A Top 10 coach gave me a great quote at Nationals to explain this that makes sense "There are great kids on your blue level that can make the big stage and be successful, it is just going to take more training, more growth, some help genetically, etc. In essence, they have a longer road than the kids at the Gold or Diamond level do. However, we see that all the time as well. Athletes at the Gold Level aren't hungry and they get passed up to the college level. It still comes down to their work, their effort, their commitment the PPV simply states physically, technique, training, whatever the higher scores have a higher ceiling/probability whatever you want to say."

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Also as we can grow and our network of TRUSTED evaluators can grow we will be able to update PPV scores more often and with more accuracy, as you we see things month to month or season to season. These are not meant to be a score you get and keep forever. Great example Genevieve Harris would not have had the highest Setter PPV in the 2027 class a year ago, but would have probably taken that over in January.

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So we will try and give a recap of each level and score range. **Each time we do anything where we say "This particular team or teams recruit here" we get nasty grams from other schools even though it's true. College recruiting has a definite "Trickle Down Effect" when it comes to recruiting. We will have more on this throughout the year, but the best recruiting programs know their program level, recruit that level hard and also recruit hard just above it. Then you win and repeat.....

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Diamond: Player of the Year will go to one of a few schools. Should challenge for immediate playing time as a Frosh. This player should have everything from the overall game to complete attitude, drive, and coachability aspects. This is the athlete that you probably spot several courts away.

Gold: Again will be talked about often by other sites. Being sought after by every Top 20 program. Top 1-4 players at position. Very good chance of Freshman playing time in college. The program probably expecting an All-American-type season somewhere in 4 years. Could be a program changer at the right school.

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Silver: Top liberos in class in this group, again very solid players here. Now maybe first look at that "slightly undersized, but great athlete" at a position or maybe that prospect that didn't play at a big-time Open club, but has big upside athletically. Maybe, a highly skilled player that is slight limitations athletically, but is a great volleyball player,

Red: More of the same very similar to Silver. Start to see more of the Libero/DS. The "undersized" athletes that maybe didn't get the Top 15 look, but are still solid P4 players or could be an immediate starter at a Mid-Major program.

Orange: Still very good D1 volleyball players. If you have to think of rankings to wrap your mind around these would be Top 150ish or just beyond. Maybe play for a smaller cub or in a smaller state so don't get same recognition by as many college coaches. Maybe a multi-sport kid that doesn't play as many tourneys so you don't hear about them as often. Here is where you could start to see that very solid #2 seter from a great club, they are simply playing behind a Gold Level player.

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Green: This level is for the small-town and under-the-radar kids. Many from non-Open club teams or again smaller states that aren't getting exposure. Also see a lot of "very solid volleyball players" that may be 2 inches too short at their position etc, but their fundamentals are excellent, and great volleyball players. Good or bad these are kids that often can hit a late spurt and end up making a splash in the portal later on.

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Blue: Often ends up being for athletes that has options with several smaller D1s in their region. Again people these prospects are still are getting D1 offers so they are very good players. Many of these players have the choice that are Samantha had....go to a smaller D1 or go excel for four years at a D2 program. Again many times athletes that lack one of the main components of a P4 offer (currently) whether it be size, strength, or athletic ability right now.