The Prospect Report: Monday at Nationals here come the 2027s

The Prospect Report: News and Notes from Nationals Day 1 of 2027s

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2026s action starts heating up again……Back from nationals and commits start immediately.  Ohio State and Minnesota pick up big commits to add 2nd members to their classes.

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Ok, first day seeing many of these teams (have seen some of the individuals) and the play was intense.  Comments were shared by coaches how impressed they were with this class.

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*Started day walking right in on the AZ Storm on Championship Court.  Was curious to watch Tessa Larkin and Omoruyi who have player profiles and we had seen bits of them at NTDP and they were dominant as expected.  Larkin a very polished game and will need to continue to grow, but Power Arm does many things well.  Kendall O it should be Kendall Oh My Goodness here is her stat line from her Player Profile on VBAdrenaline: Ht 124”, Block 125”, 3step 128” Awards include UA NEXT MVP, NTDP oh and USA U19 National Team (as a 15 year old).

But, the Storm (like older teams) are going to put out MANY P4 players off that team.  Notably liked Libero Brenna Walsh (going to have a top PPV for liberos or close to it).  Liked the solid play of Fara Bronson at the Setter position also.

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*Cali Comeback: Schools on the West Coast are going to be happy to know that this California Class is BOSS.  2026 was a Texas year (and I’m sure because of sure size there will be Texas kids again), but there are some serious A-Game Cali girls that are going to lead the way in this class I have a feeling.  At least make the traditional powers log some extra air miles to come to sign them.

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*Witherspoon and Harrington bring a PHYSICAL presence to teams.  When you watch Shaye Witherspoon (Rockwood Thunder) and Taylor Harrington (Paramount Volleyball) they look the part of a college athlete.  You can see the physical difference between them and nearly all the girls in this age group.  The appealing thing for college coaches is that neither of them is tapped out growth-wise and still has frames to continue to keep going…..which is very scary (or amazing if your school lands one of them).

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*Something in that Zona Air:  There must be something special going on in Arizona right now because another team I found some serious prospect potential on; in the short time I was on their court was Revolution Volleyball Academy out of Phoenix….Going to do a deeper dive in the film room once I get back home, but here are the initial thoughts (none have Player Profiles so don’t know specifics yet)  #2 Lauren Forelli (OH/OPP) seems to do a bit of everything for them. #3 Makenna Corrie (Setter) is not the physicality of some in this class, but great hands and frame to grow for sure.  #4 Kristin Sheehy (Middle) quick with power, active on offense.

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*Public Service Announcements for Class of 2027s”

I forget that we are starting all over with a brand new crew of parents and young athletes who are brand new to all of this.  And considering how bad of a job we did educating the 2026s maybe that’s a good thing, smh.  So we will drop some reminders on things we have learned on our journey last year for you to use or completely ignore

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Lesson 1:  It is 100% OK to say you enjoyed your experience at school XYZ’s camp.  That will IN NO WAY stop other schools from recruiting you.  It simply shows that you had a fun time at the camp.  If a school wants you they will recruit you even if you had fun at 75 other camps and told the entire world.  It’s their job to go get you.  So just enjoy the process and don’t get so worked up about being quiet and saying the wrong thing.  You get to go to some pretty cool places and campuses it’s ok to talk about it.

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Lesson 2:  DON'T WAIT to prepare.  I know it seems like next Summer is a long time off, but it  will all come quickly.  This is your first “adult type” decision act like it and take it seriously ask ?s, be proactive.

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Another thing you may have heard in recent interviews and will probably hear more frequently in my interviews to come is me asking these top players “What kind of role model are you?” or “If a younger player knew who you were and saw you at a tourney walking around with your friends….how would they see you acting?”  Yes VB is a fast-growing sport with that comes evidence that many more young girls are watching these top players (and emulating them).  

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So I just feel like it’s (VBAdrenaline) small  par to talk with the “next-gen stars” the idea of positive leadership and being a role mode

I say it all the time “Great players, who are Great people are so easy to cheer for”

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Excited for names and big performances tomorrow, but I am really excited to fly home tomorrow night and see my dogs.  8 days in Vegas, ugh.