NCAA Volleyball Transfer Portal Always Brings The Drama, LOVB & PVF Season Previews

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Hi volleyball fans and welcome back to volley talk the podcast created for volleyball lovers who want to dig deep into what is going on

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In NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host Sarah pavin

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I'm an Olympian beach volleyball world champion former Nebraska corn husker and longtime pro both indoor and on the beach

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And I'm Adam Schultz former indoor player international volleyball coach and the resident show stat guy

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It has been a slow week because of holiday season obviously

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And we hope that all of you had a wonderful celebration as we prepared a transition into the next set of volleyball seasons

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We wanted to dive in to see what has been going on in the transfer portal

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Answer some listener questions and have a little bit of fun after the craziness of the NCAA women's tournament

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With some of Adam's games my favorite. Let's get started

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So the major buzz around the volleyball world currently has been what is going on in the transfer portal as the

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NCAA season has wrapped up. We've been following along and taking a look at what's happened

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So we're gonna break this down into a few different sections as we get into it

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So we'll have biggest news when we'll talk about some specific players what's happened and then we'll talk about the biggest program poachers and

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The biggest losers it really makes you wonder why so many people left a program

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So let's get started and hop right in keep in mind the biggest news is like biggest news

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According to Adam and I so not everybody will agree or we probably missed something that you think is very important

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But in our research, these are the things that popped out. So let's start with Purdue who had a pretty good season

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They've lost four players. So both starting outsides a starting middle and their opposite have all left

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Clearly something is going on in that program

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We don't have the details but you have Eva Hudson and Lizzie Carr both going to Kentucky

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You have Chloe Chacon heading to Louisville and Lourdes Meyer is still uncommitted, but that's a lot of players to lose

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That's a lot of starters to lose

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So there's setter

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Anderson, I believe she was just a sophomore

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Raven Colvin obviously was a senior

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I'm not sure what class their libero was in but you're looking at

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Potentially five remaining starters and four left. So that to me strikes as something's not quite right

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With the program or in the locker room

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Normally, you don't see so many starters leave after a success a successful year

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I mean sweet 16 then they got trounced by Louisville

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That's a fair point but for Purdue given the athletes that they have I think that they finished about where they should finish

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Yeah, and I feel like if you commit to Purdue you're you understand where you are. You would think like they're not a top five program

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So I'm very curious as to what is happening not to mention their assistant coach left

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Midseason last season so something is in the water in Purdue very interesting stuff

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What do you think about Eva Hudson going to Kentucky and Chacon going to Louisville? I think that's a case of

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Both of them believing they're better than the program or thinking or like being like no, we want to win. Peace

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Yeah, that's definitely possible

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But that goes back to my question of like what did you think you were getting into in Purdue?

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Like if you had made an elite eight, is that better?

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Well, I think you're not I'm sorry Purdue is not a final four type of program

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Consistently they might have a year here and there where they're really good

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But like I don't think they're like the perennial final four type of

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Team. Oh, I think that's an accurate assessment. I think a lot of players

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Now with the transfer portal who maybe aren't top recruits go. I'm going to go to a decent program

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I'm going to play one year and get recognized and then I want to go to a Nebraska Kentucky

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Final four edge team and they're not

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Willing to stay and help build a program. There's no loyalty

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I mean, we're going to talk about this a little bit later in the show

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So I'm not going to get into it, but I think that's the case

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I mean both Louisville and Kentucky lost senior outside so they're essentially

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Being given an opportunity to walk in and earn a spot. So I don't know I have very been

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I have very distinct opinions about the transfer portal. We'll get into it another

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Very interesting move in my opinion

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Was the starting setter for Texas Avery Carlson

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Entered the portal now

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She went to Texas from Baylor

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And then was part of the whole 6-2 situation that Texas had going on and actually won out the

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Five-one spot when they made that switch in October November

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Yeah, I'm sorry. You're not going to transfer once but twice

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Oh my gosh. Okay, Texas lost five players total, which honestly is not that's not the shocking part to me

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Because they just like stack their roster and of course

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Everybody thinks they're going to be a big star at a top program and then when they're not they're like bye

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The shocking part is that they have not picked up anybody from the portal yet and they are usually scooping

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They're usually waiting until a like a shock athlete comes out

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And then just like tries to snag them them in Nebraska

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So I have a thought about picking up players from the portal

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From a coach's standpoint that we'll get into later, but I think it might be in effect here

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Oh, you're going to keep us hanging. Okay, very curious about that

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Looks like Ellis Wendell's got her job back

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I mean the the setting in Texas was a question mark all year you come out on top

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I don't know whether it's just you're losing hitters and you don't think you're going to be successful or

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Didn't get along with your teammates after everything that happened or the coaches

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Told you you're playing a 6-2 again after you won the spot leave. There's so many things that it could be there

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But it is surprising. I agree with you. Maybe she just thinks that they're gonna suck. They lost Rutherford. They lost Skinner

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They lost Wenis. I believe I mean, okay

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So many issues are coming up that I do not like but okay

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This one makes me really sad. This one hurts. Yeah

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Ohio State lost four players

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including

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Emi Selman who's going to Penn State and middle blocker Eloise Brandway

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Who is going to Creighton now you and I talked about this a few times on the podcast

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I thought Ohio State had an incredibly bright future. I enjoyed watching them. They had a ton of young players

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You could see them

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Put strings of points together and see man

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They're gonna be so good when they mature and come together

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And figure it out and find some consistency

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And I know they had some bad losses and it's never easy to go through a season

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You know where you probably want to win more games than you do

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But that core could have been something special in my opinion and for them to jump ship

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this early for greener pastures this to me is

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The major problem with the portal and it's for me the major problem with

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Young athletes today. Yeah, this one was very disappointing to me. I have so much respect for a coach who's willing to

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Build a program from the ground up and who won't just cop out and take more developed or experienced players

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To have an easier path to to success

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So I was so excited when I saw this roster earlier in the season and yeah, were they good?

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Not really, but they had moments of brilliance

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And so you I really believe that they would be able to to build something and to see this it just

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it makes me so upset for

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Jen olden jen flinn oldenburg because

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What do you do? You do all the right things and

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There's no loyalty. I feel for the coaches in these situations for sure

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Miami is losing six players

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One is a grad student, but

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They're two biggest point scores in grace lopez and floor marie. Eridia colon

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Lopez is going to wisconsin and colon is currently uncommitted

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That is going to decimate

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That program and this is another program that had some really good wins this season

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They had some big upsets against ranked teams

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They were five points ahead of the other teams

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They were fun to watch play. I don't understand

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It's not going to be good down in coral gables. Let me tell you

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Those two scored so many points for that team and we talked about how bad their serve receive was like

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So those two were hitting a lot of out of system ball

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That's that's got to hurt

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yeah, I hope that they're able to pick up a couple players from the portal and just

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Keep it going because that's

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Like you said it does it decimates the program you have to start over essentially when you lose players like that and you're not

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Expecting to and here's the thing for me is like i'll use these two players as an example. It's like

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Yeah, you are a star

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at miami

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Basically, like you

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Were the go-to players

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You came up big in some big matches like you were the stars and I think and I don't want to say that

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This is what their thought process is but the impression that I get from a lot of athletes

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Who maybe aren't in top programs or you know are on the bench at a top program or something is just like no

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I'm better than this

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Like look how good I was this year at this program like I can for sure play for a top

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10 program or whatever and it's like not everybody is cut out for that and like

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Maybe you are a big fish in a medium-sized pond here, but like you're about to be in a big pond

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I'm grace lopez is going to struggle in the big. I don't think she's a big 10 opposite

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I do not I mean look who you're putting her up against in what division and you are going to have to score

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Against great blockers and good defenses night in and night out

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This is the dichotomy for athletes where you think

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you're a

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but really when you play against great players night in and night out your b and and that and the reality is probably somewhere in the

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middle and

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Switching programs to learn that lesson hurts a lot of people. I think it's a completely different set of

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Expectations to be on a wisconsin versus a miami. It's just fact

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When you are at a top program the expectations are different

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Speaking of grace lopez going to wisconsin

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Wisconsin lost both their backup ds slash liberos

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Guchtiken is heading to tennessee and damerow is off to creighton

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which

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Is kind of surprising given that they both saw playing time this year due to injury

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I'm kind of scratching my head with this one wondering if it's just about playing time or if there was some

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Losing a lot of players in the dressing room not sure where it's going to go thinking. They're not going to play

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I couldn't quite reason my way through these these two for me

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It's one of two things either you graduated your entire roster pretty much and you're like we're gonna suck i'm getting out of here

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or

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you

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The writing is on the wall and you want to play

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And you know with a current freshman libero. You're probably not going to

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My question to creighton is did you watch any matches that wisconsin played?

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When damro was the libero and how many times she got ace like did you watch?

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Yeah, but she's going to be great in that division

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She's going she for creighton during the season is going to be just fine and probably exactly what they need

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if

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They go deep in the tournament though, and she has not settled into

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Looking at big 10 serves it's it's going to be tough for creighton. I think bet on yourself. I guess

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Bet on yourself, I guess

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Finally aya el nati from kansas is heading to northwestern and I need somebody to clarify this for me because

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How are these grad students still able to play?

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Like have they not used up four years of eligibility like I am so

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Confused about this. I thought el nati was a senior

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I thought she played all four seasons. I maybe i'm wrong

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But it's like a question I have in general is like I thought the extra year like with covet and stuff was done now

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I mean this is

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Academic reasons I have to imagine northwestern has a very good academic reputation

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What i'm saying like how is she able to go play there?

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No, I understand that I don't the rules don't make sense to me at this point either

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I thought the somebody tell us are the covet years done are they allowed a fifth year still because like I don't get it

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I don't get it this one. I have no problem with she she graduated. She wants to do a master's. It's a great school

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She can keep playing. All right onto the biggest poachers

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I don't think anybody is going to be shocked to hear that smu has already picked up five players from the portal

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Continuing their streak of recruiting almost exclusively from the portal

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Um jaden livings in favor on yanwu from usc and malaya jones from colorado state are their biggest pickups so far

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but

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I'm sorry

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If i'm a parent or if I am a high school student athlete getting recruited by smu. I'm like

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No, thank you

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because clearly

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You are incapable of developing your own athletes

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Last year their entire roster was grad students taken from the portal and now they're continuing the same thing like

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Red flag alert

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Yeah, and I think from a coaching standpoint when you started a school you have to go through your recruiting class pulling in

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Portal players make sense. You want to build your name. You need to have some success to recruit players

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But at some point you have to trust your own ability to develop to recruit and to put a winning product on the floor

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and

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Smu had a great regular season last year. They were polished. They beat some good teams

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But there is something to be said about playing with athletes for more than one year

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when the chips are down and things get tough and

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You saw that in the tournament

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They underperformed

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And you can't blame it solely on having transfer players, but I think that's a big factor

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Well with such a huge turnover all the time. Like how are you supposed to develop?

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a consistent team culture

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How are you supposed to develop a consistent team identity?

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like

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in the past

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You would be in a program most players would stay in the same program for four years

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And as the young players came in they were taught

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That you know, this is what we do. This is who we are

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This is what the team values and like sure you make tweaks to it every year. But when you're having a complete

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your cleaning house every year, how do you establish like

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What your program is like from an identity and culture perspective? It's it's no good and I will say from a coaching standpoint

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You help shape the culture but you need your senior athletes who have been with you for three four years

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Who understand what you want to be a voice in the room for you? You have to develop those relationships

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I don't care how good of a coach you are. It's a

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symbiotic relationship with your senior players and you know you come in as a freshman and

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You got a little swagger and you got a little attitude and you want this and sometimes you need a vet to sit you down and say

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Listen kid, this isn't how it works and every top athlete has gone through that experience and you need it. It's part of your development

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I don't know. I'm gonna stick by it like

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Prove to me that you know how to coach prove to me that you know how to like

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Build a team and develop players because right now i'm not buying it

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We see auburn following in smu's footsteps

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They lost two athletes this year, but picked up six be interesting to see how they do next year

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They're like, oh look at what this did for smu. They were ranked all season

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They were the only team to beat number one and two seeds blah blah blah. Like let's do it. Let's don't do it

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And finally creighton didn't lose anybody to the portal but they snatched up three athletes

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Including eloise brandwe from ohio state and sage dame

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From wisconsin as we talked about earlier

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Yeah, they did they did some stealing not sharing

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Well, and the other thing for the portal for me is and there's no way to regulate this and I totally understand

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It's one thing if a player reaches out to you and says hey, can I come play for your program?

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It's another thing to actively

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Try and grab athletes in my opinion and I know there's no

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right or wrong or there's no

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Way to police that but that's just a a personal philosophy. I would say no

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We're not saying that creighton did this but I was surprised because they have had

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obviously, they've taken transfer players in the past, but

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They've been steadily rising year over year and

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Yeah, interesting

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So florida state loses six total players one grad including their starting libero emery dupes and their starting

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Setter kena felon dupes is heading to pit and felon is heading to illinois

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The majority of their starters were seniors last season. So

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That's maybe not shocking

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I don't know. I mean six is a lot

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Because then you have to think like

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Okay, maybe those six would have stepped into the starting role

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So now is the starting role not enough and now you need to be a part of you need to be a starter on a successful team

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Well, guess what positions are limited

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So i'm not shocked that the two remaining starters chose to leave but I am surprised about the other ones

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we

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Something is in the water in the rest of these places because these schools were just burning athletes like they're like see you later

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virginia tech lost seven

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memphis lost eight

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That's like almost a whole team

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charleston southern lost seven cal state full of

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charleston southern lost seven cal state fullerton lost seven rider lost six

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georgia state lost six marshal lost six old dominion lost six

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There's there's a problem here

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Well for some of those lower ranked schools

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I think athletes use it as a stepping stone as well now losing a whole roster is one thing

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but I think there's probably

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A mix of I think I can play for a better program and maybe something going on with the team

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And then the last one that we're going to mention

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that might be

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something

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That we haven't talked about yet

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Is that san jose state lost seven for those people who haven't been following?

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What's happening san jose state had a transgender athlete playing for them?

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Who I believe is going to be a senior this coming season don't quote me on that, but I think maybe and

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There was a lot of talk a lot of controversy as this is kind of an ongoing issue in

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One a lot of teams forfeited. Yeah against them. So it's it's a tough

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situation to navigate

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I would imagine it's even harder for the athletes and the coaches and the athletic staff at san jose state

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So it'll be interesting to see if they can feel the team if people are willing to play there and how that is going to play out

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like we are not going to

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Weigh in with our opinion on the issue at all, but I can see the fact that so many

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Teams forfeited against them is probably incredibly frustrating like as a young athlete you want

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to play you want to compete

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and to not be able to because I mean of choices and value systems and beliefs

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From different programs like that was probably tough for for a lot of the people on that team

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So yeah, that one was interesting

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Obviously the transfer portal is still open for a little bit of time and there's another transfer window in the spring

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But this is what we've seen so far

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We will keep our eyes on this as other things develop as players commit. We'll try and keep you guys updated on on what's going on

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We're going to dive into some listener questions now

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We have answered some here and there in recent episodes, but we wanted to have a section where we just

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Answer a whole bunch. So thank you to everybody who submitted questions or

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Have been engaging with us on youtube and social media. Um, the first one is

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What are your thoughts on nil and the transfer portal and how do you think you would have interacted with them as a student athlete?

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Simple answer. I hate both of them

284
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Well, I think it's a little more nuanced for me I have no problem with nil for the athletes

285
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I think college sports makes a ton of money

286
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I think that the athletes they are getting a free education. I

287
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totally see the value in that but if somebody wants to sponsor them and

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they want to use their social media or

289
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Whatever else they have to generate a little revenue for themselves. I don't think there's anything wrong with that

290
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I don't like buying players to go to colleges, which is something that is happening with the nil

291
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So I think there needs to be some guardrails around that but players who are good and who have a presence and who can monetize that

292
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Should be able to that's my stand on the nil

293
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Maybe my distaste for the nil has to do with me missing out on the nil

294
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I'm not bitter at all. Don't worry about it. Um, I think

295
00:23:30,660 --> 00:23:35,380
You know so many college athletes are making more money than they are

296
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Making more than pro athletes and for me, that's an issue

297
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I don't I think

298
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It is fine within reason. I just think it has gone to these extremes and at the end of the day like

299
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Some of these are kids and they are very young adults like trust me

300
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I understand that I went to a school where student athletes are put on a pedestal

301
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I am fully aware of that

302
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It is unfair

303
00:24:03,940 --> 00:24:06,020
when to adam's point about

304
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Schools buying players with nil money like it just creates such a big discrepancy back when there were

305
00:24:13,540 --> 00:24:16,980
Strict scholarship limits. It was just a really sneaky way to like

306
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Avoid it and I don't I don't like it like when I was a student athlete

307
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I valued education very much and so for me knowing how expensive an american

308
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Post-secondary education is I felt like it was a fair trade

309
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I felt grateful

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that

311
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I was being given an opportunity to have get an education and leave college debt free

312
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In exchange for my skills as a volleyball player. I felt like that was fair

313
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But I understand that not everybody has the same values as I do

314
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So from where i'm standing, it's really hard for me to get behind nal because I know what is important to me

315
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But it's not like that for everybody transfer portal. I hate it

316
00:25:01,060 --> 00:25:03,060
I think it is

317
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Killing college sports. I think you know with the transfer portal. It is a microcosm of what we have seen in just this

318
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generation of athletes and of human beings in general. It's just obviously there are

319
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Scenarios where a transfer is necessary back when I played there were people who transferred it didn't happen nearly as much as it does now

320
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But it did happen and that's very personal to individual athletes

321
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But I think when it becomes a me me me thing

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I think we've completely lost the essence of what it means to be on a team what it means

323
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To be resilient and to work hard what it means to be loyal

324
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And do what you say you're going to do

325
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I think there are so many big pieces that are

326
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Are completely thrown away with how easy it is to get out of a situation and I feel like college sports

327
00:26:01,860 --> 00:26:05,540
used to be such a pure thing

328
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Where you are going to battle with your closest friends people that you are

329
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Experiencing the transition into adulthood with and you're there for each other

330
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You are not making money you're you're doing it for the love of the game and for the love of each other

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So if you're not doing those two functions at the same time

332
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You know, just in the context of being in high school playing

333
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And being able to understand them like division

334
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I'm in high school playing

335
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I've had to go back a few footballs

336
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And a retreat

337
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I went to military school

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am, if I was on the bench, I would use that as motivation to get better and to earn the

339
00:26:55,780 --> 00:27:02,700
spot because then it becomes so much sweeter when you know that you've worked hard to achieve

340
00:27:02,700 --> 00:27:04,740
something that you want.

341
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And that's the danger and the gray area of sports is you want to play.

342
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That's human nature.

343
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You want to be on the court.

344
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You want to play.

345
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But then having that inter squad competition of pushing each other and making each other

346
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better and being happy for your teammates successes while also pushing for your own

347
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personal ones.

348
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Like it is such an interesting balance and I think we're completely losing that as athletes

349
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become so much more me focused.

350
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And I will give a shout out to Kennedy or from Nebraska because here is a setter who

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is obviously very good.

352
00:27:43,340 --> 00:27:49,980
She was recruited by Nebraska and she sat on the bench her entire career and she stayed

353
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and she was a teammate.

354
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And because you know what, like sure seven players get to have the spotlight on them

355
00:27:56,540 --> 00:28:01,540
on game day, but those seven players don't get better without the seven that they're

356
00:28:01,540 --> 00:28:04,140
competing against every day.

357
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And for her to stay despite never being a starter, like that is a teammate to me.

358
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That's what being an athlete and being on a team means.

359
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And I think from a coach's perspective, it makes things much more challenging.

360
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Sometimes you have to look at your athletes and tell them that wasn't good enough or have

361
00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:32,720
hard conversations or push them into uncomfortable places at practice for them to get to where

362
00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:34,660
they want to go.

363
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And now I can only imagine as a college coach, you're thinking if I push too hard, is this

364
00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:42,220
athlete going to leave?

365
00:28:42,220 --> 00:28:43,900
Are they having fun?

366
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Are they, do they like me?

367
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:51,060
You know, all of those things and don't get me wrong, there needs to be a balance.

368
00:28:51,060 --> 00:28:56,060
It's not a dictatorship, but the fact of it is as a coach, you're developing the player

369
00:28:56,060 --> 00:28:59,500
and the person and sometimes they're not going to like you.

370
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That's you doing your job.

371
00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:07,380
And I think with the ease of transferring now, you have to walk a very thin line in

372
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terms of making your players happy, but also trying to push them to be better.

373
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And I think that that is probably incredibly difficult.

374
00:29:15,060 --> 00:29:19,160
Adam and I know a young athlete at a top program.

375
00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:21,820
She is not a starting player.

376
00:29:21,820 --> 00:29:30,700
And we heard from this player that their coach basically only works with the starters or

377
00:29:30,700 --> 00:29:36,340
the people, the eight people who consistently play and does not engage with the other players

378
00:29:36,340 --> 00:29:37,580
at all.

379
00:29:37,580 --> 00:29:43,700
And it's shocking to hear that as an athlete because my instinct is, well, doesn't he want

380
00:29:43,700 --> 00:29:48,660
to develop the athletes to replace the ones that are going to be lost to graduation?

381
00:29:48,660 --> 00:29:51,040
But then it's also like, why?

382
00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:55,820
But I can understand in this day and age, why would this coach waste his time on the

383
00:29:55,820 --> 00:30:00,180
players who aren't playing because they'll probably leave anyway.

384
00:30:00,180 --> 00:30:02,860
Like that is how messed up this whole thing is.

385
00:30:02,860 --> 00:30:08,820
We've just completely taken away the best parts of being on a team.

386
00:30:08,820 --> 00:30:13,340
So Adam, another question we got was, what is the difference between an outside hitter

387
00:30:13,340 --> 00:30:15,500
and an opposite hitter?

388
00:30:15,500 --> 00:30:16,500
That's a great question.

389
00:30:16,500 --> 00:30:19,460
So generally there are two outside hitters.

390
00:30:19,460 --> 00:30:24,620
They play on the left side of the court and only one opposite because they're in the position

391
00:30:24,620 --> 00:30:26,300
with the center.

392
00:30:26,300 --> 00:30:34,340
And so 90% of the time you will see the outside hitters passing and hitting.

393
00:30:34,340 --> 00:30:37,740
And so the two outside hitters, regardless of whether they're in the front row or the

394
00:30:37,740 --> 00:30:43,220
back row, along with the libero, generally form the core of your passing team.

395
00:30:43,220 --> 00:30:45,400
And then they also hit when they're in the front row.

396
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:50,700
The opposite is generally your point score.

397
00:30:50,700 --> 00:30:57,340
They're usually your biggest athlete with the heaviest arm and they may or may not have

398
00:30:57,340 --> 00:30:59,660
the best ball control.

399
00:30:59,660 --> 00:31:05,560
Their primary responsibility is to score points and generally get you out of trouble.

400
00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:06,740
They hit a lot of high balls.

401
00:31:06,740 --> 00:31:08,380
They hit a lot of out of system balls.

402
00:31:08,380 --> 00:31:10,540
They generally have a very good serve.

403
00:31:10,540 --> 00:31:13,260
It's your quote unquote power player.

404
00:31:13,260 --> 00:31:18,740
And then if you hear the term pin hitter, that is like an all encompassing term for

405
00:31:18,740 --> 00:31:24,260
the outsides and the opposites because they're the two hitters that hit near the antennas.

406
00:31:24,260 --> 00:31:28,900
If we're talking about player stereotypes, generally outside hitters, you have two different

407
00:31:28,900 --> 00:31:34,460
types, one who can score you more points and then another one who maybe has better ball

408
00:31:34,460 --> 00:31:35,460
control.

409
00:31:35,460 --> 00:31:40,540
So you very often see the better ball control outside hitter and the libero passing, you

410
00:31:40,540 --> 00:31:44,780
know, three quarters of the court and then another outside hitter passing a sliver.

411
00:31:44,780 --> 00:31:51,000
There's different ways that teams can build with outside hitter strengths and weaknesses,

412
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:53,020
but that's the general overview.

413
00:31:53,020 --> 00:31:59,660
The next question we got is, would you like to see more parity in the NCAA game?

414
00:31:59,660 --> 00:32:02,100
This is a very good question.

415
00:32:02,100 --> 00:32:09,300
And I believe the person who asked this was getting to the essence of if there is more

416
00:32:09,300 --> 00:32:16,900
parity, you will see the stronger teams kind of take a little drop in their level while

417
00:32:16,900 --> 00:32:19,860
the lower ranked teams increase theirs.

418
00:32:19,860 --> 00:32:25,140
I think when you talk about parity in terms of the team's competition level, you're always

419
00:32:25,140 --> 00:32:28,200
going to have teams that are at the top and teams that are at the bottom.

420
00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:31,580
There's not a whole lot you can do about that.

421
00:32:31,580 --> 00:32:37,800
You're going to have some coaches who get the best out of athletes at this age and some

422
00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:42,060
who don't or maybe better suited for a professional or a club team.

423
00:32:42,060 --> 00:32:48,980
And so there's no real way to facilitate parity in my mind because you're always going to

424
00:32:48,980 --> 00:32:52,980
have groups of good athletes who want to go and do something special together.

425
00:32:52,980 --> 00:32:57,180
Well, I think the pre-NIL days were as close as you would get.

426
00:32:57,180 --> 00:32:58,180
I would agree.

427
00:32:58,180 --> 00:33:04,900
To that being a reality because when you look like there are so many factors that go into

428
00:33:04,900 --> 00:33:10,780
an athlete selecting a school and there are so many different things that are important

429
00:33:10,780 --> 00:33:13,620
and not important to different people.

430
00:33:13,620 --> 00:33:19,980
So certain programs have given themselves a reputation of being a great place to play

431
00:33:19,980 --> 00:33:25,700
volleyball, but maybe somebody doesn't want to travel that far from home or maybe somebody

432
00:33:25,700 --> 00:33:34,620
doesn't want to live in that city or state or they value their education and it just

433
00:33:34,620 --> 00:33:35,620
won't work out.

434
00:33:35,620 --> 00:33:37,900
Like there are so many pieces that go into it.

435
00:33:37,900 --> 00:33:42,140
So I don't think there ever really is truly parity.

436
00:33:42,140 --> 00:33:46,620
I personally am fine with the level being the way it is.

437
00:33:46,620 --> 00:33:51,820
I would say the one interesting thing being relatively new to following college volleyball

438
00:33:51,820 --> 00:33:53,660
closely.

439
00:33:53,660 --> 00:33:59,500
If you build your program in a mid-major division and you become very competitive, I would have

440
00:33:59,500 --> 00:34:07,220
loved to see Creighton play in the Big Ten, in the ACC this year because they dominated

441
00:34:07,220 --> 00:34:09,020
their league play.

442
00:34:09,020 --> 00:34:13,260
They had however many games of not really being pushed or challenged.

443
00:34:13,260 --> 00:34:17,900
How good could Creighton have been if they got to hone themselves against the best teams

444
00:34:17,900 --> 00:34:19,900
for that part of the season?

445
00:34:19,900 --> 00:34:24,380
That to me is something that would be potentially interesting and create a little more parity.

446
00:34:24,380 --> 00:34:28,940
I know logistically it doesn't work, but when you talk about parity in the game, that's

447
00:34:28,940 --> 00:34:33,140
something that comes to my mind having followed this season relatively closely.

448
00:34:33,140 --> 00:34:41,860
Or maybe instead of just preseason cross conference play, there's this random tournament in the

449
00:34:41,860 --> 00:34:48,900
middle of the season so you can see the teams at close to top form going head to head and

450
00:34:48,900 --> 00:34:52,580
just see where they fall because so many of those matches happen during the preseason

451
00:34:52,580 --> 00:34:54,440
or the NCAA tournament.

452
00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:55,900
There's no in between.

453
00:34:55,900 --> 00:35:00,280
People are either trying to figure things out or it's crunch time.

454
00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:04,740
So that might, it would be interesting to see like a tournament part way through.

455
00:35:04,740 --> 00:35:08,280
But I think another thing to remember is like, I know we've talked a lot about the transfer

456
00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:15,640
portal and people wanting to be a big fish in a big pond and win and start and things

457
00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:16,640
like that.

458
00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:20,780
But I think not everybody wants a big college experience.

459
00:35:20,780 --> 00:35:26,820
For a lot of athletes, like getting the opportunity to still be part of a team is enough.

460
00:35:26,820 --> 00:35:30,580
And I know we have kind of taken it to the extreme when we've been talking about the

461
00:35:30,580 --> 00:35:33,500
transfer portal, but and not every athlete is like that.

462
00:35:33,500 --> 00:35:38,620
But it's like some athletes know that they have no future in the sport after college

463
00:35:38,620 --> 00:35:43,200
and just the opportunity to set themselves up for their future and get their education

464
00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:47,780
paid for or be a part of a team for another four years.

465
00:35:47,780 --> 00:35:49,620
Like that is enough.

466
00:35:49,620 --> 00:35:55,420
So I think if you bring the parody discussion into it, you would lose so many of those types

467
00:35:55,420 --> 00:35:56,420
of kids.

468
00:35:56,420 --> 00:36:01,980
That was a very long way of saying, no, I don't want to see more parody in the NCAA.

469
00:36:01,980 --> 00:36:04,460
So somebody asked and I thought this was a great question.

470
00:36:04,460 --> 00:36:07,260
What are some of the most challenging places to play?

471
00:36:07,260 --> 00:36:10,340
Oh gosh, I don't know if I could answer this now.

472
00:36:10,340 --> 00:36:13,020
It was a long time ago that I was in college.

473
00:36:13,020 --> 00:36:14,260
Rattle me off your top five.

474
00:36:14,260 --> 00:36:16,900
Oh gosh, I don't even know if I could give you five.

475
00:36:16,900 --> 00:36:22,540
Okay, I think Nebraska is challenging in the sense of it.

476
00:36:22,540 --> 00:36:27,180
It's overwhelming for people who don't experience that day in and day out.

477
00:36:27,180 --> 00:36:29,500
I remember my first red and white game.

478
00:36:29,500 --> 00:36:33,980
It was the inner squad scrimmage when I was a freshman and that was the first time I had

479
00:36:33,980 --> 00:36:36,380
played in front of that many people and my legs were shaking.

480
00:36:36,380 --> 00:36:39,300
I was like 17 and my legs were like shaking and it was a scrimmage.

481
00:36:39,300 --> 00:36:44,960
So if you're coming into an environment like that and they have like tens of thousands

482
00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:49,500
of people, even though it's not a hostile environment, unless you're Wisconsin, no,

483
00:36:49,500 --> 00:36:50,500
just kidding.

484
00:36:50,500 --> 00:36:55,020
Even though it's not a hostile environment, it's intimidating for somebody who doesn't

485
00:36:55,020 --> 00:36:56,480
see that.

486
00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:57,540
So there's that.

487
00:36:57,540 --> 00:37:01,700
I think the meanest fans when I played were from Missouri.

488
00:37:01,700 --> 00:37:04,580
I hated playing at Missouri.

489
00:37:04,580 --> 00:37:06,280
They were so mean.

490
00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:09,900
They were great hecklers and like looking back, like they were really good burns, but

491
00:37:09,900 --> 00:37:13,780
like they were mean and Texas was mean.

492
00:37:13,780 --> 00:37:15,100
Those were probably the two words.

493
00:37:15,100 --> 00:37:19,900
Oh, I heard BYU is, I think BYU leans heavily on their fans.

494
00:37:19,900 --> 00:37:22,600
I think BYU is probably a tough place to play too.

495
00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:26,340
Looking at just some of the matches and facility wise and where it would be challenging, I

496
00:37:26,340 --> 00:37:29,980
think the elevation in Colorado would be tough to play in.

497
00:37:29,980 --> 00:37:36,020
I also think the super low ceiling in Miami, if you're used to playing in a really big

498
00:37:36,020 --> 00:37:42,020
gym and you're digging high and you're looking visually at all of the space around you, going

499
00:37:42,020 --> 00:37:45,420
into that closed environment would take some getting used to.

500
00:37:45,420 --> 00:37:47,340
Playing at elevation is no joke.

501
00:37:47,340 --> 00:37:52,220
So I think that we've hit the majority of questions that I've seen on the channel so

502
00:37:52,220 --> 00:37:53,260
far.

503
00:37:53,260 --> 00:37:56,340
If we haven't answered your question, please send us a message on YouTube.

504
00:37:56,340 --> 00:38:00,580
I'll be looking for them and we'll continue to aggregate questions as the episodes go

505
00:38:00,580 --> 00:38:02,980
on and we'd love to hear from you.

506
00:38:02,980 --> 00:38:05,260
And we have answered some on YouTube too.

507
00:38:05,260 --> 00:38:09,740
So if you didn't hear yours, check your YouTube comments to see if there's been a reply.

508
00:38:09,740 --> 00:38:14,020
But thank you so much to everybody who took the time to write into us.

509
00:38:14,020 --> 00:38:15,180
All right.

510
00:38:15,180 --> 00:38:20,660
Coming up in January, we have both Love and the PVF starting.

511
00:38:20,660 --> 00:38:27,060
PVF will be in their second season and Love is starting with their inaugural season.

512
00:38:27,060 --> 00:38:32,380
Sarah and I looked through all of the rosters for all of the teams that have been posted

513
00:38:32,380 --> 00:38:40,060
thus far and why don't you give me your impression of who's playing in the league, what it's

514
00:38:40,060 --> 00:38:45,200
going to look like, you know, what people can maybe expect going into these seasons.

515
00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:50,220
To be honest, I have no idea what to expect here.

516
00:38:50,220 --> 00:38:55,380
I went through all of the rosters of both leagues.

517
00:38:55,380 --> 00:39:03,420
For Love, you have, you know, the founding athletes, which are current or recently retired

518
00:39:03,420 --> 00:39:05,180
national team athletes.

519
00:39:05,180 --> 00:39:06,460
Big profile athletes.

520
00:39:06,460 --> 00:39:13,100
Big profile athletes, big Team USA, you know, history there.

521
00:39:13,100 --> 00:39:19,780
So I think you're getting a wealth of skill and experience and professionalism from that

522
00:39:19,780 --> 00:39:23,980
core group and there's one to two on each Love team.

523
00:39:23,980 --> 00:39:28,640
We couldn't find anything about foreigner limits for Love.

524
00:39:28,640 --> 00:39:34,300
It did seem like there were a lot of foreign athletes.

525
00:39:34,300 --> 00:39:40,500
What we're seeing is foreign athletes who are kind of on the tail end of their career

526
00:39:40,500 --> 00:39:41,500
looking through the names.

527
00:39:41,500 --> 00:39:49,060
I played against a lot of them, you know, early in my pro career and I thought they

528
00:39:49,060 --> 00:39:51,980
were on their way out when I was.

529
00:39:51,980 --> 00:39:53,540
We won't mention any names.

530
00:39:53,540 --> 00:39:55,300
But they're not.

531
00:39:55,300 --> 00:40:00,700
So you're seeing some international experience, some foreign professional experience, but

532
00:40:00,700 --> 00:40:02,980
a little older.

533
00:40:02,980 --> 00:40:06,380
And then you're seeing new young talent.

534
00:40:06,380 --> 00:40:11,700
We'll get into the quote unquote Love 6 as they're calling them here shortly.

535
00:40:11,700 --> 00:40:17,340
But you have another group of athletes that I don't want anybody to take this the wrong

536
00:40:17,340 --> 00:40:27,340
way, but they have very big social media followings, but maybe have not been in the volleyball

537
00:40:27,340 --> 00:40:32,500
world or in the volleyball spotlight in recent years.

538
00:40:32,500 --> 00:40:33,900
Does that adequately sum it up?

539
00:40:33,900 --> 00:40:36,260
Yeah, I think that that adequately sums it up.

540
00:40:36,260 --> 00:40:40,000
And I mean, let's be let's be fair.

541
00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:43,900
These leagues are brand new and starting something is difficult.

542
00:40:43,900 --> 00:40:49,340
And I think having a professional league in North America is a great thing.

543
00:40:49,340 --> 00:40:52,860
Are you going to know having three professional leagues in North America?

544
00:40:52,860 --> 00:40:55,020
But this is how this is how things start.

545
00:40:55,020 --> 00:40:56,020
Right.

546
00:40:56,020 --> 00:40:57,020
And that's okay.

547
00:40:57,020 --> 00:41:00,060
You're not going to get the big international stars.

548
00:41:00,060 --> 00:41:02,560
You're not going to pay enough for them.

549
00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:04,280
You're not an established league.

550
00:41:04,280 --> 00:41:06,900
People don't know what they're getting into.

551
00:41:06,900 --> 00:41:10,660
You have many things you have to do in this first year.

552
00:41:10,660 --> 00:41:12,020
You want people to follow you.

553
00:41:12,020 --> 00:41:15,100
So the social media presence, it does make a difference.

554
00:41:15,100 --> 00:41:17,600
You need to put people into the stands.

555
00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:22,420
You want to continue to develop your college level athletes for people who may not want

556
00:41:22,420 --> 00:41:26,200
to play overseas or may not be good enough to do that yet.

557
00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:28,300
You want them to be able to stay in the States.

558
00:41:28,300 --> 00:41:29,600
I get that.

559
00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:35,300
So it's an interesting dichotomy of, like you said, young players who are inexperienced

560
00:41:35,300 --> 00:41:39,220
internationally who haven't been professionals and then people who have probably done and

561
00:41:39,220 --> 00:41:40,340
seen it all.

562
00:41:40,340 --> 00:41:44,060
So it makes sense that they would start in that way.

563
00:41:44,060 --> 00:41:49,200
And hopefully you start to groom the next layer of professional athletes, given the

564
00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:53,740
experience that you have for the athletes who, let's be honest, you get to a point

565
00:41:53,740 --> 00:41:56,740
where you don't want to leave and live overseas anymore.

566
00:41:56,740 --> 00:42:01,220
And now they get to pass their knowledge and experience and continue to play in a setting

567
00:42:01,220 --> 00:42:02,580
that's more comfortable to them.

568
00:42:02,580 --> 00:42:08,580
So I think the way the rosters are constructed make a lot of sense for where the league is.

569
00:42:08,580 --> 00:42:13,040
Is it going to be the best professional volleyball?

570
00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:14,040
Probably not.

571
00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:20,980
And there's going to be some growing pains, but hopefully it's good enough to be entertaining.

572
00:42:20,980 --> 00:42:24,860
I'm very curious what the level will look like.

573
00:42:24,860 --> 00:42:30,560
I understand that, you know, you're not going to get the big names to come right now.

574
00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:32,420
The money's just not there.

575
00:42:32,420 --> 00:42:36,860
There's no reason for those players to leave Asia and Europe.

576
00:42:36,860 --> 00:42:39,260
But like you said, you have to start somewhere.

577
00:42:39,260 --> 00:42:41,780
I found it very interesting.

578
00:42:41,780 --> 00:42:46,940
I don't know if it was transparent to everybody, but how obvious it was that they were looking

579
00:42:46,940 --> 00:42:49,620
for social media, like followings.

580
00:42:49,620 --> 00:42:51,860
It's very clear that they want to get the word out there.

581
00:42:51,860 --> 00:42:57,700
And I'm just so curious how those contracts were negotiated or what those conversations

582
00:42:57,700 --> 00:43:03,740
were like, because it's basically like, we want to use your platform, but you will not

583
00:43:03,740 --> 00:43:05,140
play.

584
00:43:05,140 --> 00:43:06,140
Maybe they will play.

585
00:43:06,140 --> 00:43:09,020
If some of those players do play, I will be on the floor.

586
00:43:09,020 --> 00:43:10,300
Like I'll be shocked.

587
00:43:10,300 --> 00:43:11,300
Yeah.

588
00:43:11,300 --> 00:43:14,020
It's, it may, it's, it's a bold move.

589
00:43:14,020 --> 00:43:20,320
It's a genius move from a business standpoint, from an eyeballs on the product standpoint.

590
00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:26,820
But like, yeah, I'm just, I'm curious how this is all going to pan out.

591
00:43:26,820 --> 00:43:34,860
Just quickly, before we get into the love six, the PVF rosters, PVF is allowed to foreign

592
00:43:34,860 --> 00:43:36,780
athletes per team.

593
00:43:36,780 --> 00:43:39,420
They have been very transparent about their pay structure.

594
00:43:39,420 --> 00:43:43,020
I don't know anything about the love pay structure.

595
00:43:43,020 --> 00:43:45,580
So that is a question mark that I have.

596
00:43:45,580 --> 00:43:52,240
Like how much are some of these American like Olympians giving up financially to do this

597
00:43:52,240 --> 00:43:54,140
or has love made it worth their while?

598
00:43:54,140 --> 00:43:58,060
That's, it would be a very interesting question to get answered.

599
00:43:58,060 --> 00:44:00,060
I am very curious.

600
00:44:00,060 --> 00:44:02,820
The PVF rosters, I will be honest.

601
00:44:02,820 --> 00:44:07,760
I think PVF is based on the roster.

602
00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:12,820
It's a great opportunity for people to play after college.

603
00:44:12,820 --> 00:44:19,780
I just looking at the, the names, I think love will be a higher level than PVF.

604
00:44:19,780 --> 00:44:20,780
Can I say that with certainty?

605
00:44:20,780 --> 00:44:23,300
No, I'm just going based off of.

606
00:44:23,300 --> 00:44:24,300
Give us a month.

607
00:44:24,300 --> 00:44:27,580
We'll have a more in-depth opinion for you after watching a few matches.

608
00:44:27,580 --> 00:44:31,900
Straight up looking at headshots and names and like who I know versus don't know.

609
00:44:31,900 --> 00:44:38,340
I think love will be much stronger, but you know, it's, it's cool that these athletes

610
00:44:38,340 --> 00:44:46,000
have an opportunity to be professional volleyball players and make money playing volleyball.

611
00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:50,140
I'm very curious to see how the different leagues function, what the production value

612
00:44:50,140 --> 00:44:55,660
is, what the entertainment value is, what the, what the level of volleyball is.

613
00:44:55,660 --> 00:44:58,080
I I'm actually, it's going to be an interesting two months.

614
00:44:58,080 --> 00:45:05,180
I'm looking forward to seeing what product gets put on the floor and how it is shown

615
00:45:05,180 --> 00:45:06,580
to the public.

616
00:45:06,580 --> 00:45:08,980
Let's get into the love six.

617
00:45:08,980 --> 00:45:18,940
So love has signed six graduating seniors that we saw play in the 20, 24 NCAA season.

618
00:45:18,940 --> 00:45:22,860
They have sent one athlete to each team.

619
00:45:22,860 --> 00:45:30,340
Those athletes are Sophie Fisher from Georgia, Lexi Rodriguez from Nebraska, Sarah Franklin

620
00:45:30,340 --> 00:45:36,220
from Wisconsin, Jess Merzik played at Penn state, Madison Skinner played at Texas and

621
00:45:36,220 --> 00:45:38,640
O'Neill of Fegboo from Oregon.

622
00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:45,020
I think of all of these players, Madison Skinner has the brightest future professionally.

623
00:45:45,020 --> 00:45:46,300
Lexi Rodriguez as well.

624
00:45:46,300 --> 00:45:51,820
I think her skillset is it's solid and it's good for her position obviously, but it's

625
00:45:51,820 --> 00:45:54,300
just a different game.

626
00:45:54,300 --> 00:46:00,340
And I think that Skinner's skills will translate to the international style of play better

627
00:46:00,340 --> 00:46:01,940
than the other ones.

628
00:46:01,940 --> 00:46:02,940
All right.

629
00:46:02,940 --> 00:46:04,320
It's game time.

630
00:46:04,320 --> 00:46:11,700
And in honor of the final four wrapping up in the NCAA women's season, I thought it would

631
00:46:11,700 --> 00:46:19,020
be fun for you to pick a semi all-star team, but there's a caveat.

632
00:46:19,020 --> 00:46:26,980
So I've gone through and for each position, I've selected three athletes and you have

633
00:46:26,980 --> 00:46:32,200
to pick who you would choose for your team and why.

634
00:46:32,200 --> 00:46:36,260
And for everybody out there, she has no idea who I've put on my list.

635
00:46:36,260 --> 00:46:43,300
I've picked players to make it interesting, but most of them are top level players.

636
00:46:43,300 --> 00:46:45,180
And I'm just curious what your thoughts are.

637
00:46:45,180 --> 00:46:47,140
We haven't done one of these games in a while.

638
00:46:47,140 --> 00:46:48,140
I'm very excited.

639
00:46:48,140 --> 00:46:52,220
I mean, we've been watching 20 plus matches a week, so it's been a little busy.

640
00:46:52,220 --> 00:46:53,220
So this is actually fun.

641
00:46:53,220 --> 00:46:54,780
All right, here we go.

642
00:46:54,780 --> 00:47:02,540
Starting at the center position, your three options are Fairbanks from Pitt, Stark from

643
00:47:02,540 --> 00:47:06,620
Penn State, or Waite from Creighton.

644
00:47:06,620 --> 00:47:08,800
This is harder than I thought it would be actually.

645
00:47:08,800 --> 00:47:11,620
I'm going to go with Izzy Stark from Penn State.

646
00:47:11,620 --> 00:47:18,140
The reason I say that, I think that Rachel Fairbanks has some incredible hands.

647
00:47:18,140 --> 00:47:21,620
I think the way she runs the middle off the net is great.

648
00:47:21,620 --> 00:47:26,940
She has made some spectacular plays that I have seen, but in critical point matches,

649
00:47:26,940 --> 00:47:28,420
I have seen her crumble.

650
00:47:28,420 --> 00:47:29,660
That is a red flag for me.

651
00:47:29,660 --> 00:47:36,620
Izzy Stark was a freshman and I saw her in a couple different matches look terrified

652
00:47:36,620 --> 00:47:44,300
and look like she did not believe in herself, but I saw her rally and I saw her dig deep

653
00:47:44,300 --> 00:47:49,620
and pull herself out of whatever dark place she was trying to crawl into and deliver.

654
00:47:49,620 --> 00:47:55,580
And her out of system setting, the way that she is able to run an offense, I think her

655
00:47:55,580 --> 00:47:58,000
future is very bright.

656
00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:00,460
I think she puts up a solid block.

657
00:48:00,460 --> 00:48:07,300
There are way more upside pieces to Stark than there are negatives.

658
00:48:07,300 --> 00:48:10,420
And I think her upside outweighs the other ones.

659
00:48:10,420 --> 00:48:12,940
So yeah, Izzy Stark.

660
00:48:12,940 --> 00:48:14,260
All right.

661
00:48:14,260 --> 00:48:21,740
At the liberal position, we have Rodriguez from Nebraska, we have Scott from Louisville,

662
00:48:21,740 --> 00:48:25,080
and we have Grimes from Penn State.

663
00:48:25,080 --> 00:48:26,820
This one is really hard.

664
00:48:26,820 --> 00:48:28,160
Give me a second.

665
00:48:28,160 --> 00:48:31,700
I had to take a break and think about this one for a minute.

666
00:48:31,700 --> 00:48:32,700
I'm back.

667
00:48:32,700 --> 00:48:34,860
I would go with Elena Scott.

668
00:48:34,860 --> 00:48:40,300
I know there are probably so many people out there who are like, you are absolutely insane,

669
00:48:40,300 --> 00:48:41,300
but hear me out.

670
00:48:41,300 --> 00:48:44,340
From a serving perspective, I think they're a wash.

671
00:48:44,340 --> 00:48:48,780
I don't think either one of the two is a particular prolific server.

672
00:48:48,780 --> 00:48:53,540
I know what's going to tip the scales in Elena Scott's favor, but continue.

673
00:48:53,540 --> 00:49:00,420
From a setting perspective, I think Elena Scott is an outstanding setter.

674
00:49:00,420 --> 00:49:03,220
That's what I think tip the scales in her favor.

675
00:49:03,220 --> 00:49:05,340
I'm not saying Lexi Rodriguez is a bad setter.

676
00:49:05,340 --> 00:49:11,020
She's pretty good, but when the chips are on the table, she did not set well in that

677
00:49:11,020 --> 00:49:13,340
semi-final match against Penn State.

678
00:49:13,340 --> 00:49:14,740
It's true.

679
00:49:14,740 --> 00:49:15,820
Go back and watch the tape.

680
00:49:15,820 --> 00:49:19,260
From a passing perspective, Lexi is a very good pass.

681
00:49:19,260 --> 00:49:20,580
They're both very good passers.

682
00:49:20,580 --> 00:49:24,500
I would say Lexi is probably a more solid passer than Elena Scott is.

683
00:49:24,500 --> 00:49:31,140
Defensively, I think they are both outstanding, but I will say I think that Elena Scott digs

684
00:49:31,140 --> 00:49:34,340
down the line better than Lexi Rodriguez does.

685
00:49:34,340 --> 00:49:42,300
I saw Elena Scott make better adjustments in critical moments than Rodriguez did.

686
00:49:42,300 --> 00:49:43,940
Let the comment, keep them coming.

687
00:49:43,940 --> 00:49:45,060
I want to hear your comments.

688
00:49:45,060 --> 00:49:46,820
I know you're probably mad at me.

689
00:49:46,820 --> 00:49:49,020
I love it, but that's who I'm picking.

690
00:49:49,020 --> 00:49:57,580
All right, the first group of middles is Cressy from Louisville, Jackson from Nebraska, or

691
00:49:57,580 --> 00:49:59,940
Frances from Stanford.

692
00:49:59,940 --> 00:50:01,500
Andy Jackson.

693
00:50:01,500 --> 00:50:03,700
I knew whatever list she was on, you were going to pick that.

694
00:50:03,700 --> 00:50:04,700
No.

695
00:50:04,700 --> 00:50:09,580
I think both Frances and Cressy are great blockers.

696
00:50:09,580 --> 00:50:15,500
If anything, they might be better blockers than Jackson is, but offensively, there is

697
00:50:15,500 --> 00:50:19,780
absolutely no comparison between those athletes.

698
00:50:19,780 --> 00:50:24,460
If I am taking a little bit of a dip in the blocking category, I'm more than making up

699
00:50:24,460 --> 00:50:26,060
for it offensively.

700
00:50:26,060 --> 00:50:27,860
Jackson.

701
00:50:27,860 --> 00:50:34,500
Colvin from Purdue, Kelly from Pitt, or Alec from Nebraska.

702
00:50:34,500 --> 00:50:36,500
I would pick Bree Kelly from Pitt.

703
00:50:36,500 --> 00:50:42,460
I think Raven Colvin's strength is her blocking, but I think Bree Kelly is a pretty solid blocker

704
00:50:42,460 --> 00:50:44,140
as well.

705
00:50:44,140 --> 00:50:49,100
Maybe I'm taking a little dip from Colvin in a blocking sense, but with good passing

706
00:50:49,100 --> 00:50:54,700
and a setter who can deliver, I think Bree Kelly is much more efficient from an offensive

707
00:50:54,700 --> 00:50:55,700
perspective.

708
00:50:55,700 --> 00:51:02,340
For your first left side, you have the choice of De'Beer from Louisville, Murray from Nebraska,

709
00:51:02,340 --> 00:51:03,980
or Parah from TCU.

710
00:51:03,980 --> 00:51:09,940
Oh, it would have been so interesting to see Parah play with a solid team around her.

711
00:51:09,940 --> 00:51:13,420
I think from a passing perspective, all three are pretty similar.

712
00:51:13,420 --> 00:51:15,500
I know people are going to be mad about that too.

713
00:51:15,500 --> 00:51:16,500
I don't care.

714
00:51:16,500 --> 00:51:19,460
Parah's passing is probably a little worse than the other two.

715
00:51:19,460 --> 00:51:22,420
Defensively, I think she's better than the other two.

716
00:51:22,420 --> 00:51:26,240
She reads the game so well from a defensive perspective.

717
00:51:26,240 --> 00:51:31,500
Her serve is substantially better than the other two.

718
00:51:31,500 --> 00:51:36,980
This is just so hard because Parah had to do everything for her team, and she was very

719
00:51:36,980 --> 00:51:40,360
successful at it, obviously, but she hit her limit.

720
00:51:40,360 --> 00:51:42,300
She was maxed out.

721
00:51:42,300 --> 00:51:44,940
I'm going to cause a ruckus here and say Parah.

722
00:51:44,940 --> 00:51:50,020
I think if she had a solid team around her, she would be able to score with so much more

723
00:51:50,020 --> 00:51:51,420
ease.

724
00:51:51,420 --> 00:51:55,340
And mixing in her serve and the way she reads the game, I think it's great.

725
00:51:55,340 --> 00:51:56,340
All right.

726
00:51:56,340 --> 00:52:02,580
Your second left side position, you got Stafford from Pitt, Merzik from Penn State, or De'Lay

727
00:52:02,580 --> 00:52:03,580
from Kentucky.

728
00:52:03,580 --> 00:52:05,340
I'd take Tori Stafford.

729
00:52:05,340 --> 00:52:08,540
I think she passes better than the other two.

730
00:52:08,540 --> 00:52:15,860
I think she has been part of a good team, but her hitting percentage is outstanding.

731
00:52:15,860 --> 00:52:18,540
The way how fast she gets off the ground.

732
00:52:18,540 --> 00:52:20,900
She's a versatile attacker.

733
00:52:20,900 --> 00:52:22,300
She plays good defense.

734
00:52:22,300 --> 00:52:28,500
Man, you're setting me up to just be ripped apart by people.

735
00:52:28,500 --> 00:52:32,180
I purposely made the choices difficult.

736
00:52:32,180 --> 00:52:34,900
I wanted to see the thought process.

737
00:52:34,900 --> 00:52:38,660
No matter who I pick, there are going to be people like, how dare you?

738
00:52:38,660 --> 00:52:42,140
So it's a lose, lose, lose, lose, lose for me.

739
00:52:42,140 --> 00:52:43,140
All right.

740
00:52:43,140 --> 00:52:44,900
And last, we're going to go to the opposite position.

741
00:52:44,900 --> 00:52:49,920
I purposefully left Babcock off the list because I knew you would just pick her no matter what.

742
00:52:49,920 --> 00:52:55,500
So to make it interesting, we've got Jura Vicious from Penn State.

743
00:52:55,500 --> 00:53:00,340
We've got Kennedy Martin from Florida and Anna Smreck from Wisconsin.

744
00:53:00,340 --> 00:53:01,340
Kennedy Martin.

745
00:53:01,340 --> 00:53:04,940
That might have been the easiest one.

746
00:53:04,940 --> 00:53:11,580
I think, again, she gets every ball for Florida and still scores and is still effective.

747
00:53:11,580 --> 00:53:15,100
I think she's a much better attacker than the other two.

748
00:53:15,100 --> 00:53:20,180
I think she actually plays six rotations, which can't say that about the other two.

749
00:53:20,180 --> 00:53:21,540
She actually serves.

750
00:53:21,540 --> 00:53:23,100
No, not even close.

751
00:53:23,100 --> 00:53:24,100
All right.

752
00:53:24,100 --> 00:53:25,100
Well, there it is.

753
00:53:25,100 --> 00:53:26,100
That's your pick a player.

754
00:53:26,100 --> 00:53:28,620
And I thought that I'd make you sweat a little.

755
00:53:28,620 --> 00:53:29,620
That was the goal.

756
00:53:29,620 --> 00:53:33,900
I'm literally sweating as I'm stressed out about these answers.

757
00:53:33,900 --> 00:53:36,420
Some of those were very hard.

758
00:53:36,420 --> 00:53:40,740
But for all of you who are going to be critical, put your biases aside.

759
00:53:40,740 --> 00:53:43,220
And I'd be curious what you would actually think, too.

760
00:53:43,220 --> 00:53:44,220
Well, I would be.

761
00:53:44,220 --> 00:53:46,140
So throw your teams up on YouTube.

762
00:53:46,140 --> 00:53:47,140
Let us see.

763
00:53:47,140 --> 00:53:48,140
Let's have a conversation.

764
00:53:48,140 --> 00:53:49,300
I would be curious what people think.

765
00:53:49,300 --> 00:53:57,100
I know we've had a lot of very intelligent comments on YouTube from some serious volleyball

766
00:53:57,100 --> 00:53:59,860
fans who watch a lot of college volleyball.

767
00:53:59,860 --> 00:54:02,380
So I would be I would be curious to get other opinions.

768
00:54:02,380 --> 00:54:09,660
It was a little more laid back this week, kind of like a fun housekeeping week, if that

769
00:54:09,660 --> 00:54:11,020
is a thing.

770
00:54:11,020 --> 00:54:12,260
Can housekeeping be fun?

771
00:54:12,260 --> 00:54:13,260
No.

772
00:54:13,260 --> 00:54:14,260
OK.

773
00:54:14,260 --> 00:54:19,700
But yeah, hopefully you guys are as excited about the new American Pro Leagues as we are

774
00:54:19,700 --> 00:54:23,380
just to see what the level is, see how they function.

775
00:54:23,380 --> 00:54:28,740
Obviously they are very viewer friendly because the NCAA did a great job this season in, you

776
00:54:28,740 --> 00:54:31,300
know, making those games accessible.

777
00:54:31,300 --> 00:54:37,940
We are actually going to be off next week as the leagues kind of get started.

778
00:54:37,940 --> 00:54:39,800
We roll into things.

779
00:54:39,800 --> 00:54:43,880
So we wanted to wish you all a very happy new year.

780
00:54:43,880 --> 00:54:47,800
Thank you so much for being part of the start of this podcast with us.

781
00:54:47,800 --> 00:54:53,260
We have so much fun doing this together and sharing our love of volleyball with all of

782
00:54:53,260 --> 00:54:54,260
you.

783
00:54:54,260 --> 00:54:55,260
Yeah.

784
00:54:55,260 --> 00:54:59,580
So don't expect anything from us next week, but we'll be back the following week with

785
00:54:59,580 --> 00:55:03,600
an update on how love is going.

786
00:55:03,600 --> 00:55:06,780
That concludes this week's episode of Volley Talk.

787
00:55:06,780 --> 00:55:10,620
There's always something shaking in the volleyball world and we hope you enjoyed this little

788
00:55:10,620 --> 00:55:11,620
fix.

789
00:55:11,620 --> 00:55:15,780
Be sure to follow the show so you don't miss any updates and we'd be so grateful if you'd

790
00:55:15,780 --> 00:55:17,860
leave us a five star review.

791
00:55:17,860 --> 00:55:22,800
You can also find us on Instagram at VolleyTalk underscore podcast.

792
00:55:22,800 --> 00:55:26,380
If you have a topic that you want us to discuss, be sure to let us know by reaching out to

793
00:55:26,380 --> 00:55:30,980
us on Instagram or at info at Sarah pavin.com.

794
00:55:30,980 --> 00:55:46,660
Thanks so much for joining us and we'll be back in two weeks.