When Taylor Landfair announced that she had entered the Transfer Portal (no surprise there), I predicted that she would end up at Wisconsin or Penn State – but surely not Nebraska, because the Huskers’ Coach Cook doesn’t build his team that way. Turns out, the Huskers’ Coach was willing to bend his principles for a former Big Ten Player of the Year.
Another example of me being wrong was when Landfair, Wenaas and Shaffmaster signed with the Gophers in the class of ‘20, and I predicted that these three would take us to the Final Four (or better). Wenaas played in the Final Four last month, in Burnt Orange, and Landfair probably will this year, or in’25, wearing Red.
WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE US?
Fortunately, Outside Hitter is the one position where our Gophers are currently deep. Assuming no more defections, we have 5 good ones in “The Wooker,” Julia Hanson, Lydia Grote, Sydney Schnichels, and Stella Swenson. Typically, we only play 3 (4 if we go to a 6-2 next year), and you like to have someone on the bench, so 5 is a good number. We are currently stronger at Outside Hitter than at Middle, for sure.
We have a seemingly strong recruiting class for ‘25, with verbal commitments from McKenna Garr, a Libero from Rush City, MN, Carly Gilk, an Opposite from Champlin Park, Kelley Kinney, an Outside Hitter from Florida, and Jordan Taylor, a Middle from Texas. But none of these athletes, even if they do honor their verbal commitments, are going to be any help this fall.
The 2004 Gophers desperately need help from the Portal. Even if everyone else stays (which I hope they do) I have a hard time imagining how the Gophers can field a competitive team without picking up at least a couple of solid players to fill key positions.
Besides Outside Hitter, we should be strong at Setter, with Shaffmaster & Stella Swenson (a 6-2, maybe?). But we have to have a Libero to replace Kylie Murr. And even if Zeynep Palabiyik can step up to being a quality Libero, then we’d need a D.S. Currently, the prospective ‘24 roster includes senior Libero Skylar Gray, red-shirt freshman Setter Chloe Ng, and 5th-yr senior Setter Elise McGhie. Potentially one of these 3 could step up. But all 3 were available last season, when the Gophers were losing matches because we didn’t have a D.S., so … And maybe Stella Swenson could play Libero or D.S. for one season, leaving Shaffmaster as our 5-1 Setter. But it would be nice to harvest a quality transfer Libero from the Portal and not have to struggle through another season without adequate receiving.
We also desperately need another MIddle, someone better than what we had this past season. Currently, the prospective ‘24 roster includes Arcia Davis and Callista Minatee, both of whom are adequate at best, and that’s it! Even if Minatee blossoms into a stronger player than we’ve seen so far, we need at least one more Middle on the roster.
Some readers, discouraged by the poor showing in ‘23, and Landfair’s hasty departure, might think it unlikely that the Gophers are good enough to attract quality transfers. But I don’t think so. Our Gophers may not currently have the appeal of a Texas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, or Stanford, but we remain a marquee team, with marquee players, competing in the #1 conference in the country. It is entirely reasonable to think that the Gophs could attract both a quality Libero and a quality Middle. (Or two Middles?) Coach Cook needs to produce.
NIL $
Some GopherVBallRocks readers, influenced by the constant whining of P.J. Fleck might be thinking that NIL (Name, Image & Likeness) money will prevent the Gophers from attracting quality volleyballers. (If you don’t like the Portal, you probably hate NIL.) But insiders I talk to don’t believe that NIL has had much impact on volleyball -YET. Mostly, NIL impacts revenue sports, like men’s football and men’s basketball, maybe hockey? There are a few individual exceptions, like Gable Stevenson, Suni Lee, Caitlyn Clark and Paige Bueckers, but folks I talk to are skeptical that there is much NIL money in college volleyball -YET. And I don’t want to hear NIL as an excuse from Coach Cook.
That could change dramatically, however, if one current proposal is adopted. Currently, a tiny fraction of NIL money flows to women athletes. But a proposal to apply “Title 9” to NIL is under consideration, which could mean that women athletes would get 50% of a given school’s NIL money. Given that there is no women’s football, this would be a giant windfall for women’s basketball – and the next most popular women’s sport?
If that were to happen, the Gophers would have a significant recruiting disadvantage versus schools like Ohio State or Michigan, Texas or Alabama (note that only 1 of these 4 football powers has as strong a volleyball program as the Gophers). BUT remember, despite Fleck’s whining, NIL money flows as much by conference and market as by individual school. And as of next fall, football will have devolved into 2 super-conferences, and we’re in one of them. If NIL money overwhelms college volleyball, it won’t be an excuse for losing to Creighton.