News & Thoughts about PSU Recruiting, Transfer Portal, etc.

Bob, at the risk of feeding the troll, I'll respond to a few of your assertions. 

On "we have never needed California ladies to win our many national championships."  Have you forgotten Lacey Fuller already? Are you not happy that Serena Gray, the #5-ranked PrepVolleyball Senior Ace for 2018, signed with Penn State?

On "We might want to find out how Pittsburgh seems to be rapidly rising in the polls while PSU is not-so-much."  Last I checked, Penn State (with a freshman-laden team) is ranked #7 in the polls, while Pitt (with a much more experienced squad) is ranked #10.

On "Perhaps getting closer relationships with the best VB clubs could be considered smart recruiting."  Do you seriously think Penn State doesn't have close relationships with the best VB clubs?

On "we can't attract elite OHs and RSs like we use [sic] to."  I think most knowledgeable observers would consider Jonni Parker to be an elite RS.  Did Penn State lose out on Thayer Hall?  Yes, and probably a couple of other OHs in recent years.  You've made that point, repeatedly.  Noone disputes that point.  But to extrapolate from that point to the others you've made in your post is . . . searching for the word . . . silly.

You make several good points and I don't want to get into a phishstixing contest with you however Jonni Parker is not an elite RS player in my opinion for a couple reasons.  She still needs to become more consistent on both offense and defense.  The RS position that traditionally was one where you wanted a tall, strong blocker to counter the opponent's best hitter.  Obviously, we did not do that.  I think we have other players like Kendall White, for example, who are elite.

Apologies for my ignorance. Who do we consider elite Right Side/Opposites right now? How many of those elite Right Sides started out as Middles? How many are Seniors?

It is my poorly informed impression that Penn State is, at the moment, one of the programs that the best young players hope to hear from. I think the list of schools in that category are fairly few, though it seems like there are more schools joining the list of "destinations." I think we also call these schools "traditional powers."

Coach never misses an opportunity to thank the Administration for fully funding our volleyball program. Not all schools do that. We are also reasonably well regarded for educational opportunity, though I think there are some places with even better reputations. Having a chance to play on the Big Ten Network (or the SEC or PAC networks) must be a draw too. But I assume that being on a 7 time National Champion led by the winningest DI coach of all time is a draw as well. I would just as soon never find out how well we will recruit if Coach ever retires.

The point here is that Penn State has lots to attract the very best players. If some go elsewhere it likely has little to do with what our staff says or does, and more to do with factors not really within our control. Then, as Coach often says, it is largely up to the players who choose to come here to take advantage of the training which has been highly successful in the past, practice hard, and learn to be the best. Not all of our recruits, even the highly ranked ones, do that.

Hi Ya'll!

Please understand that there are hundreds of eyes out there around the country that are on the lookout for players for Russ and regularly give reports and heads up.

These are not coaches trying to sell a player to him.

His tentacles are strong and deep throughout the country.


borderline "Missus dominicus -like" 😎

Joni Parker is not elite.

Joni is an elite competitor EVERY time she steps on the floor.

To say that about a Freshmen, in the B1G on a top 10 team is unique. She is integral to this team's success this year.