The caliber of US athletes absolutely has diminished because of money. Forget other sports for a minute and just look at indoor v beach.
Just within BVB, in 1984 the US's 20 best indoor players included:
Karch
Luyties
Timmmons
Sinjin
Hov
Dodd
Powers
Marlowe
Stoklos (maybe)
Thats nine of 20 and all of those guys had long pro beach careers. Of those guys Timmons was the least accomplished beach player and he played 57 events. Many of the ones who didnt play a ton of beach couldn't have because they weren't suited for it. (Duwelius, Sunderland, Buck, Partie)
500 or so combined wins.
In 2000, using the Olympic team a lot of those guys went on to beach careers:
Lambert
Hyden
Roumain
McCaw
Witt
Nygaard
Not the murderers row of 1984, but thats probably 50 combined wins and all of those guys played more than 50 events except Andy Witt.
Now take the 2008 Gold medal team. You have zero top 4 finishes. Only four made even a token effort to play beach:
Salmon
Priddy
Gardner
Rooney
Combined they probably played as many events as the 2004 team won. None will ever win an AVP event or appear in a final for that matter.
Interestingly it is now easier than it has ever been to transition from indoors to the beach. In the old days big hitters like Timmons and Ivie couldnt transition because they didnt have the other skills needed to be top players but now a lot of the MBs and Opposites who couldnt have played in the old days (or won ay least) could play and do well. But they dont.
I agree about the money.
I think though it's much easier to play overseas now, than it was 10 years ago. More good paying leagues that may have kept some of those 2000 and before players off the beach if available then.
Here is the list of players who played overseas in 2014-15:
Name Club Country
Antwan Aguillard Pallovollo Padova Italy
Daniel Alexander Volley Nafels Switzerland
Thomas Amberg Asnieres Volley 92 France
Dalton Ammerman Hylte VBK Sweden
Matt Anderson Zenit Kazan Russia
Christopher Austin Kifissia SC Athens Greece
Johl Awerkamp Hylte VBK Sweden
Brook Billings Rennes France
Robert Boldog Chemie Volley Mitteldeutschland Germany
Ryan Burrow Aero Odolena Voda Czech Republic
Yosleyder Cala Budvanska Rivjera Budva Montenegro
Nicholas Castello Volejbal Brno Czech Republic
Matthew Cheape Lamia SC Lamia Greece
Gustavo Cintron NEA Salamina Famagusta Cyprus
Carson Clark Olympiacos Piraues Greece
Kevin Cook Nordenskov UIF Volley Denmark
Brian Cook Panathianikos Greece
Taylor Crabb Arago de Sète France
Dylan Davis Top Volley SRL Italy
Jeremy Dejno Narbonne France
Vincenzo Devany Cambrai Volley E.C. France
Mark Dusharme Afyonkarahisar Belediyesi Genclik Spor Kulubu Dernegi Turkey
William Eaton Rantaperkion Isku Tampere Finland
Daniel Fabry London Lynx England
Kyle Friend Volley Nafels Switzerland
Edgardo Goas AZS Politechnika Warszawska Poland
Kyle Gramit VBK Tierp Sweden
Matt Hanley Falkenberg VBK Sweden
Andrew Hein VT Hypo Tirol Austria
Russell Holmes Asseco Resovia Poland
Maxwell Holt Dinamo Moscow Russia
Christopher Hucks Warsco Units Volharding Eisden Maasmechelen Belgium
Connor Hughes Montepellier France
Michael Iandolo Falkenberg VBK Sweden
Steven Irvin Abiant Lycurgus Netherlands
Jayson Jablonsky Fujian Men's Volleyball Club China
Kristopher Johnson Leka Volley Finland
Joe Kauliakamoa Powervolley Milano SSD ARL Milano Italy
Steven Kehoe Kokkolan Tiikerit Finland
Daniel Kellum Union Arbesbach Austria
Scott Kevorken SVG Lüneburg Germany
John Klanac Clubul Sportiv Stiinta Baia Mare Romania
Joseph Klein Raision Loimu Finland
Steven Klostermann SKV Havirov Czech Republic
Russell Lavaja Lentopalloseura ETTA Finland
Bradley Lawson PAOK Thessaloniki Greece
David Lee Lokomotiv Novosibirsk Russia
Griffin Levinski Langhenkel Volley Netherlands
Paul Lotman Asseco Resovia SA Poland
Kyle Masterson Raision Loimu Finland
Dan McDonnell Tours France
Graham McIlvaine Boldklubben Marienlyst Denmark
Riley McKibbin GS Robur Angelo Costa ssd arl Italy
Maddison McKibbin Lamia SC Lamia Greece
Riley McKibbin Lamia SC Lamia (released) Greece
Ryan Meehan Avignon VB France
Jeffrey Menzel Alahli Club UAE
Eric Mochalski ACH Volley Slovenia
Jared Moore PAOK Thessaloniki Greece
Garrett Muagututia Fujian Men's Volleyball Club China
Srdjan Nadazdin LiigaSarkat Finland
AJ Nally Chemik Bydgoszcz Poland
David Olbright VBK Tierp Sweden
Jace Olsen Marienlyst Denmark
Grayson Overman TSV Jona Switzerland
Kevin Owens Volejbalovy klub Pribram Czech Republic
Robart Page Copra Piacenza Italy
Howard Petty Kokkolan Tiikerit Finland
Matthew Pollock Vammalan Lentopallo Finland
Will Price Beijing BAIC Motor Volleyball Club China
Jeffrey Ptak Alnasser Sports Bahrain
Nick Ptaschinski Lausanne Universite Club Switzerland
Jacek Ratajczak Czarni Radom Poland
Cory Riecks VK Ostrava Czech Republic
Spencer Rowe Raision Lomu (released) Finland
Spencer Rowe GAS Pamvochaikos Greece
Taylor Sander Calzedonia Verona Italy
Shawn Sangrey Clubul Sportiv Stiinta Baia Mare Romania
Jeffrey Schmitz Union Arbesbach Austria
Patrick Schwagler Pallavolo Azzura Alessano Italy
Kawika Shoji SCC Berlin Germany
Erik Shoji SCC Berlin Germany
Joseph Smalzer Perungan Pojat Finland
Keith Smith Langhenkel Volley Netherlands
Kennon McKay Smith SKV Havirov Czech Republic
David Smith Tours France
William Stahl VBC Einsiedeln Switzerland
Matthew Stork FC Schuttorf 09 Germany
Joseph Sunder Sir Safety Umbria Volley Perugia ASD SRL Italy
Donald Suxho Studenti Albania
Jordon Tarantino Club MENT Greece
Matthew Thobe BK Tromso Norway
Ryan Thompson AO Orestiados Orestiada Greece
Scott Touzinsky SCC Berlin Germany
Murphy Troy Trefl Gdańsk Poland
Philip Tully Sollentuna VK Sweden
Patrick Tunnell Langhenkel Volley Netherlands
Nick Vogel VfB Friedrichshafen Germany
Joshua Walker Lentopalloseura ETTA Finland
Dustin Watten Ajaccio France
Nicholas West Union Arbesbach Austria
Jacob Wiens Landstede Volleybal/VCZ Netherlands
Taylor Wilson London Lynx England
Hardy Wooldridge VBC Colombier Switzerland
Jeff Zornig Abiant Lycurgus Netherlands