Your opinion -Best D1 College???

[diychick]

Opinions on which college has the 'best' D1 program...(and why)
Best improvement of players
Best coach
Best assistant coaches
Best academic support provided to athletes
Best display of teamwork at games
Best track record of dedication to team members (which schools cut their players, which schools continue to work/develop, etc.)
D1 college with highest rate of transfers to other programs
D1 college that achieves best recruiting results - which programs are in demand by graduating seniors?
Best assessment of talent - which D1 colleges sign or recruit 'unknowns' as opposed to recruiting only the MVPs from JOs or the Fab 50 list?

And... do the top east coast (ipfw, princeton, harvard) schools actively recruit west coast players.

Yep, that's about it, but maybe someone wants to add their "best" to this list.

[BBallking]

Best improvement of players- RUTGERS
Best coach- AL SCATES
Best assistant coaches- LONG BEACH
Best academic support provided to athletes- Men's Volleyball?
Best display of teamwork at games- ANYone but Hawaii
Best track record of dedication to team members (which schools cut their players, which schools continue to work/develop, etc.) ANYONE BUT UCLA
D1 college with highest rate of transfers to other programs BYU INCLUDING GUYS JUST QUITTING
D1 college that achieves best recruiting results - which programs are in demand by graduating seniors?
Best assessment of talent - which D1 colleges sign or recruit 'unknowns' as opposed to recruiting only the MVPs from JOs or the Fab 50 list?

And... do the top east coast (ipfw, princeton, harvard) schools actively recruit west coast players. THE GOOD ONES DO

Yep, that's about it, but maybe someone wants to add their "best" to this list.


Best poster on here??? Tigfan

[sonofbarcelonabob]

BBallking said:

Best improvement of players- RUTGERS
Best coach- AL SCATES
Best assistant coaches- LONG BEACH
Best academic support provided to athletes- Men's Volleyball?
Best display of teamwork at games- ANYone but Hawaii
Best track record of dedication to team members (which schools cut their players, which schools continue to work/develop, etc.) ANYONE BUT UCLA
D1 college with highest rate of transfers to other programs BYU INCLUDING GUYS JUST QUITTING
D1 college that achieves best recruiting results - which programs are in demand by graduating seniors?
Best assessment of talent - which D1 colleges sign or recruit 'unknowns' as opposed to recruiting only the MVPs from JOs or the Fab 50 list?

And... do the top east coast (ipfw, princeton, harvard) schools actively recruit west coast players. THE GOOD ONES DO

Yep, that's about it, but maybe someone wants to add their "best" to this list.


Best poster on here??? Tigfan

Sorry, your answer was supposed to be 50 words or less and in standard essay form.

[diychick]

i appreciate the information. SOBB, given your excellent information on previous volleyball posts, I was really hoping you would chime in with your opinion.

My son is interested in UCLA, but after looking through their roster, they seem to change by more than 50% every year. That worries me.... so bballking's answer confirmed some of those concerns.

I hope others can answer - the info is very helpful.

[roy]

diychick said:

i appreciate the information. SOBB, given your excellent information on previous volleyball posts, I was really hoping you would chime in with your opinion.

My son is interested in UCLA, but after looking through their roster, they seem to change by more than 50% every year. That worries me.... so bballking's answer confirmed some of those concerns.

I hope others can answer - the info is very helpful.

UCLA has the ability of getting the top recruits of each class. Up until last year, they have won a title every 4 years. Basically, if you went in as a freshman and stayed around, you walked out of your senior year with at least one national championship ring on your finger.

If your son isn't a top recruit (Fab 50), it might be hard for him to stay at UCLA. I don't know too much about the UCLA policy. Scates might let any player who wants to stay at the program. He might cut them from the team. Your son should contact them and you can talk to the coach about his policies for players. But your son will definately have a lot of competition for playing time.

East coast schools love west coast players. They may not actively recruit them. Best chance for you son is to have him contact those schools. Just a quick e-mail informing them of his interest. If possible, send a tape of him playing a match. That is how some coaches find out about players. Nothing in the rule book says that your son cannot initiate contact to the coach.

As far as transfering, it is very common in men's volleyball. Too many good players and not enough teams. A lot of players end up going to a junior college or play on club teams to improve first. Then transfer to a DI or DII school. If your son is being recruited by a specific school, he probably doesn't need to worry too much about transferring.

[volleymom]

I can only speak for UCLA, because we have not experienced the other schools.

My son goes to UCLA and loves it there. The academic challenge is stretching, the guys on the team are his best friends, and the location and social atmosphere is great.

The hype about the "Blue Curtain" is true. Scates keeps a large roster and everyone is encouraged to try for a place on the first court. You can start for one match and not even suit up for the next match. However, if you work really hard and are top caliber to begin with, (as Roy alluded to), you have an excellent chance of getting significant playing time. Last season is a good example of that--two seniors (Wenger & Jagoda) didn't play that much previously, but earned significant time on the court and helped lead the Bruins to 3rd place. So I would say UCLA gets high marks for "Best improvement of players" category.

The stress of bouncing back and forth from the first and second (and even third) courts can be hard on an athlete, but it has been a good growing experience for our son. He has handled it very well, better than we have! However, he is a starter. We might feel differently if he still wasn't getting to play.

Scates is a great coach and very pragmatic. He is always looking for a winning combination of players and winning strategies. His wife, Sue, says he watches tapes all night before matches. He is also a nice man, from our experience.

We like all the assistant coaches very much.

We also respect Marv Dunphy (Pep) and John Speraw (UCI). We don't know any of the others yet, so can't comment.

UCLA has good academic support provided to athletes, but the student has to be willing to take advantage of everything that is offered. It is up to him/her. There are study groups, private tutoring, etc, but it's up to the student to attend.

We have seen students accept the help UCLA Athletics Dept. offers to get them into the school, then never become part of the team because they know they are not good enough. They aren't complaining--they wouldn't have gotten into UCLA otherwise. Athletics opened academic doors for these players.

We have also seen athletes that no one thinks will make it become starters as well as others who are top recruits in the nation that tank completely. Often, that seems to reflect the maturity, attitude, and work ethic of the student himself/herself. Or, some decided to pursue another sport or academic interest over volleyball. So you can't totally go by looking at the stability of the rosters from year to year to determine the school's dedication to players. A lot is up to the players themselves.

I hope this information is helpful to you.

Go Bruins!

[sjhaysuess]

It depends on a few things but here are some of my personal answers...keep in mind that they may be biased seeing as I go to CSUN(Cal State Northridge) but also not biased because these are some of the reasons I decided to play here. Remember they're opinions but they are from experience so take from them what you may. I didn't answer some because I find that I know too little to say anything.


Best coach: Jeff Campbell of CSUN. He was awarded with coach of the year last year and kept his team around the 5th place ranking all year. If you ask people about Northridge volleyball they usually don't know too much about it if anything. They don't have as much recruiting power as let's say UCLA or Pepperdine or anything but he gets his players through the program he runs, not simply by name.

Best assistant coaches: CSUN and UCSB. Dan Connors at CSUN played professionally in Europe and played at UCLA back when they won championships at least once every 4 years so he obviously has some experience. He is a nice all around guy and gives good tips without sounding like he's really criticizing you. Todd Rogers at UCSB is on the AVP and was close in the running for an Olympic team during the middle of their season. He is a really outgoing and honest guy that knows his stuff.

D1 college with highest rate of transfers to other programs: UCSB. They are a good school with a good program but it takes a very particular kind of person to go there and like it. A lot of guys just can't handle it there or don't like it. It's just a very different style than a lot of other schools.

D1 colleges that achieve best recruiting results: I think most players look on the top 10 or 5 or something, pick whichever one suits their priorities(close to home, cheap, etc.) and go for a visit to a few. Then whichever they like they go to. So all in all I think the main thing that recruits look for the is the national ranking because everyone wants to play for the best team possible.

Best assessment of talent: That's hard to say. A lot of schools pick up non-fab 50, non-MVP players but some for different reasons. UCLA is notorious for recruiting a ton of players just to have the options of picking the best ones, and not saying they do this on purpose but it also takes some competetive players away from other schools for a year or so. When I went to UCSB, their practice consisted of about 30 players so I don't know what was going on there(over-recruiting ala UCLA?) but I've heard they keep their options wide open as well.

Hope this helped somehow or gave you some insight. I also hope you liked the length because you're lucky I felt like typing this much right now. I didn't mean to downplay any programs because as far as I'm concerned all the coaches and programs are great for even existing. It's hard to find people dedicated to the sport and I appreciate them all.

[tigfan]

BBallking said:

Best poster on here??? Tigfan

I certainly agree with that...

[Charlie]

I can concur with everything that Volleymom said. My son was in the UCLA program for five years (mid 90s). He was a true walk-on. He adapted from being a high school star setter to being a DS. He spent time behind the blue curtain, but developed the ability to serve really well and Scates noticed. He played a lot as a DS the last three years.

As far as cutting players, UCLA typically doesn't have to do that. I once asked ass't coach Rofer about this and he just said, mostly they cut themselves. Only occasionally have they actually had to cut players when they just had too many, more than allowed by the school.

It _is_ very competitive there. But Scates is very straightforward about this. The best play, it's that simple. I think very highly of Al Scates. He is a no BS, straight shooter. If you ask him something, he will give you a straight answer (parent or player). I was always able to talk with the coaches and ask about things. Remember, my son wasn't a star either, he was a role player. But Al made him feel like he contributed, which meant the world to him.

About the only thing I would say to watch out for is, your son needs to be willing to fight for his spot - it will not be handed to him for choosing UCLA. But if he is good enough to play there, it could be a terrific experience, as it was for my son.

There's one school I would avoid, knowing what I know these days. If you want to know about that, send me an IM. I'd be happy to talk on the phone as well.

It used to be that there were only a couple of top programs (in terms of competitiveness), but there are more now. You have more good choices than in the past. It's straightforward to check out the school itself, but it's imperative that you do your homework on the coaches at any program that you consider. On the volleyball side, that will have the most impact.

I run a junior club, so I talk to parents a lot about this topic all the time.

All the best to your family. I find that kids and parents actually make good choices almost all the time, so don't fret too much, but do your homework.

[uhvb]

My advice to the parent that is looking for a men's program for their son. Make your choice based on the education and experience they will receive. More than likely you will be paying for the majority of it so be a wise consumer. UCLA will always be a great program, even if Al Scates isn't there, why? Because an education from UCLA is worth something in the job market. UCLA will always contend for the title because the best kids that don't receive 1/10th of a scholarship will walk on because:
1. If volleyball falls through they are still going to get a degree from UCLA.
2. They can live at home, commute, and save money for tuition that way.
3. It costs too much to walk on at the other contender (Pepperdine). or SC (not so much of a contender).
4. Hawaii is too far to commute.

Make your decision based on where your son will have a great experience, receive a quality education, and be a better person when it is all said and done.

[Serendipity]

On the East Coast, Penn State and perhaps Rutgers. I don't know that much about Rutgers, but they always seem to have a good program and their coach seems like a good guy. Penn State - a Big Ten school, what else do you need to say? Like someone else said, if volleyball falls through, you have to have something to back it up. A degree from Penn State along with the connections you can make can probably get you anywhere you want to go. Volleyball-wise, they're in the FF every year and the coaches also seem very cool.

[UCSBLibero]

Opinions on which college has the 'best' D1 program...(and why)
Best improvement of players UCSB
Best coach UCLA Al Scates
Best assistant coaches Hawaii
Best academic support provided to athletes UCLA
Best display of teamwork at games Hawaii, Pepperdine, UCSB
Best track record of dedication to team members (which schools cut their players, which schools continue to work/develop, etc.) Long Beach State
D1 college with highest rate of transfers to other programs usc
D1 college that achieves best recruiting results - which programs are in demand by graduating seniors?

Best assessment of talent - which D1 colleges sign or recruit 'unknowns' as opposed to recruiting only the MVPs from JOs or the Fab 50 list? I would say all the colleges have good fab 50. UCSB, Peppedine

And... do the top east coast (ipfw, princeton, harvard) schools actively recruit west coast players. IPFW

Yep, that's about it, but maybe someone wants to add their "best" to this

[vbtown]

Ucsblibero, you must be hanging out with "dawg" down in IV. Your post made me laugh really hard. Best improvement of players at UCSB. True, I mean you guys always finish at the top. We aren't talking about improvement of beer bong hits. Not spilling or spitting up. Come on. Your own team has the highest rate of transfers and you know it.