USA National Team Scouts

[midwestfan]

Try to think outside the "small box" of your favorite team or player and evaluate who they might have seen in PA that is National Team worthy (Senior or otherwise). Anyone? One that wasn't there, has to be Tyler Hildebrand. Can you guys think of other Seniors that may get a call?

[palo]

Just because of their physical attributes I think Proper and Meerstein will at least get a "look." Along with Scheftic and Klosterman.

[junta1]

What about CJ Macias?

[matty11]

Proper and Klosterman might get invites but it will be difficult for either of them to crack the roster for some time. Clay is still young and is an absolute beast. Billings is also very young and is also a very good player.

I like CJ, he's already a good player and still has some years to go at IPFW. But for him to get an invite he would have to switch to left side. He's too small to play opposite, as i learned myself this year.

[Will Rogers Beach]

On a related note, here is the latest news regarding the men's National team's relocation to Anaheim, CA.



www.usavolleyball.org/VolleyballNews/news.asp?id=1136

Anaheim to Introduce U.S. Men at Press Conference

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 5, 2006) – Members of the USA Men’s National Volleyball Team will be welcomed to their new home in Anaheim, Calif., and introduced to the local media and city dignitaries at a press conference at 11 a.m. on May 9.

Mayor Curt Pringle, the Anaheim City Council, USA Men's Volleyball Coach Hugh McCutcheon and the team will be joined by the Southern California Volleyball Association's Shannon Rios and several team sponsors, including representatives from the American Sports Centers and the Competitive Athlete Training Zone (CATZ), where the team will train.

Volleyball gold medalists Karch Kiraly and Troy Tanner and other present and former players will also attend the conference, which will take place at the American Sports Center (1500 South Anaheim Blvd.) in Anaheim.

The team's relocation is being made possible due to the generosity of the local business community including: JT Schmid's Restaurant and Brewery, Mimi's Café, National Sports Grill, Lucky Strike, Barrister Executive Suites, Extended Stay America, Anaheim Public Utilities, Anaheim Redevelopment Agency, CIM Group, UPS, CATZ, American Sports Center and Electronic Data Systems (EDS).

Tours of American Sports Center and CATZ will be available immediately following the press conference.

For more information or to attend the press conference, please contact John James Nicoletti from the City of Anaheim at [phone] or B.J. Evans from USA Volleyball at [phone].

The following members of the current USA Men’s Volleyball Team are scheduled to attend the conference:

Player (Hometown/College)

Brook Billings (Santa Barbara, Calif./USC)
Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, Calif./Stanford)
Dave Lee (Alpine, Calif./Long Beach State)
Dave McKienzie (Littleton, Colo./ Long Beach State)
Paul Munoz (Huntington Beach, Calif./ Long Beach State)
Nils Nielsen (Fallbrook, Calif./ Cal State Northridge)
Peiter Olree (Reading, Pa./ Ohio State)
Jimmy Pelzel (Lake Forest, Calif./UC Irvine)
James Polster (Laguna Nigel, Calif./ Long Beach State)
Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va./Loyola Marymount)
Donald Suxho (Korce, Albania/USC)
Brandon Taliaferro (San Clemente, Calif./UCLA)
Chris Tamas (Santa Barbara, Calif./Pacific)
Delano Thomas (Sacramento, Calif./Hawai’i)
Curt Toppel (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Stanford)

[3talltrees]

I'd add Patak...and maybe Winder over Hildebrand.

[IdahoBoy]

Another article about the move to Anaheim:

www.californiachronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=9285

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle joined former Olympic gold medalists Karch Kiraly and Troy Tanner and local community members in welcoming Southern California's newest sports team - the USA Men's National Volleyball team - to Anaheim at a press conference today. The team has relocated from Colorado Springs to train in Anaheim for the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics.


"This is the future of Anaheim," Pringle said. "This will benefit the City, the team and the volleyball community as a whole and we hope that many other amateur sports programs will follow."


The team will train at American Sports Center, the largest indoor sports facility of its kind in the world. Practices will be held Monday through Friday from 9 - 11 a.m. and 2 - 4 p.m. and are open to the public.



In July 2005, Team USA trained in Anaheim for two weeks. Following that visit, USA stunned the world's best team, 2004 Olympic gold medalist Brazil, to win the America's Cup tournament for the first time in USA Volleyball history. By the end of 2005, Team USA had posted the highest winning percentage of any men's national team since 1988 and registered 27 wins - the most by a men's team since 2000. The team finished the year by winning 18 of its last 19 matches, including 14-straight at one point.


Officials from USA Volleyball believe the two-week training session in Anaheim had a significant impact on the team's performance internationally and they are banking on the fact that it will increase its chances of winning an Olympic gold medal in 2008.


"It's difficult for me to express how significant this move is," Coach Hugh McCutcheon said. "We are trying to be the best team in the world. After we were here for two weeks, there was no question in my mind that we needed to move to Anaheim. The City is very sports conscious and we have received wonderful support here."

The team's relocation has been made possible thanks to the generosity of the local business community including: JT Schmid's Restaurant and Brewery, Mimi's Café, Barrister Executive Suites, Extended Stay America, Anaheim Public Utilities, Anaheim Redevelopment Agency, CIM Group, UPS, CATZ, American Sports Center and Electronic Data Systems (EDS). The City and USA Volleyball are actively pursuing additional sponsors in support of the men's team.

[fingrbustr]

Agreed that Klosterman should get a look, but also agreed that the incumbents are no slouches. I think the Cinncinati Attack kid (Max Holt) could be a possibility in 2012. O'Dell's game picked up in the late season, but I still can't seem him taking a spot from Hildebrand or Winder.

[vballfantoo]

O'Dell setting is really smart and smooth, not flashy. But articles have him in for some major kind of open knee surgery, like soon I think and will be out for 6-7 months.

[bbk]

For the international game I only see Meers and proper getting looks as they have the physical attributes that mirror what is on teh team currently. Any new guys would be asked after World League play finishes.