Illinois 2023

[Friday]

Dec 22, 2022 1:35:45 GMT -5 InfoBot said:

Dec 22, 2022 0:58:45 GMT -5 volleyaudience said:

This seems to be a cycle where the players Illinois successfully recruits from Illinois are not OH, MB, or RS. Not understanding.

While I don't know the scholarship distribution, 2021 looks like a 1 pin year (with Burbage, Nunge, and Terry, that makes sense). So only if Stephenson is on scholarship did you have money to go after Averie Hernandez (OH-NW) or Katie Hurta (RS-PSU).  If she's not, then there wasn't funds available.  For 2022, you'd have to not take de Boer to get Ellie White (OH-MI).

Not sure how long the "cycle" has been, but that's just a look at the last two years for OH/RS.

Hurta is a S/RS. 

Hernandez, like Wollard, has direct connection to the university.

Obviously you can't take all of the in state kids but also missing on them and having them go to rivals hurts.  

[oldmanvb]

Dec 22, 2022 14:10:33 GMT -5 liberovb10 said:

Dec 22, 2022 9:47:22 GMT -5 oldmanvb said:

Ward, Bartsch, Birks, Criswell, Debruler … it’s not as though there isn’t a history over the past 10-15 years of great OHs from the State of Illinois. Somewhere we lost that tradition. There have also been some big misses, most notably Hannah Werth from Chatham plus current OHs at Minnesota and recently Wisconsin.

The coaching change didn’t help our recruiting…i’m not saying that as a dig against Tamas’ abilities. But say what you will about Hambly, he was great at bringing in talent on the pins (also missing McMahon, and hell throw Stark in there too). Missing the boat on a few big recruits to our neighboring states has been less than ideal, but we need our program to dig deep into the “Our State our Team” mentality.

McMahon is from Ohio and Stark is from Iowa.  I was bemoaning our losing local recruits, although I appreciate recruits who choose Illinois regardless of where they lived before UIUC.

[volleyaudience]

What are some things Illinois fans, the team, and school can do to improve press and media on the Illinois team?

[notpriddy (COIF)]

Dec 22, 2022 15:51:29 GMT -5 volleyaudience said:

What are some things Illinois fans, the team, and school can do to improve press and media on the Illinois team?

My very first positive about the University of Illinois, is the Athletic Administration, particularly the Director of Athletics, Josh Whitman. They do not come any better than Whitman. I would bet if you asked any of the coaches at Illinois they would tell you this. I have no inside knowledge, but Coach Tamas could accept head coaching positions at other institutions. Why does he stay at Illinois...because of AD Whitman! The athletes that play for Illinois may not realize this, but Whitman will not only support his coaches, but he will do everything within the rules to help athletes succeed. Example: chartering a plane for Illini student fans to attend the 2021 NCAA Regional Semifinal in Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Texas. This was after the Illini had shocked defending national champion and No. 7 seed Kentucky in a 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-10, 25-21) in the NCAA Tournament second round on Saturday (December 4, 2021) in Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. Illinois lost to B1G opponent Nebraska 0-3. How many AD's would do this? Not many!

[exit237a]

Congrats to Raina Terry on being voted to VolleyballMag.com’s All-American fourth team! Some much-deserved recognition!

[liberovb10]

Dec 22, 2022 17:46:33 GMT -5 notpriddy (COIF) said:

Dec 22, 2022 15:51:29 GMT -5 volleyaudience said:

What are some things Illinois fans, the team, and school can do to improve press and media on the Illinois team?

My very first positive about the University of Illinois, is the Athletic Administration, particularly the Director of Athletics, Josh Whitman. They do not come any better than Whitman. I would bet if you asked any of the coaches at Illinois they would tell you this. I have no inside knowledge, but Coach Tamas could accept head coaching positions at other institutions. Why does he stay at Illinois...because of AD Whitman! The athletes that play for Illinois may not realize this, but Whitman will not only support his coaches, but he will do everything within the rules to help athletes succeed. Example: chartering a plane for Illini student fans to attend the 2021 NCAA Regional Semifinal in Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Texas. This was after the Illini had shocked defending national champion and No. 7 seed Kentucky in a 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-10, 25-21) in the NCAA Tournament second round on Saturday (December 4, 2021) in Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. Illinois lost to B1G opponent Nebraska 0-3. How many AD's would do this? Not many!

Yes, that’s a fantastic example…but leading up to it there was zero hype, zero press. Whoever is running our social media accounts doesn’t do anything to put a face on this program or create buzz. Whittman is VERY supportive, no one doubts that, but i think we also need a strong social media coordinator and the girls to be more active during the season. What’s lacking compared to the other programs? our student athletes being more involved in the community/among their peers, social media, etc. Their video walking around Granger was awesome, because we got to see the human side. Other programs are constantly posting about their SA’s, NEB being a great example.

Andy Westrand should run our socials and post his incredible work nonstop.

[mosser]

Dixon to Florida. Feel like we're going to get all the leftovers.

[ilalum92]

Wenaas to Texas. Dodson stays at UCLA. That one is 100% Coach Reft for sure. I’d rather stick with who we have than pick up left overs who won’t help.

[oldmanvb]

Have I missed a Kennedy Collins decision?

[pointillinois]

Dec 23, 2022 16:42:26 GMT -5 oldmanvb said:

Have I missed a Kennedy Collins decision?

No, I haven't seen any announcement from Kennedy.

[oldmanvb]

Second question. Do we even know if Tamas is recruiting a middle? I know this board wants one, but does he? If Collins returns he has quite a few on the roster. Sarah Bingham looked capable the few times we saw her last year. We need pin hitters more than middles.

[ilalum92]

Dec 23, 2022 19:11:19 GMT -5 oldmanvb said:

Second question. Do we even know if Tamas is recruiting a middle? I know this board wants one, but does he? If Collins returns he has quite a few on the roster. Sarah Bingham looked capable the few times we saw her last year. We need pin hitters more than middles.

We could use an experienced MB to anchor. Otherwise we will have 2 middles starting with little to zero experience in College Vball. Be nice to have an outstanding recruit who could come in a start no problem ( Ex. Dorn, McMahon, JP, Ali etc) I’m excited to see what Dean & DeBoer bring us. I liked what I saw when Bingham was on the court. Excited to see what she does next year. I agree, we need an OH just to give us some depth in case of injuries.

[ilalum92]

I would love to still add a player like Booth, Beason, Mrizuk, TTA, maybe even Robinson from MI, GG or Moore from OSU. I forget if Pertofsky played OH or OPP. Any would be a solid
pick up.

[pointillinois]

Dec 23, 2022 19:29:10 GMT -5 ilalum92 said:

I would love to still add a player like Booth, Beason, Mrizuk, TTA, maybe even Robinson from MI, GG or Moore from OSU. I forget if Pertofsky played OH or OPP. Any would be a solid
pick up.

Beason to Nebraska.

At this point, Texas, Nebraska, and a couple other programs are playing a different game than most of us.

[Kearney Kingston]

I suggest those two programs and a few others are operating more like professional organizations. Their staffs are manipulating player personnel in attempt to maximize their roster annually or even semi-annually. Maybe not what the originators of the NCAA were planning.