|
Post by inpaign on Sept 17, 2023 19:14:01 GMT -5
Inpaign, you had early information about Nunge returning. We are about six weeks from NLI signing. Are we OK with our commitments? Any 2024 surprises or at least the possibility of 2024 surprises? Recruiting is not something I get much intel on unfortunately...I'm sorry!! I do believe Barnes will get the starting L jersey beginning on Wednesday based on what I'm hearing. It sounds like there has become a real sense of urgency within the team. They have to win and it starts now. I believe that has been made extremely clear to the girls I hope we see that translate to our play on the court. Total side node: Does anyone else have a dislike for Wisconsin this season more than ever? Something about their team being composed of many transfers who were the best player at their respective schools gives off an "all-star" vibe to it. & I'm very aware that has what the transfer portal and NIL has created...but it just feels like their success this season isn't as legitimate as a time like, say, Nebraska who has for the most part developed their players and doesn't have a ton of transfers. Would love to hear thoughts on that. Wisconsin has Temi, Sarah Franklin, Caroline Crawford, Carter Booth, in combination with the solid core they already had. Kind of feels like a Big Ten all-star team lol.
|
|
|
Post by exit237a on Sept 17, 2023 19:21:30 GMT -5
Inpaign, you had early information about Nunge returning. We are about six weeks from NLI signing. Are we OK with our commitments? Any 2024 surprises or at least the possibility of 2024 surprises? Recruiting is not something I get much intel on unfortunately...I'm sorry!! I do believe Barnes will get the starting L jersey beginning on Wednesday based on what I'm hearing. It sounds like there has become a real sense of urgency within the team. They have to win and it starts now. I believe that has been made extremely clear to the girls I hope we see that translate to our play on the court. Total side node: Does anyone else have a dislike for Wisconsin this season more than ever? Something about their team being composed of many transfers who were the best player at their respective schools gives off an "all-star" vibe to it. & I'm very aware that has what the transfer portal and NIL has created...but it just feels like their success this season isn't as legitimate as a time like, say, Nebraska who has for the most part developed their players and doesn't have a ton of transfers. Would love to hear thoughts on that. Wisconsin has Temi, Sarah Franklin, Caroline Crawford, Carter Booth, in combination with the solid core they already had. Kind of feels like a Big Ten all-star team lol. I think the private message space might be the best place to get straight answers on our various opponents. Would be bummed to see this thread turn into critiques of our rival teams. Only my two cents.
|
|
|
Post by exit237a on Sept 17, 2023 19:30:48 GMT -5
Got a match thread up for our Wednesday conference opener at Indiana: Illinois at Indiana | Wed, Sep 20 - 8:00 PM ET | BTNIf anyone has been watching Indiana this season and could provide some guesses about their starting lineup it'd be appreciated. Posting them in that match thread would be great.
|
|
|
Post by mosser on Sept 17, 2023 20:06:59 GMT -5
Wisc has very obviously collected the most talent for this season. I’ll be cheering for the underdogs come tourney time.
|
|
|
Post by northwoods on Sept 17, 2023 20:23:11 GMT -5
I get disliking a perceived rival, and having that feeling intensify with their success. As a Bears & Cubs fan, I’m not excited about the success of the Packers & Brewers. With Wisconsin volleyball you should ask yourself if any of the players you mentioned had made their way to Champaign would you have written giddy “welcome to the family” posts? I mean, if you dislike Wisconsin this year you must have hated Texas and SanDiego last year! They have built a program culture that top players want to be a part of, be it for a final year like TTA or a longer career like the others. I’m a big fan of players having the freedom to find a program that fits their goals over the old system of being indentured to a school you chose at age 14 or 15.
|
|
|
Post by pointillinois on Sept 17, 2023 20:43:11 GMT -5
I'm glad there's a sense of urgency to win. Unfortunately, I fear we've stacked too many bad losses to have any realistic chance at the tournament. I'm looking for improvement over the season from our younger players who will need to be instrumental next year.
|
|
|
Post by liberovb10 on Sept 17, 2023 21:08:01 GMT -5
Recruiting is not something I get much intel on unfortunately...I'm sorry!! I do believe Barnes will get the starting L jersey beginning on Wednesday based on what I'm hearing. It sounds like there has become a real sense of urgency within the team. They have to win and it starts now. I believe that has been made extremely clear to the girls I hope we see that translate to our play on the court. Total side node: Does anyone else have a dislike for Wisconsin this season more than ever? Something about their team being composed of many transfers who were the best player at their respective schools gives off an "all-star" vibe to it. & I'm very aware that has what the transfer portal and NIL has created...but it just feels like their success this season isn't as legitimate as a time like, say, Nebraska who has for the most part developed their players and doesn't have a ton of transfers. Would love to hear thoughts on that. Wisconsin has Temi, Sarah Franklin, Caroline Crawford, Carter Booth, in combination with the solid core they already had. Kind of feels like a Big Ten all-star team lol. I think the private message space might be the best place to get straight answers on our various opponents. Would be bummed to see this thread turn into critiques of our rival teams. Only my two cents. i feel like this is a valid discussion topic. Wisconsin can be pretty “annoying” and i did find myself rooting for Florida today, and for Marquette earlier this week. I understand why some of the best players go here - who wouldn’t want the “easy chance” at a B1G title and deep tourney run? Would i welcome the same group to Champaign if we were in that same caliber - 100% - but i’m a little green with envy and that’s okay haha. I bleed orange and blue, through and through - but for my own sanity/mental health i did adopt the Huskers as my secondary B1G team because their freshman are very fun to watch and super competitive. i can’t wait for the day that we get back into the top tier of B1G programs - maybe we trade Tamas for Reyes? haha.
|
|
|
Post by exit237a on Sept 17, 2023 21:54:43 GMT -5
I think the private message space might be the best place to get straight answers on our various opponents. Would be bummed to see this thread turn into critiques of our rival teams. Only my two cents. i feel like this is a valid discussion topic. Wisconsin can be pretty “annoying” and i did find myself rooting for Florida today, and for Marquette earlier this week. I understand why some of the best players go here - who wouldn’t want the “easy chance” at a B1G title and deep tourney run? Would i welcome the same group to Champaign if we were in that same caliber - 100% - but i’m a little green with envy and that’s okay haha. I bleed orange and blue, through and through - but for my own sanity/mental health i did adopt the Huskers as my secondary B1G team because their freshman are very fun to watch and super competitive. i can’t wait for the day that we get back into the top tier of B1G programs - maybe we trade Tamas for Reyes? haha. Nothing wrong with some temporary secondary adoption : ). There's so much good NCAA volleyball out there that it's fun to have a rooting interest in select teams and players. Think we're probably in a similar boat in that respect. Haven't had the opportunity to watch much Big Ten ball outside of Illinois so far this year so I'm looking forward to the conference schedule from here out.
|
|
|
Post by exit237a on Sept 17, 2023 22:11:05 GMT -5
Inpaign, you had early information about Nunge returning. We are about six weeks from NLI signing. Are we OK with our commitments? Any 2024 surprises or at least the possibility of 2024 surprises? I don't have any inside info about our 2024s but thought I'd mention that all three of them were in Huff for our victory over Illinois State- they joined the 2023 squad in the postgame singing of Hail Alma Mater, or whatever the actual name of the song is. So everything looked okay from that vantage point a couple weeks ago, for what that's worth.
|
|
|
Post by ilalum92 on Sept 17, 2023 22:22:43 GMT -5
Inpaign, you had early information about Nunge returning. We are about six weeks from NLI signing. Are we OK with our commitments? Any 2024 surprises or at least the possibility of 2024 surprises? Recruiting is not something I get much intel on unfortunately...I'm sorry!! I do believe Barnes will get the starting L jersey beginning on Wednesday based on what I'm hearing. It sounds like there has become a real sense of urgency within the team. They have to win and it starts now. I believe that has been made extremely clear to the girls I hope we see that translate to our play on the court. Total side node: Does anyone else have a dislike for Wisconsin this season more than ever? Something about their team being composed of many transfers who were the best player at their respective schools gives off an "all-star" vibe to it. & I'm very aware that has what the transfer portal and NIL has created...but it just feels like their success this season isn't as legitimate as a time like, say, Nebraska who has for the most part developed their players and doesn't have a ton of transfers. Would love to hear thoughts on that. Wisconsin has Temi, Sarah Franklin, Caroline Crawford, Carter Booth, in combination with the solid core they already had. Kind of feels like a Big Ten all-star team lol. Nothing wrong you pointing out the obvious. Transfer portal is here to stay. Sheffield uses it his advantage. We’ve all heard Tamas give his thoughts on recruiting players in the portal. We can either use it and get better or we are going to get left behind. Our recruiting hasn’t been the greatest lately so we need to do something in order to get the kind of squad we need to win a natty. The kumbaya is great and all, but the University doesn’t pay you to be mediocre.
|
|
|
Post by oldmanvb on Sept 17, 2023 22:34:27 GMT -5
The issue of Wisconsin loading up on transfers reflects the current state of the game, like it or not. I looked at the Final Four from last year, notably without any B1G teams, to see how many transfers played for the four finalists. As follows:
2022 NCAA Final Four Transfers Team Name Prior school Position Sets/Matches played Texas Ewert Colorado Setter 35/19 Skinner Kentucky OH 94/28 Bergmark Cal MB 28/8 Torres Utah Setter 97/28 Fleck UCLA DS 100/29 Akana Nebraska DS 98/29 Caffey Mo/Nebraska MB 67/25 Pitt Ennis Texas A+M OH/setter 103/33 Dalton Washington St OH 109/32 Buzzerio Iowa RS 126/35 Gray Penn State MB 123/34 San Diego Goddard Kentucky MB 14/9 Blackwell Indiana MB 117/33 Blossom Penn State Setter 117/33 Edwards Indiana OH 113/33 Allen BYU Libero 117/33 Louisville none
|
|
|
Post by illini88 on Sept 18, 2023 3:06:23 GMT -5
I was able to attend the WI vs Marquette match in Milwaukee last week. Not a big WI fan - was pulling for Marquette and they had late leads in a couple of the sets they lost. WI pulled through with a heavy does of Smrek in the end. I agree with the all star reference with the heavy does of in conference transfers. TTA had a poor match. Was an awesome environment with 17,000+ people there with a great following for each team and a great DJ that kept the crowd engaged the entire match. My one daughter did not like that I had my Illini sweatshirt on! The last time I saw Marquette and WI in the same arena (granted on back to back days) they lost to Illinois at Huff - a highly engaged group of 4,000+ that weekend!
|
|
|
Post by gurnee50 on Sept 18, 2023 8:25:21 GMT -5
The transfer portal is the key to success in EVERY collegiate sport. USF almost beat Bama in football this weekend, and they had 39 transfers on their team. Colorado football has almost double that. Look at our own men's golf team. Mike Small, the most successful coach on campus, knows how important transfers are, and there are just 6-8 players on a golf team. He has two transfers starting on this years' team. One of last years top players (Hunt), didn't even play for the Illini this weekend. Small wants to win - period. Accept the portal as a necessity, not a choice.
|
|
|
Post by liberovb10 on Sept 18, 2023 10:10:38 GMT -5
The transfer portal is the key to success in EVERY collegiate sport. USF almost beat Bama in football this weekend, and they had 39 transfers on their team. Colorado football has almost double that. Look at our own men's golf team. Mike Small, the most successful coach on campus, knows how important transfers are, and there are just 6-8 players on a golf team. He has two transfers starting on this years' team. One of last years top players (Hunt), didn't even play for the Illini this weekend. Small wants to win - period. Accept the portal as a necessity, not a choice. couldn’t have said it better myself! inpaign can you relay this to the coaching staff on our behalf? haha.
|
|
|
Post by oldmanvb on Sept 18, 2023 11:58:49 GMT -5
If inpaign wants to maintain a good, healthy relationship with the coaching staff, as we all hope he will, we probably don’t want him in the position of relaying our thoughts, at least unless he is able to sanitize them.
|
|