5 Hidden Recruiting Gems in Nebraska’s Class of 2020
It’s that time of year. You know what I’m talking about. It’s garage sale season! It’s also prime recruiting season for volleyball players heading into their senior years. If we compare recruiting to garage sales, it would break down something…
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Continue ReadingIt’s that time of year. You know what I’m talking about.
It’s garage sale season!
It’s also prime recruiting season for volleyball players heading into their senior years. If we compare recruiting to garage sales, it would break down something like this:
Division I programs: These are the people that knock on your doors the night before a garage sale and ask if they can look at your stuff and then proceed to cherry pick all the good stuff before the garage sale even starts. You’re laughing because it’s true. And if you’re not laughing, well….
Division II programs: These are the people that show up ready to roll as soon as your garage sale starts in the morning. Then they look around and get mad because all the good stuff is gone. But, the really savvy ones have a keen eye and can spot what the Division I coaches missed or are willing to put in the work to refurbish something a little rough around the edges and make it shine.
Division III, NAIA and 2-Year Colleges: They hate dealing with the madness of everyone scrumming around the night before or first thing in the morning, so they roll in later in the morning and are completely cool with that. They know exactly what they’re looking for and can spot it from the street as they slowly drive past your driveway. Then they pounce on anything the “big boys” missed. You know what they also get …… they get the stuff that you decide to bring out later on. You know, the late-blooming stuff. They take those and turn them into successful programs.
So, if you’re a college coach out there rummaging around, looking for some pieces that have been overlooked so far, let me give you five players that are still on the table in the 2020 recruiting class and would be a great get!
Kathryn Kilzer, 5’10, OH/DS, Omaha Marian
Kilzer, in my opinion, is a NAIA coach’s dream. Crazy athletic skills and can do pretty much anything you ask of her. Good kid, good family and is a great culture fit, along with being a Swiss Army Knife of a player. She will be pretty close to a plug-and-play type – especially in the back row – for a lot of NAIA or certain Division II or III programs. But, at the NAIA level where you can be more liberal with substitutions and the blocks aren’t as big (except the GPAC, of course) she could hold her own on the outside. She’s ranked as the #31 overall prospect in our 2020 rankings.
Rihanna Wilhelm, 5’9, Setter, Heartland
This 2020 class in Nebraska is so loaded with talented setters, that Wilhelm has kind of fallen through the cracks a little. She’s the #20 overall prospect in our rankings and that’s because she has really good size and is extremely athletic and is continually improving as a setter. She’s a little under the radar because not many people venture out to Heartland games to scout and also because she’s somewhat blocked at VCN – which spits out top-notch setters like a baseball player does sunflower seeds. She played on the 18 Black team this season, while Alyssa Rezac (Northwest Missouri State) and Alex Lemke (Drake) handled the 18 Elite setting. At the 17s, VCN has Annika Evans (Colorado State) and Addison Heidemann (Iowa State). But, Wilhelm is a player that mid-level Division II programs or NAIA programs would love to have.
Lauren Meyer, 5’8, OH/DS, Syracuse
Meyer is ranked as the #34 overall prospect in the class and is an extremely talented multi-sport athlete at Syracuse. She’s exactly the kind of kind GPAC teams are made for. She could hit at the net at that level in a pinch but would make a pretty solid DS with attacking ability or possibly even a libero in time. She has all the athletic tools that you can’t coach, about the only thing she doesn’t have is enough reps to step in and play somewhere right away. She would need a season on a NAIA junior varsity program to get up to speed, and after that could be an absolute diamond.
Sara Huss, 6’4, MH, Fairbury
Yup, you read that right. How can a 6’4 volleyball player in Nebraska not be committed at this point in her career? Well, Huss is much more than just a volleyball player – she an extremely gifted all-around athlete. She just really hasn’t played a high level of competitive volleyball and she’s definitely a project when it comes to being fundamentally sound on the volleyball court, but, trust me, the talent is there for her to be an ABSOLUTE steal for someone. She is ranked as the #40 overall prospect. She can be dominant at times for Fairbury, but she is at least one – and probably two – year(s) worth of development away from being able to impact an NAIA or lower-end Division II program. Consider this. Earlier this month she qualified for the Class B state track meet in the discus (strength and agility) as well as the 200 and 400 meter dashes and was on the 1,600 meter relay team for Fairbury at state (speed and quickness). There is no downside to recruiting her and the upside potential is phenomenal.
Gabi Nordaker, 5’11 MH/RS, Millard West
Nordaker is ranked as the #38 overall prospect and she kind of falls in that “tweener” spot when it comes to where she can play at the next level. One thing is for certain, though, and that’s that she can play at the next level. In the later half of the 2018 high school season I felt like she had become Millard West’s best weapon at the net. She moves well and can run the slide very well and has the size and the strength. I mean, Nordaker had 235 kills and 67 blocks while hitting .317 for one of the best teams in Class A last year and she had 20 kills and four blocks in a match against Millard North, so she’s very talented. She’s going to have a standout college career if she lands at a GPAC or bottom half of Division II-type school.