Fastest path to the Final Four for MU....

[groove]

....start a Men's Volleyball program. There are only three major conferences. The conference champs earn an automatic spot into the Final Four. We could join the EIVA or MIVA conferences for volleyball.

[wadesworld]

Yup.  So fun to watch.  The system is so flawed though.  There are probably about 5 Southern California teams that are all better than any team in any other conference in the nation, but only 2 go to the Final Four because they get the at-large and their tournament winner, while 3 other teams go by winning their conference tournament.

[brewcity77]

Hmm...I still think the fastest way would be to win four games in that last March tourney. We make the tourney pretty much every year, and it takes less time to win four games in that tournament (about 11 days) than it would to start a D1 volleyball program from the ground up (I'd think a year, minimum).

[HouWarrior]

Only 2 of the top ten teams are east of the rockies.
You see us fitting with this crowd--how?

ASICS/Volleyball Magazine Men's Division I-II Top 10 Poll
1. USC (9) — 99 points
2. BYU (1) — 91 points
3. Stanford — 78 points
4. UC Irvine — 71 points
5. Hawai'i — 57 points
6. Long Beach State — 49 points
7. Ohio State — 33 points
8. Penn State — 29 points
9. UC Santa Barbara — 28 points
10. UCLA — 12 points
Others receiving votes: Loyola, Lewis, Quincy

[GGGG]

Only 2 of the top ten teams are east of the rockies.
You see us fitting with this crowd--how?

The world class volleyball talent that attends high school in suburban Milwaukee.

[GGGG]

Wait...Quincy???  As in Quincy, Illinois????

Holy crap if they can have a team, we certainly could. 

[groove]

Only 2 of the top ten teams are east of the rockies.
You see us fitting with this crowd--how?

ASICS/Volleyball Magazine Men's Division I-II Top 10 Poll
1. USC (9) — 99 points
2. BYU (1) — 91 points
3. Stanford — 78 points
4. UC Irvine — 71 points
5. Hawai'i — 57 points
6. Long Beach State — 49 points
7. Ohio State — 33 points
8. Penn State — 29 points
9. UC Santa Barbara — 28 points
10. UCLA — 12 points
Others receiving votes: Loyola, Lewis, Quincy

Of the top 10, i think 8 are in the same conference. The other two: Ohio State is in the MIVA and Penn State is in the EIVA. We would have to be better than either Ohio State or Penn State to win one of those two conferences. Think we could do that in 26 years (number of years between our final four trips in basketball).

[dw3dw3dw3]

Never going to happen, but MU could easily have a top 10-15 program within 4-6 years. The high school club teams in the area alone traditionally send 2-3 players per year to top 10 programs. Wisconsin has always been one of the top 5 states for producing volleyball talent outside of Cali.

[us patriot]

The world class volleyball talent that attends high school in suburban Milwaukee.

2009 Jeremy Dejno, New Berlin United, US Junior National Team, Accepted scholarship to UC Irvine
2010 Trevor Novotny, Catholic Memorial (Waukesha), National Junior Tournament 16's MVP, Scholarship offer to Ohio State and others.
West Allis Lightning 2010 Boy's Junior National Open and Club Division titles U16 http://usavolleyball.org/news/2010/07/06/west-allis-lightning-vaqueros-win-16s-titles-at-usav-boys-jnc/37059

Was your comment sarcastic?

[NCAARules]

Wait...Quincy???  As in Quincy, Illinois????

Holy crap if they can have a team, we certainly could. 

Yep, the same. And notice Lewis, from the same DII conference also has DI volleyball. There was a campaign a couple of years ago to continue to expand men's vball by DII playing at DI for volleyball, but that may have stalled after all the membership moratoriums.

Do I remember that the Sultan works at another school in the GLVC?

[shoothoops]

The Men's National Volleyball Player of the Year this year is from...the Midwest...Plays for USC but is from St. Louis.  There's some good prep volleyball in the Midwest.

[jficke13]

what title IX charity sport do you add to allow us to put out a mens vball team?

[groove]

what title IX charity sport do you add to allow us to put out a mens vball team?

Yeah, there is always the Title IX crap to get in the way. We could add women's field hockey and not tell anyone.

[MerrittsMustache]

If a Marquette men's volleyball team went to the Final Four and no one noticed, did it really happen?

[leever]

Could  we possibly recruit any bigs?

[GGGG]

Jamil was a hs vball player. Maybe he could be a two sport athlete!!

[MikeyT42]

As a boys high school volleyball coach in the suburban Milwaukee area I can say with confidence that there is a lot of talent in this area. Granted, there isn't volleyball played much where else in the state (Appleton and Madison area have teams as well). Watching Jamil play volleyball in high school was a treat. So raw and freakishly athletic. He would soar about blocks and put balls down with ease.

I know that the guys who run/play club at MU are really talented. Oshkosh has a pretty talented club team as well. Regularly placing well in nationals.

[wadesworld]

The world class volleyball talent that attends high school in suburban Milwaukee.

Yeah, sorry, as someone posted a link below, I was the assistant coach for the West Allis Lightning 16s team that won the National Championship last year.  So there really is some world class talent coming out of the Milwaukee area.  Actually played a team from Chicago in the national championship.  Although the semifinals against a Southern California team was really the deciding match of the tournament.  But even so, there are 5 kids on the team that very well may play division 1 volleyball on the team.  And when you consider how very few division 1 men's volleyball programs there are in the nation, that is a ridiculously high number of players from one team, or one area, to send to division 1 programs.  No matter what part of the nation they are from.

That said, in college it's pretty much the West Coast.  Although Ohio State actually has a chance to beat San Diego State tomorrow and win it all.  Somehow.  My money is still on SDSU, but I'm hoping for OSU.  Nick Gibson (Shorewood HS class of '09 graduate) and Peter Heinen (MUHS class of '10 graduate) both play volleyball there.

There is talent in the area.  It would definitely be hard to field a competitive team quickly though.  Loyolla Chicago is on their way UP big time.  Signed Cody Caldwell out of Southern California, the number 1 recruit in the entire nation, for next year's team.  They've brought in quite a few Southern California top players in recent years, and those guys NEVER leave for the midwest.

[HouWarrior]

Yeah, sorry, as someone posted a link below, I was the assistant coach for the West Allis Lightning 16s team that won the National Championship last year.  So there really is some world class talent coming out of the Milwaukee area.  Actually played a team from Chicago in the national championship.  Although the semifinals against a Southern California team was really the deciding match of the tournament.  But even so, there are 5 kids on the team that very well may play division 1 volleyball on the team.  And when you consider how very few division 1 men's volleyball programs there are in the nation, that is a ridiculously high number of players from one team, or one area, to send to division 1 programs.  No matter what part of the nation they are from.

That said, in college it's pretty much the West Coast.  Although Ohio State actually has a chance to beat San Diego State tomorrow and win it all.  Somehow.  My money is still on SDSU, but I'm hoping for OSU.  Nick Gibson (Shorewood HS class of '09 graduate) and Peter Heinen (MUHS class of '10 graduate) both play volleyball there.

There is talent in the area.  It would definitely be hard to field a competitive team quickly though.  Loyolla Chicago is on their way UP big time.  Signed Cody Caldwell out of Southern California, the number 1 recruit in the entire nation, for next year's team.  They've brought in quite a few Southern California top players in recent years, and those guys NEVER leave for the midwest.

Thanks. Good post. Its sad though, because after 15 or so posts I really thought we'd have a volleyball team.
Thanks a lot groove....for nothing....I just bought my MU logo Volleyball wear, and wasted 3 hours bookmarking every volleyball team and recruiting site. I printed this years bracket, and reserved the web domain of MUsideout.com, to accomodate the fan posting rush.
Then wadesworld, with facts and experience, brings me back to earth. So....I return to my dreary lifetime of basketball fandom.
Might anyone want some never used MU volleyball spirit shop gear, and/or the MUsideout.com domain name---cheap?

[groove]

Thanks. Good post. Its sad though, because after 15 or so posts I really thought we'd have a volleyball team.
Thanks a lot groove....for nothing....I just bought my MU logo Volleyball wear, and wasted 3 hours bookmarking every volleyball team and recruiting site. I printed this years bracket, and reserved the web domain of MUsideout.com, to accomodate the fan posting rush.
Then wadesworld, with facts and experience, brings me back to earth. So....I return to my dreary lifetime of basketball fandom.
Might anyone want some never used MU volleyball spirit shop gear, and/or the MUsideout.com domain name---cheap?

Damn, and what will we do with all that MU women's field hockey gear. Things were a lot easier when the AIAW was in charge of women's sports before Title IX.

[GGGG]

Do I remember that the Sultan works at another school in the GLVC?

You remembered...incorrectly...

[Les Nessman]

The Men's National Volleyball Player of the Year this year is from...the Midwest...Plays for USC but is from St. Louis.  There's some good prep volleyball in the Midwest.

You're right. His name is Murphy Troy. He went to St. Louis University High, as did I - Go Jr. Bills! Quite the stud. He's getting a degree in physics, has a 3.8 gpa and is the national player of the year.

St. Louis is actually a "hotbed" for men's volleyball. Lots of competition there.

[HouWarrior]

You're right. His name is Murphy Troy. He went to St. Louis University High, as did I - Go Jr. Bills! Quite the stud. He's getting a degree in physics, has a 3.8 gpa and is the national player of the year.

St. Louis is actually a "hotbed" for men's volleyball. Lots of competition there.

What--no Biliken Volleyball?

[Fightin 411]

For what it's worth the MU Club team won the club national championship in 2006.

[muwarrior69]

This thread should be in the Superbar.