Iowa Western Coach Answers Questions About Recruiting
Q: If I’m an outside hitter and only 5-foot-9, what do I need to do to be a college player or get colleges to look at me despite my height?
A: This one is tough. Bluntly, you might not get the looks you think you deserve and it can be solely because you are 5’9. The primary outsides at Iowa Western last year were 6’2 and 6’1, our middles were 6’3 and 6’0, and our right side was 5’10. Obviously, we like to play above the six-foot mark. Our 5’10 right side was a competent blocker who had the best intangibles on the team. Despite her height, she provided something that perhaps a taller player did not. And that is where I’m leaning in response to your question. You have to provide something that all of those 6’0 outsides don’t have. It could be a number of things, from passing to shot selection, to superior jumping ability, and much more. There are plenty of valuable commodities that cannot be measured by numbers, such as leadership, mental toughness, vision, volleyball IQ, and so on. In order to play at the highest levels at a shorter height, you have to encompass a multitude of those additional traits. Unfortunately, you will often run into a six-footer that also possesses them. And as the old saying goes, “you can’t teach height.”
Q: How honest should a recruit be with you about other schools, etc.? Should they tell you who else is recruiting them? Where they rank your school or if they want to wait on offers from another school? Good to share that info or no?
A: I’m speaking for myself here, but I’m sure plenty of other coaches would agree when I say I want to know and will ask you about everything. Some recruits share and some don’t. Depending on the coach, it could be helpful or harmful to share information. I’m not going to disparage or insult other coaches and their programs. Sadly, not every coach feels that way. You might start naming schools and then hear each one get trashed by the coach of the school you are visiting. Do you really want to play for a coach that does that? One thing I would advise not to do is tell a school they are ranked low on your list. You certainly want to say if you are interested in other schools and their potential offers, however if you tell a school that you aren’t very interested in them and none of the others work out, that school will probably laugh at you when you have to call them back with interest. Be polite and be honest, and only reveal what you want to reveal.
Q: As a coach, are you more apt to recruit kids from certain schools or club based on that school or club’s reputation?
A: Not necessarily. I’ve seen some average players on a highly reputable club and very good players on a lesser-known club. More total coaches will likely see the kid playing on the higher profile club, however the player on the smaller club can often be a better fit and have a significant contribution to a program like ours at Iowa Western. As I’ve said before, I’m more interested in how you play than where you play.
Q: My high school coach wants me taking a 3 step approach and my club coach wants me taking a 4 step approach – what am I supposed to do without making one mad?
A: I’ve never met two coaches that completely agreed on everything. My guess is that at every level you have played there has been a coach try to change something that another coach taught you. There is a popular story within the coaching ranks that when volleyball great Jordan Larson reached the Olympic team that the USA Women’s National Team coaching staff at the time did a full revamping of her arm swing. I don’t know exactly how truthful that story is, however I used it as an example that even the best athletes in the world change and adjust their techniques. I couldn’t even tell you which Iowa Western hitters take a three-step or four-step approach. They have been taught either (or both) throughout their careers and have gotten very good at what they do. As a coach I tell players to experiment with what they like best and go with it. I don’t prefer one over the other, but in this particular situation I would recommend learning both and doing whichever your coach at the time requests. It’s good to know different ways to accomplish a task and you might even surprise yourself with what you can discover.
Q: As a junior college coach, what are some examples of how the recruiting process will work “the second time around” after I’m done playing for you?
A: In a nutshell, I would say it’s easier. There’s one major reason for this: your junior college coaches. Four-year coaches want our players and since rules prohibit them from frequently contacting recruits, they contact us regularly. We provide a personal touch and they trust the accounts that we give them of our players. They help our program by placing good players with us and we help them by sending them good players. We make calls on your behalf and try to find the best overall fit for you and we add all the little things that a recruiting service can’t. And in the end, college coaches get the special privilege of helping student-athletes mature into young adults and we always have the best interests of the player at heart.
Brent Lewis joined the Reiver volleyball staff in May 2013. In his first season at Iowa Western, the team finished with a 44-5 record and earned a 7th place finish at the NJCAA Division I National Tournament after being ranked as high as #2 during the regular season. Working mainly with outside hitters and defenders, the Reivers led the nation in both kills and assists in his first season.
He arrived at Iowa Western after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. He helped the Cowgirls to a 58-10 overall record, 38-3 record in the American Southwest Conference, two conference titles, and two NCAA regional tournament appearances. At HSU his primary coaching responsibilities were with setters and defenders. He helped orchestrate an offense that led the conference in kills and assists both years he was on staff. Following the 2012 season HSU was named American Southwest Conference Coaching Staff of the Year.
As an assistant coach at the collegiate level he has amassed a record of 102-15. This includes two school-record winning streaks, first with the 2012 HSU squad that won 25 consecutive matches, then again last season at Iowa Western with 33 straight victories. He has also never lost a home game in his career (29-0). He has coached eight All-Conference players, one conference MVP, five All-Region players, and three All-Americans.
A majority of his work lies in the statistical and analytical realm. Known as someone who enjoys working with numbers, he has written two papers on volleyball statistics. His 37 page Master’s thesis was entitled, “Discovering Success in Volleyball: An Integral Match Analysis of the Relationship between Statistics and Team Rankings” which compared general statistics to team records in order to determine the most significant numbers for predicting the outcome of a win/loss record. His most recent work was completed in December 2013, in which he proposed a new statistic to measure the attacking efficiency of a hitter.
A native of Marshall, Texas, he received his Master’s degree in Kinesiology from Hardin-Simmons University and his Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from East Texas Baptist University. He played collegiate club volleyball as a right side hitter for ETBU and also worked as an adjunct instructor in the Fitness and Sports Sciences Department at Hardin-Simmons. In addition to coaching at Iowa Western, he also serves as the head coach for Top Ten Volleyball Club and is a regular contributor to Nebraskaprepvolleyball.com. This summer he worked on staff with Iowa High Performance Volleyball, which features some of the best youth and amateur players in the state. He lives in Council Bluffs.
You may email Brent at blewis@iwcc.edu with any questions or items you would like to see him write about.