Breaking Down the New Nebraska 2026 Watch List
Our Class of 2026 journey is beginning. It’s a multi-year trip, and I hope you’ll join me. Nebraska’s inaugural 2026 watch list has just been published. It already features a hefty list of standout athletes, but I cannot emphasize enough…
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Continue ReadingOur Class of 2026 journey is beginning. It’s a multi-year trip, and I hope you’ll join me.
Nebraska’s inaugural 2026 watch list has just been published. It already features a hefty list of standout athletes, but I cannot emphasize enough that this is just the start of our evaluations of this class. We haven’t even ranked this class numerically yet (you’ll notice that the watch list sorts alphabetically by last name). The upcoming club season will inevitably put dozens more players on our radar for the next update–an update that isn’t far away.
But let’s break down what we have so far. This is a preliminary look at some interesting trends and numbers from our first Class of 2026 watch list in Nebraska.
Positions By the Numbers
Pin Hitters: 25
Middle Blockers: 21
Setters: 11
Defensive Specialists: 6
We wanted to strike a positional balance with this initial list. While some positions will invariably feature more athletes than others, we were able to compile a solid list for each position.
Clearly, defensive specialist additions will be a top priority when we start evaluating 2026s on the club side. It goes without saying that starting varsity defensive specialists are uncommon, and the upcoming club season will be a great venue to plug more names onto our list. For now, we’ll still have a lot to say about the first liberos to make our 2026 watch list. Stay tuned.
I’m intrigued by the equity we ended up with between pin hitters and middle blockers. Of course, many athletes on this watch list are not necessarily tethered to one position and can switch between a variety of frontcourt roles. Still, the balance between frontcourt positions on our 2026 rankings will be fascinating to follow as more players are added.
Finally, we have a stout preliminary list of setters to discuss, many of whom have already started and played high-level matches in this year’s fall season. Furthermore, the last few weeks have allowed us to become acquainted with another group of talented setters who are likely about to get their time on the big stage before long.
Club Representation
Though we built our 2026 watch list primarily based on what we saw in this year’s high school season, we ended up with a nice variety of clubs in our first list of 2026s. And this club representation will only get better.
We have Nebraska Elite, Premier Nebraska, South Central, VCNebraska, Nebraska ONE, Southeast, and River City Jrs all make appearances in this watch list. It won’t be long until we get a big influx of regional events around the Cornhusker State, further raising the chances of putting more clubs on our rankings. Namely, I’ll be on the lookout for more information and scouting opportunities from groups like Club Legacy, Banzai, D-League, Nebraska Gold, HardBlock, and a lot more. The grind starts right away in 2023!
What’s Next?
As I’ve just alluded to, the growth of this watch list (as with any other set of rankings on our site) will come through more scouting and observation. I can’t wait to see you all at a variety of regional and national club venues in the coming months and years.
Of course, I can only be in one place at a time. That’s where having film, rosters, and other event information helps a lot. This is part of the “group effort” of club volleyball coverage, and I’d be grateful for any information that can be passed along. You, the reader, can have a big role in helping build these lists into the most complete resource they can possibly be.
This is just the start, and I’ll see you on the court.