Signing Day! Big Ten Recruiting Class Rankings and Analysis

For the first time, Prep Dig will be releasing recruiting rankings for the Class of 2024.  We’ve been following this class since day one of their journey when they entered high school coming off a club season canceled by Covid.  On Wednesday, November 8 they will sign their National Letter of Intent that will officially mark the next step to starting their college journey.  

How Do We Rank Recruiting Classes? 

This is new.  There is no science, there is no formula, it’s a gray area.  Do we look at the entire class or just the top one or two in the class?  Do we value the immediate impact they will have as freshmen or do we look at what they could do in their entire year?  What about the combination of players coming in along with the players they already have?  What’s the answer?  A little bit of all of the above.  These recruiting rankings will be based on the level of players coming in and what they can collectively do as a class.  Some classes have two coming, others four or five.  Here is a look at the Big Ten Class of 2024 Recruiting Rankings. 

1. 1. Ohio State

National Rank	First Name	Last Name	Home State	Position	High School	Club	Commitment
5	Emerson	Sellman	Virginia	OH	Academy of Holy Cross	Metro VBC	Ohio State
16	Kaia	Caffee	Minnesota	MB	Buffalo	MN Select	Ohio State
56	Olivia	Hasbrook	Missouri	DS/L	Eureka	Rockwood Thunder	Ohio State
57	Reese	Wuebker	Ohio	OH	Centerville	TSE	Ohio State
101	Abby	Yoder	Ohio	S	Kings	NKYVC	Ohio State
NA	Ava	Shankle	Texas	MB	Grapevine	TAV	Ohio State

Ohio State has the combination of depth as well as high level prospects that will make an impact in the Big Ten.  Emerson Sellman highlights this class as a six rotation outside that has seen some time wearing USA on her jersey with the youth national teams.  She has the length and terminal scoring ability where she could have an instant impact.  Kaia Caffee has the blend of power and physicality to compete as a middle in the Big Ten, she has always played an age group above her own and has been one of the more dominant athletes on the court.  Olivia Hasbrook is the top libero out of Missouri and has always played against high level competition.  Ava Shankle could be a sneaky good pick up out of Texas as a dominant, physical middle. 

2. USC 

National Rank	First Name	Last Name	Home State	Position	High School	Club	Commitment
23	Favor	Anyanwu	Texas	MB	Sachse	Texas Advantage	USC
28	Jadyn	Livings	Texas	OH	Prestonwood Christian	TAV	USC
111	Brooklyn	Tealer	Florida	OH	Gainesville	Gainesville Juniors	USC
123	Paisley	Douglas	Nebraska	DS/L	Omaha Skutt Catholic	VCNebraska 17 Elite	USC

Welcome to the Big Ten.  USC will be making their appearance in the Big Ten in August of 2024 where they are bringing a highly touted recruiting class and will have another big time recruiting class coming in 2025.  The Trojans will be led by two Texas athletes in Favor Anyawu who has spent some time with the USA Youth National Teams and Jadyn Livings who is a terminal six rotation pin.  Brooklyn Tealer has a wild upside where she has plenty of length and contacts extremely high.  Paisley Douglas is one of the top defenders out of Nebraska where her Skutt High School team out of Omaha has won nine consecutive state titles. 

3. Penn State

National Rank	First Name	Last Name	Home State	Position	High School	Club	Commitment
1	Izzy	Starck	Colorado	S	Rampart	Colorado Juniors	Penn State
10	Ava	Falduto	Illinois	DS/L	IC Catholic Prep	1st Alliance	Penn State

With two top ten recruits in the country, they make a case for being at the top, but with only two recruits (although very noteworthy) it holds them back from being number one.  Starck and Falduto have played together on the Youth USA National Teams where Falduto has racked up plenty of international hardware.  Starck will join her sister Anjelina, who is an outside hitter on the Penn State team.  They have been two of the top players to recently come out of Colorado.  Colorado Juniors has been sending top players across the country.  Izzy Starck has the length, physicality, and all around play that makes her the top prospect in the Class of 2024.  She has a chance to contribute immediately to Penn State.  

4. Wisconsin

National Rank	First Name	Last Name	Home State	Position	High School	Club	Commitment
2	Charlie	Fuerbringer	California	S	Mira Costa	Mizuno Long Beach	Wisconsin
60	Lola	Schumacher	Indiana	DS/L	Brebeuf Jesuit	Munciana	Wisconsin
156	Maile	Chan	Oregon	DS/L	Mountainside	Athena Volleyball Academy	Wisconsin
NA	Antonina (Tosia)	Serafinowska		MB	Poland		Wisconsin
NA	Trinity	Shadd-Ceres	Ontario	MB	Canada	KW Predators	Wisconsin
NA	Morgan	Van Wie	Wisconsin	S/RS	Waunakee	Madtown Juniors	Wisconsin

This recruiting class is really dynamic (also a little bit of unknown) which starts with a top all around player in Charlie Fuerbringer who has played outside and set for Mizuno Long Beach.  She plays for one of the top high school programs in the country in Mira Costa.  Seeing Fuerbringer on the club courts, you can see how smooth her movement is with her footwork and hands as a setter and her IQ as a hitter.  She was an early commit for the Badgers shortly after June 15, 2022.  Lola Schumacher is one of the top defenders in the state of Indiana coming out of  Munciana.  She plays with a fire and intensity that is tough to match.  Wisconsin has drawn some top defenders out of Indiana and Schumacher will fall right in line.  There are some wild cards in this class with Tosia Serafinowska who is a 6’4 middle blocker from Poland (current Badger Julia Orzol is from Poland) and they bring in an electric athlete in Trinity Shadd-Ceres.  I have not seen Shadd-Ceres play live, but seeing her on video shows that there is a major upside.  She is an international track standout who can touch 10’7.  

5. Washington 

National Rank	First Name	Last Name	Home State	Position	High School	Club	Commitment
9	Alexis	Haury	Oregon	S	Silverton	North Pacific Juniors	Washington
11	Julia	Hunt	Kentucky	MB	Holy Cross (Covington)	NKYVC	Washington

Washington will be making the move to the Big Ten and will hope to make a splash with a top setter/middle blocker combination with Alexis Haury out of Oregon and Julia Hunt from Kentucky.  Hunt is one of the top athletes out of Kentucky where she is the 2023 Kentucky Ms. Basketball and has also been a standout on the basketball hard court too.  Hunt has seen plenty of success with her NKYVC Tsunami team who is full of high level commits, winning the 17s Division of Triple Crown in 2023.  Haury is the top player out of Oregon where she has gathered the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year.  This is the boost that Washington needs to compete among top teams in the Big Ten and to attract other top talent to Seattle. 

6. Nebraska

National Rank	First Name	Last Name	Home State	Position	High School	Club	Commitment
4	Skyler	Pierce	Kansas	OH	Olathe Northwest	Dynasty	Nebraska
49	Olivia	Mauch	Nebraska	DS/L	Bennington	Premier	Nebraska

Pierce and Mauch are two of the top players at their position in the country.  Pierce was one of the first commits in the Class of 2024 to give her verbal shortly after June 15 to Nebraska.  Mauch is the home state product who will live out every Nebraska girl’s dream to play for the Huskers.  Both of these athletes have been able to play for the Team USA Youth Program.  This class did have Ayden Ames, the number three overall prospect before she flipped to Texas less than a week ago.  If we are evaluating a recruiting class based on immediate impact, this might not be the one.  For as talented as these players are, Nebraska has a deep roster with Harper Murray on the outside as one of the freshmen in the country where Lexi Rodriguez and Laney Choboy have been holding down the libero/defensive specialist positions.  

7. Michigan

National Rank	First Name	Last Name	Home State	Position	High School	Club	Commitment
34	Ellie	White	Illinois	OH	Mother McAuley	1st Alliance	Michigan
40	Ella	Demetrician	Wisconsin	OH	Appleton North	FC Elite	Michigan
76	Jenna	Hanes	California	MB	Rancho Bernardo	Wave	Michigan
95	Camille	Edwards	Texas	S	Prestonwood Christian	Texas Advantage	Michigan
NA	Cymarah	Gordon	California	OH/RS	Mater Dei	Momentous	Michigan
NA	Trixie	McMilin	California	DS/L	Mira Costa	City	Michigan

There is a lot of talent coming into Michigan with this Class of 2024.  Ellie White and Ella Demetrician are the top outside hitters in their respective states of Illinois and Wisconsin.  They bring similar skill sets where they can do it all from serve receive, pass, attack, and score from anywhere.  Their ability to raise the level of their teammates on the court is special coming from successful high school and club programs.  Jenna Hanes was a key cog to the success of the Wave 17s team last year where they had a season dominating the 17 Open field.  Camille Edwards will bring the intensity from Texas from the setter position.  Michigan also picks up two California commits Cymarah Gordon and Trixie McMilin.  Will we see more commits from the West Coast coming to Big Ten teams in the Midwest/Mideast knowing they get to come home to play a few times a year?  I think so….

7. UCLA

National Rank	First Name	Last Name	Home State	Position	High School	Club	Commitment
32	Zoe	Humphrey	Texas	MB	Klein	Houston Juniors	UCLA
62	Kiki	Horne	North Carolina	OH	Millbrook	Triangle	UCLA
NA	Kate	Duffy	California	S	Ventura	City	UCLA
NA	Kennedy	Osunsanmi	California	RS/MB	West Ranch	Legacy	UCLA

This class is an extremely athletic group coming to UCLA where Coach Alfee Reft is starting to build something special.  They have a young group of Bruins who are making an impact and have a chance to play their way into the tournament.  Next year they will bring in Zoe Humphrey, a dominant force for Houston Juniors where she has the speed, size, and athleticism to do a lot of special things in the middle.  Kiki Horne is one of the top outside hitters in the country and the Gatorade Player of the Year out o fNorth Carolina.  These two will make a great combination with Freshman setter Ashley Mullen who has shown great potential for UCLA.  

8. Michigan State

National Rank	First Name	Last Name	Home State	Position	High School	Club	Commitment
25	Mia	Hood	Georgia	MB	Home Schooled	A5	Michigan State
134	Mya	Bolton	Kansas	DS/L	St. James Academy	KC Power	Michigan State
NA	Kayla	Foley	Virginia	DS/L	First Colonial	Virginia Beach Elite	Michigan State
NA	Carmen	Waye	Canada	MB	Citadel HS	Fury	Michigan State

Michigan State is building a team around defense with two middle blockers and defensive specialists.  Mia Hood is a force out of the middle where she has plenty of team success for A5 out of Atlanta.  Her older sister, Kaya Hood is a 6’5 junior currently at Michigan State.  Mya Bolton has been the libero for a talented KC Power squad that has made it a routine competing at the USAV Open Nationals during their career.  They will also bring in Kayla Foley out of Virginia Beach and Carmen Waye from Canada.  

9. Purdue

National Rank	First Name	Last Name	Home State	Position	High School	Club	Commitment
29	Ryan	McAleer	Kansas	DS/L	Blue Valley	Dynasty	Purdue
78	Allie	Shondell	Indiana	S	McCutcheon	Boiler Juniors	Purdue
NA	Sienna	Foster	Indiana	OH	Benton Central	Boiler Juniors	Purdue

Purdue has a bit of a local flavor to their recruiting class while also bringing in one of the top liberos in the country in Ryan McAleer out of the Kansas City area.  McAleer has been the libero for her Dynasty squad who has won qualifier after qualifier and most recently finished 2nd at the USAV 17 Open Nationals in Chicago last July.  Purdue brought in a top Class of 2023 that featured Chloe Chicoine who is one of the top freshmen in the country as well as Taylor Anderson from Alamo who has been running the show as a setter.  The Boilermakers also bring in Allie Shondell who has been part of quite the McCutcheon High School program out of Lafayette and Sienna Foster from Benton Central that is 30 miles West of Purdue’s campus. 

Congratulations to all of the award winners at the MNVBCA State Tournament Banquet, including the 2023 Ms. Baden winner – Stella Swenson of Wayzata!

The full list of All-State winners is now posted at https://t.co/Joh4fuclaT! pic.twitter.com/vVi6vtTedw

— MN VB Coaches Assoc. (@MNVBCA) November 8, 2023

10. Minnesota

National Rank	First Name	Last Name	Home State	Position	High School	Club	Commitment
8	Stella	Swenson	Minnesota	S	Wayzata	MN Select	Minnesota
98	Olivia	Swenson	Minnesota	OH	Wayzata	MN Select	Minnesota

Minnesota will have two familiar names coming into their program in Stella Swenson and Olivia Swenson. Their older sister, Samantha Seliger-Swenson was an All American setter for the Gophers and twins, Stella and Olivia will be coming in with a loaded resume.  They will be going for another state title for Wayzata High School has dominated Minnesota’s large class the past few seasons.  Stella Swenson is a physical and dynamic setter who will most likely be next in line after Melani Shaffmaster.  The Gophers already have some nationally ranked recruits coming in for their 2025 class that would make a great combination with these two.  

11. Oregon 

National Rank	First Name	Last Name	Home State	Position	High School	Club	Commitment
35	Mia	Tvrdy	Nebraska	MB	Papillion-La Vista	Premier 17 Gold	Oregon
NA	Bridget	Gould	Oregon	RS	Marshfield	North Pacific Juniors	Oregon
NA	Anaya	Thrower	California	MB/RS	Vanden	Absolute	Oregon

Oregon has always found a way to develop their athletes and play at a quick tempo.  A player like Mia Tvrdy is going to flourish in this environment as a quick twitch athlete out of the Omaha area who is very physical and dynamic.  They will add more size and athleticism in the front row with Bridget Gould representing her home state and Anaya Thrower out of Northern California who plays well above the net has a huge upside. 

✒️ Inked: Ashlyn Philpot ✒️

🔸 2023 PrepVolleyball All-American
🔹 2023 JVA All-National Team selection
🔸 7x National Team Development Program participant#Illini | #HTTO pic.twitter.com/joqrJxBJgh

— Illinois Volleyball (@IlliniVBall) November 8, 2023

12. Illinois

National Rank	First Name	Last Name	Home State	Position	High School	Club	Commitment
99	Layni	Smith	North Carolina	OH	Chapel Hill	Triangle	Illinois
113	Ashlyn	Philpot	North Carolina	MB	DH Conley	Triangle	Illinois
NA	Kenzie	Cogan	Ohio	DS/L	Mt. Notre Dame	Elevation	Illinois

Illinois is bringing some big time talent from North Carolina with Layni Smith and Ashlyn Philpot.  Smith is 6’4 and Philpot is 6’3 where they instantly bring in the size and physicality of a Big Ten athlete.  Smith is a mismatch problem on the right side while Philpot is a hammer out of the middle.  The combination of these two are big time for the Illini.  Cogan will add defensive depth to the backrow where she has played for a talented Elevation team out of the Cincinnati area. 

13. Maryland

National Rank	First Name	Last Name	Home State	Position	High School	Club	Commitment
42	Lilly	Wagner	Wisconsin	S	Oconomowoc	Milwaukee Sting	Maryland
163	Katherine	Scherer	Illinois	OH	St. Charles North	1st Alliance	Maryland

Two Midwest athletes will be heading to College Park, Maryland to do their damage in the Big Ten.  Lilly Wagner is the top setter out of Wisconsin and Katherine Scherer is one of the top outside hitters out of Illinois.  Wagner has won a state title with two runner-up finishes in Wisconsin’s largest class and has been a key piece to the Milwaukee Sting program.  She brings plenty of length and physicality to the setter position. 

14. Indiana

National Rank	First Name	Last Name	Home State	Position	High School	Club	Commitment
162	Avery	Daum	Georgia	RS	Wesleyan	A5	Indiana
178	Ella	Boersema	Indiana	MB	Churubusco	Team Pineapple	Indiana
NA	Emma	Segal	Indiana	MB	Frontier	Academy	Indiana
NA	Reese	Hazelton	Pennsylvania	OH	Philipsburg-Osceola	Happy Valley	Indiana

Indiana is building a lot of recruiting momentum between the Class of 2024 and ther verbals they have from the Class of 2025. Daum brings plenty of size and physicality to the right side position while Boersma is the fast twitch middle who is part of the local duo with Emma Segal out of Frontier High School.  

15. Iowa

National Rank	First Name	Last Name	Home State	Position	High School	Club	Commitment
117	Jenna	Meitzler	Illinois	S	Barrington	Sky High	Iowa
NA	Kamaluhia	Garcia	Hawaii	RS	Moanalua	Kuikahi	Iowa
NA	Jaimie	Marquardt	Illinois	DS/L	Libertyville	Sky High	Iowa
NA	Dominique	Phills	Texas	OH/RS	Shadow Creek	Houston Juniors	Iowa

Iowa has a little bit of everything coming in with attackers from Hawaii and Texas and two club teammates out of Chicagoland.  Jenna Meitzler and Jaimie Marquardt have been playing together the past couple years from Sky High out of the Northern Chicagoland suburbs.  Meitzler brings length, size, and physicality to the setter position where she does some attacking for Barrington High School, who is making their third straight trip to the large school final four in Illinois.  Marquardt covers plenty of ground as a libero and leads with her poise, she is a libero for club, but a standout setter for her high school team.  Garcia is a 6’2 jumpy right side with a big left handed swing.  Phills is a dynamic athlete who can swing from both pins and is well trained from a strong Houston Juniors program. 

16. Northwestern

National Rank	First Name	Last Name	Home State	Position	High School	Club	Commitment
63	Ava	Pratt	Illinois	OH	Glenbrook South	Adversity	Northwestern
NA	Cleo	Hardin	California	OH/RS	Menlo	Vision	Northwestern

Ava Pratt is the local Chicagoland product who will be staying close to home to play for Northwestern.  She brings a heavy swing and is a terminal outside hitter.  Pratt tore her ACL last club season and will be getting back into action this upcoming season.  Northwestern also picked up a late commit in Cleo Hardin who will add some depth to the pin and continue Northwestern’s pipeline to California. 

17. Rutgers

National Rank	First Name	Last Name	Home State	Position	High School	Club	Commitment
NA	Natalie	Robinson	Ohio	MB	Hudson	AVC	Rutgers
NA	Alleigh	Dutton	Indiana	DS/L	McCutcheon	Circle City	Rutgers
NA	Lily	Bolen	Ohio	S/DS	Lebanon	Elevation	Rutgers

Rutgers is much improved and is taking top talent from nationally ranked clubs out of the Mideast.  Robinson is a 6’4 middle with a lot of length and physicality out of Cleveland where Dutton has played for powerhouse programs with McCutcheon High School out of Lafayette, Indiana and Circle City out of Indianapolis.