Who Could Be The Caitlin Clark of Volleyball?
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Caitlin Clark is one of one. To even draw comparisons at this stage of the game isn’t fair to anyone. Being an Iowa native, I was captivated by the allure of Clark and the Iowa Women’s Basketball team the past couple of years. I even remember hearing of Clark when she was at Dowling Catholic in West Des Moines. Most knew she would have an impact at the college level, but I don’t know if anyone could have drawn up this dream scenario with her success with the team, her individual accomplishments, and her NIL deals. Being entrenched in the volleyball world, I couldn’t help think, “Who could be the Caitlin Clark of volleyball?”
I think there needs to be some criteria in place in regards to someone who could have an impact in terms of what someone like Caitlin Clark has done:
-Must take the program to new heights, a place they haven’t been before or haven’t been to in a long time.
-A presence that is marketable beyond collecting from their schools NIL collective (Caitlin Clark didn’t even take from the collective that Iowa has in place, she had all of her own brand deals).
-The athlete needs to attend a school that has an established fan base that supports all of their sports. Iowa and Midwest teams generally support their teams no matter what sport it is. If they win, that makes it even better. And these fans like to travel.
-The athlete needs to be relatively local or have a regional presence. Clark is from Iowa, JuJu Watkins, the freshman phenom from USC Women’s Basketball stayed home in Southern California and is now one of the biggest names in women’s basketball all after one season.
Who In The College Game Currently Is Building a Brand?
The first athlete I think of is Anna DeBeer of Louisville. She’s the Queen of Louisville. She stayed home to play for her hometown Cards and has taken them to new heights where they advanced to the Final Four in 2021 and the national championship in 2022. Prior to Louisville she played for Assumption High School in Louisville and was a huge standout for KiVA. She is nearing 30k Instagram followers and has represented multiple brands, most notably Adidas which Louisville is an Adidas school.
Devyn Robinson of Wisconsin came in and in her second year at Wisconsin won a national title. She is a beaming personality for the Badgers where fans are just drawn to her, but she has also created a brand for herself to be set up for success beyond volleyball. Robinson graduated high school in the Des Moines suburbs (Ankeny Centennial) and has become a key member of the community in Madison. She’s had brand deals with the likes of American Eagle and her nearly 30k Instagram followers will see her daily dose of Bubblr, as a sponsored athlete. She has worked with the Big Ten Network for volleyball media day and has spoken on her desire to go into sports broadcasting. She would be a welcome addition to any sideline for volleyball with an extremely bright future whether that’s on the court, or with a mic.
Who Could Be Next?
Another athlete who is finishing her freshman year is Chloe Chicoine of Purdue. Purdue has been so close to blasting through the door into the top of the Big Ten and advancing to the final four. As a team, they have all the pieces in place to really make a run. Chicoine along with another Indiana native in Eva Hudson are some of the big names for the Boilermakers, notching plenty of kills on the outside. Chicoine is the hometown kid, similar to DeBeer where she won state titles at McCutcheon High School just outside of Lafayette. She played club volleyball at Circle City out of Indianapolis. Purdue has an intense following where they are coming off plenty of momentum off their Men’s Basketball Final Four run. The pieces are there for a place like Purdue and the athletes they currently have. Coach Dave Shondell has built his program on homegrown talent and the parallels between the Purdue women’s volleyball team and the Iowa women’s basketball team are eerily similar.
What About The High School Prospects?
High school athletes have plenty to think about when it comes to the next steps of their volleyball career. NIL deals were never part of the conversation, I doubt the word “BRAND” was ever discussed. But who are some current athletes that are in the high school and club ranks that could do something similar to Caitlin Clark. This will be an unpopular opinion, but anyone committed or playing for Nebraska, Texas, and even Wisconsin are out. Why? These programs are comparable to UCONN women’s basketball. They have the history, they have national championship banners in their gyms, banners of volleyball athletes who have competed in the Olympics, the list continues, to go to one of these programs its tough to be the first at something because most likely its been done before (which I mean in the most respectful ways to these programs). They have multiple players on their roster right now who will have decorated international careers. These programs traditionally have multiple top 25 nationally ranked players who are heading to their programs. If we are saying “Who is the next Paige Bueckers?”, then that completely changes the conversation. For those completely disconnected from sports or women’s college basketball, Paige Bueckers is the face of UCONN women’s basketball right now and had one of the biggest followings in the basketball world before she even put on a UCONN jersey.
Henley Anderson and Halle Thompson are two of the top players in the country in a ridiculously loaded Class of 2026 out of Texas. Anderson plays for Dripping Springs High School and Austin Skyline Volleyball Club. Thompson attends Grand Oaks High School and plays club at Houston Skyline. Where could they have the biggest impact? Nebraska and Texas have a cupboard full of outside hitters who are a year ahead of these two. But what program could they really make a huge impression at? What school has a big time fanbase? Who is ready to break into the next tier of volleyball powers? I would say Texas A&M and LSU. These are within proximity to Austin and Houston and their collectives have shown to support their coaches and athletes. LSU is a national brand where clearly their women’s sports have skyrocketed, most recently with a national championship in women’s basketball in 2023 and their women’s gymnastics team won a national title this past weekend.
A program that I think will start to take off in the next two to three years comes out of South Bend, Indiana. Yes, Notre Dame. Head Coach Salima Rockwell has quite the recruiting class coming in the next two seasons. Morgan Gaerte out of Angola, Indiana and Team Pineapple has the ability to do some special things. She is one of the top 2024 outside hitters in her class and has some other big time athletes coming in as well. She could be a key catalyst into building a national brand where everyone knows Notre Dame, now they just need to know it in regards to volleyball.
June 15 will be a big day for the Class of 2026, they can start talking to college coaches. There are two club teams in the heart of Big Ten country that will be a recruiting battle ground. However, to their advantage they come from clubs that are accustomed to having high level recruits and will have the proper guidance through this process. Mintonette out of Columbus, Ohio and Legacy out of the Detroit area have two of the top teams in the 16s age group. I was able to see them go head to head for the Triple Crown title where Legacy came out on top. Legacy has two of the top players in Michigan as well as the rest of the country in Kayla Nwabueze and Gabby DiVita. They will absolutely be a priority for the likes of Michigan and Michigan State, but I have to imagine most of the Big Ten are going to be giving them a call. For Mintonette, they have Ohio State in their backyard and the Buckeyes will be looking to build off a top five recruiting class they have coming in with their 2024s. Setter Mallory Matheny has been the quarterback for this offense and has such a presence. Mac Podraza and Emily Londott are two former Mintonette athletes who found plenty of success at Ohio State. Layla Hoying is an electric point scoring outside for Mintonette who will be sure to get plenty of calls from top programs in the Mideast and the rest of the country.
The year 2027 seems forever away, but college coaches from top programs are starting to watch these athletes in the freshman class, the 15s. One 2027 who has been really fun to watch so far and I think can have a huge impact at the next level is Rockwood Thunder athlete Shaye Witherspoon who is a 6’2 attacker that is already touching 10’6. Witherspoon is out of the St. Louis area which is a battleground area for plenty of college programs. Mizzou is picking up plenty of momentum, Illinois isn’t too far from STL, and the SEC will be sure to follow the path of Witherspoon the next couple years. Tennessee had a big season this past year and have made some noise in the transfer portal this offseason. Another program that will be exciting to follow and Witherspoon already has a connection to with her sister Maya Witherspoon heading there is Vanderbilt. Coach Anders Nelson and the Commodores will have their first season coming up in the fall of 2025 and have some big names coming to Nashville.
I could come up with scenarios like this all day. Like Caitlin Clark and womens basketball, women’s volleyball is coming off a huge year with setting attendance records across the country. The inaugural season of the REAL Pro Volleyball Federation is heading into the playoffs next month, we have the Olympics to look forward to, and yet another big college season coming around the corner. Plenty of progress made and always a need to continue to push forward. Let the cards fall as these athletes strive to not only become the next, but be the first.