The 2029 Watch List Comes Out Today: We Answer All Your Questions

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Want a subscription to PrepDig? Use code Kyp30 at checkout for a deep discount off of your national subscription!</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We've officially moved on from this year's sophomore class and now put all of our focus on the freshman class, heretofore known as the class of 2029. Most, if not all, of these athletes have already made a name for themselves, whether it's during the club season, at our recent Freshman Showcase, or both. Below, we'll answer the most frequently asked questions when a brand new watch list comes out.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">A Watch List? What happened to the Rankings?</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Because this is the first foray into this class for me and every other athlete in this class, we list them alphabetically first. This allows the kids on the watch list to show us what they're made of, while simultaneously allowing those not yet on the watch list to be seen without missing out on a ranking. You can continue to submit your name, height, school, club and position to our rankings. Also, please keep in mind that this list is sorted alphabetically by first name—-I know that's weird, but it's a list and not a ranking.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Wait, I submitted my name to the watch list, but I don't see it.</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We spend hours weekly poring over all FOUR graduating class lists and have come up with some things that help us do our jobs quicker. If we just see a name with no other information entered, it's hard to hunt down the rest of the categories missing. ‘Jane Doe' is not enough for us to include her in a list. What position does she play? What school is she from? Where does/did she play club? How tall is she? To be part of this process, we need to see just a <em>little</em> effort in that area. Chasing down athletes among a massive sea of volleyball matches is a little too daunting a task for us. We don't charge anything to be included in the list, so we ask politely for you to meet us halfway on this.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">OK, so now what?</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Normally, a rankings list release would then be accompanied by six articles; new to us, stock risers and four positional highlights. Since this is just a watch list, we leave out the first two for obvious reasons—-everyone's new to us and everyone just received a stock without time to see it rise. We will then write about five different athletes per day this week in four different positional categories: pin attackers, middles, setters and floor defenders. With the numbers that we're releasing today, about 20% will have an individual scouting report about them this week. That's more than any other scouting service, and far more individual attention than local publications and national websites which post stats and nothing more.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">When <em>can</em> we expect a full rankings list?</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We work quarterly in our releases. August, December, February and May are the standard dates of releases. In the case of the class of ‘29, you can expect a full-on rankings list in the February release, where we hope to have some scouting done of your individual club play. December's release will be another watch list, giving time to those who aren't on it yet to get their names out there.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Is that it?</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For now, yes. More information will come this week, and you the reader will have a general idea of how things go around here. With nearly 1000 athletes in four graduating classes to sift through, we want to give as much individual attention as possible to whomever wishes to be part of this. Ideally, we want every kid mentioned by us to receive good attention to propel her towards playing at the next level. We also pride ourselves on writing about kids that might be under the radar—-it is implied that anyone “in the know” in the volleyball world will know who the superstars are. We go a step further and find those diamonds in the rough that others just won't write about. That being said—-this is supposed to be a fun process in these athletes' journeys. We play nice around here, and expect the same from the adults on the receiving end of this information. On a week-in, week-out basis, we receive dozens of emails that vary from nice and informative to downright nasty and insulting. Be aware that anything lacking professionalism or otherwise personally insulting will result in us ignoring and discarding the email. Be nice. This is about the kids, not us adults. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->