The Method and Madness Behind the “Simple” Formula of Class Rankings
How do you come up with the rankings? As much as our society depends on robots and artificial intelligence, I don’t know if people will be happy to know or displeased to hear our rankings are based off of simply watching A LOT of volleyball. Before our 2021 rankings are unveiled, I want to preface that we take great pride in the work we do and that does not come by sitting at home and checking AES and following club social media pages (although we do that too).
Here are the list of events for the Class of 2021 we have covered since Prep Dig Wisconsin has first started since December 2017:
Wisconsin Volleyball Academy Scrimmage
Wisconsin Juniors Winter Classic
Great Lakes Power League 2x
JVA Jamboree - Milwaukee
Wisconsin Dells Showcase
Badger Region Championships
Green Bay Power Tournament
National Junior Classic - Rosemont
Green Bay College ID Camp
Milwaukee Sting Elite College ID Camp
Waupaca Boatride
Prep Dig Summer League at Milwaukee Sting
Wisconsin Badger Team Camp
Green Bay Power Summer League
Appleton North Summer League
Badger Region High Performance Tryouts
Badger Region High Performance Camp
We are constantly evaluating, talking to college, high school and club coaches, club directors, and with other reporters in our network keeping tabs on our players. We provide this service to help athletes reach out to college coaches and for college coaches to gather a list of players. At the end of the day, if athletes want to play college volleyball, there is a place for them. It may not be the dream school as a 14 years old, but there are so many great opportunities out there to be a student athlete beyond high school.
Here are some questions we constantly battle when talking with other contributors at Prep Dig, same with college coaches.
Do you rank a middle blocker higher than a high quality libero? The middle blocker only plays three rotations, where a libero is on the floor virtually the whole game besides a half rotation to serve. A middle blocker scores points, a libero doesn’t. Who do you rank higher?
An outside hitter can be a huge point scorer, but only plays the front row. Are they ranked higher than the outside hitter who plays six rotations, but isn’t as much of a point scorer?
Injuries? They happen. Such a touchy subject to report on because the severity and recovery process can change from day to day.
I do have an answer to this question, “Do you rank the athlete based on where they are or where they are going to be?” The college coach is looking at athletes as to how they will help them once they get to their level. I look at the player of where they are currently at. Some players when they are 15 still might grow three more inches, others might not have grown since they were 13. I take them at their current state.
What about the player who has insanely high stats at a Division 4 school as a Freshman and an athlete at a Division 1 school who played on the Freshman or Varsity team? That's why we get out and watch A LOT of volleyball.
Emphasis on “We watch A LOT of volleyball”. We love the game and we are here to education and grow the game we love. As we get to watch teams and see players develop throughout their careers we celebrate with them when they commit to a college and also feel the pain of a tough loss or an injury.
We will continue to provide the best local coverage for volleyball throughout the state. The best has yet to come with showcases and events slated for Prep Dig in 2019.
