Recruiting Update: Papio South’s Ava LeGrand
This whole recruiting thing isn’t new to Papillion-LaVista South sophomore-to-be Ava LeGrand. After all, she’s been going on recruiting trips since she was in elementary school. The youngest of the LeGrand clan, Ava went on many recruiting trips with older…
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Continue ReadingThis whole recruiting thing isn’t new to Papillion-LaVista South sophomore-to-be Ava LeGrand. After all, she’s been going on recruiting trips since she was in elementary school.
The youngest of the LeGrand clan, Ava went on many recruiting trips with older sisters Raegan (now at USC) and Mara (now at Regis University). In fact, when just in elementary school, she famously introduced herself to Huskers coach John Cook and told him that he would one day be recruiting her.
“Personally I loved going on visits with my sisters because every school was different and I could take it all in without the pressure being on me,” the 6-foot Ava said. “I saw that I would have to work for what I want through watching them.”
Both her lineage and her ability put her on recruiting short lists early on for many schools, but after her freshman season at Papillion-LaVista South was over, she made the bold move to switch from a full-rotation outside hitter to a setter. Schools, though, didn’t stop recruiting her.
“I made the decision to change from an outside to setter because I had always wanted to set, but being a hitter was what was needed on the teams I had played for,” she said. “I got a lot of attention as an outside hitter this past high school season. When I transitioned to a setter, recruiting slowed down but then picked back up when we went to a few tournaments.”
As a freshman, LeGrand led Papillion-LaVista South with 274 kills while also tallying 22 service aces, 33 blocks, 200 digs and 302 serve receptions.
Things have slowed down for LeGrand a little with the new recruiting rules, but she said she doesn’t mind the change of pace and is excited about continuing her search for the perfect fit for college.
“I feel like I had barely even started before the rule change, but I went to a few elite camps and talked to a few schools and coaches,” she said. “I had gotten interest from some Division I schools and an offer from one of them,” she said “Having the rule change slowed things down for me and I’m very excited and hope I get more opportunities to talk to additional schools when the time comes. I would love to go to a competitive Division I school with great work ethic and an awesome atmosphere. I would love to have a very close relationship with with the girls along with the coaches. I am really open to any school right now that I can make a positive impact on.”
This summer LeGrand and her Titan teammates will compete at the Creighton team camp and are also having Wayne State coach Scott Kneifl come in and host a camp. On the individual side, LeGrand said that she is definitely planning on going to South Dakota and “maybe” Kansas and/or Kansas State. She also said she might “possibly” camp at Clemson and Tennessee.