Buckeyes Murr in the Portal

[beuycek]

Kylie Murr was just named the B1G Defensive Player of the Year and is now in the portal. One of the Buckeyes 5 recruits coming in is a stud DS/L (Kaitlyn Hoffman) but this is pretty shocking.

Wouldn't be surprised to see her end up at one of the two schools Ohio State just played in the tournament, Minnesota or Texas. Both will be losing their star liberos (McGraw at Minn and Fleck at UT) after this season.

Buckeyes OH Gabby Gonzales also entered the portal as a graduate transfer. While she is a good player in her own right, she will be much easier to replace than Murr.

[beuycek]

And now they are about lose their 2nd Team All-American setter. Ugh.

[mscott59]

so why is this happening?

Dec 15, 2022 22:38:27 GMT -5 beuycek said:

And now they are about lose their 2nd Team All-American setter. Ugh.

[beuycek]

Dec 16, 2022 16:50:29 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

so why is this happening?

They are out of scholarships. D1 volleyball is a headcount sport so they only have 12 available scholarships. For whatever reason they committed scholarships to all five incoming freshmen, leaving the graduating seniors without money.

To me, it's roster mismanagement. They had to know these players were going to stay for the extra year but I guess they felt the money was better served with younger players who will be here longer term. I just don't know how you justify letting two All-Americans walk when you just finished one of the best seasons in program history.

Are the incoming freshmen good? By all accounts yes, especially Hoffman, but unless they are all going to walk in the door and play at an All-American level, you can't let Murr and Podraza leave.

[mscott59]

no that doesn’t sound good. there was a time where the non-revenue sports (or those who cannot self-sustain on the revenue they generate) would dice up available scholarships to try and spread the wealth around some in a pinch. I know it’s happened w baseball and track at tosu recently. does that still happen?

Dec 16, 2022 17:52:16 GMT -5 beuycek said:

Dec 16, 2022 16:50:29 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

so why is this happening?

They are out of scholarships. D1 volleyball is a headcount sport so they only have 12 available scholarships. For whatever reason they committed scholarships to all five incoming freshmen, leaving the graduating seniors without money.

To me, it's roster mismanagement. They had to know these players were going to stay for the extra year but I guess they felt the money was better served with younger players who will be here longer term. I just don't know how you justify letting two All-Americans walk when you just finished one of the best seasons in program history.

Are the incoming freshmen good? By all accounts yes, especially Hoffman, but unless they are all going to walk in the door and play at an All-American level, you can't let Murr and Podraza leave.

[beuycek]

Dec 16, 2022 23:29:46 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

no that doesn’t sound good. there was a time where the non-revenue sports (or those who cannot self-sustain on the revenue they generate) would dice up available scholarships to try and spread the wealth around some in a pinch. I know it’s happened w baseball and track at tosu recently. does that still happen?

Not for volleyball. At the D1 level, you get 12 full scholarships that cannot be split up so on a top tier team that is carrying 18-20 girls, 6-8 are paying their own way or receiving aid through academics, etc.

D2 volleyball is an equivalency sport that allows up to 8 full scholarships to be split up however the coach wishes. That said, we discovered on one of our visits to a D2 school that was recruiting Hannah, not all schools fully fund the 8 scholarships. The one we visited only funded the equivalent of four full rides so the coach had to be creative in where he spent his money.

D3 is a whole nother craziness where there is zero athletic money so schools are left to provide aid through any and all ways they can to get a kid. Hannah's final two choices were vastly different in terms of offers. Both similar in cost per year but one offered her 80+% in scholarships and stipends while the other, who was a branch campus of a very well known B1G school, offered less than 10%. You probably recall who that second school was. Cheap bastards... 🙂

[beuycek]

We talked a few times on the football boards about how the portal is changing the game. Similar situation is playing out in volleyball, too but for different reasons. As of yesterday there currently 639 D1 volleyball players in the portal & 13,633 overall throughout all of the divisions, including JuCo. There are just under 30,000 available roster spots across all divisions so nearly half are in the portal. That is INSANE.

The difference between football and volleyball is you see some natural attrition in football due to injuries and players opting to turn pro. Volleyball doesn't have a problem with the latter meaning girls are more apt to use all of their eligibility so what is driving the numbers there is the extra COVID year that was granted.

As I mentioned with OSU, you have four year starters losing their scholarship if they choose to play the extra year so they turn to the portal to find a new home. Once the COVID year cycles through things may calm down a little but as long as the portal exists and there is no penalty to using it, players are going to continue to go that route, I am afraid.

[Walter]

Dec 17, 2022 4:55:25 GMT -5 beuycek said:

We talked a few times on the football boards about how the portal is changing the game. Similar situation is playing out in volleyball, too but for different reasons. As of yesterday there currently 639 D1 volleyball players in the portal & 13,633 overall throughout all of the divisions, including JuCo. There are just under 30,000 available roster spots across all divisions so nearly half are in the portal. That is INSANE.

The difference between football and volleyball is you see some natural attrition in football due to injuries and players opting to turn pro. Volleyball doesn't have a problem with the latter meaning girls are more apt to use all of their eligibility so what is driving the numbers there is the extra COVID year that was granted.

As I mentioned with OSU, you have four year starters losing their scholarship if they choose to play the extra year so they turn to the portal to find a new home. Once the COVID year cycles through things may calm down a little but as long as the portal exists and there is no penalty to using it, players are going to continue to go that route, I am afraid.

Isn't what you describe exactly what the portal is designed to do?
If a coach pulls my scholarship, and I've got a place to go that will give me one, seems like a no-brainer.....I'm gone.
Bottom line, coach gets scholarship space, player gets another year paid. Everybody wins, no?

[beuycek]

Dec 19, 2022 12:42:01 GMT -5 Walter said:

Dec 17, 2022 4:55:25 GMT -5 beuycek said:

We talked a few times on the football boards about how the portal is changing the game. Similar situation is playing out in volleyball, too but for different reasons. As of yesterday there currently 639 D1 volleyball players in the portal & 13,633 overall throughout all of the divisions, including JuCo. There are just under 30,000 available roster spots across all divisions so nearly half are in the portal. That is INSANE.

The difference between football and volleyball is you see some natural attrition in football due to injuries and players opting to turn pro. Volleyball doesn't have a problem with the latter meaning girls are more apt to use all of their eligibility so what is driving the numbers there is the extra COVID year that was granted.

As I mentioned with OSU, you have four year starters losing their scholarship if they choose to play the extra year so they turn to the portal to find a new home. Once the COVID year cycles through things may calm down a little but as long as the portal exists and there is no penalty to using it, players are going to continue to go that route, I am afraid.

Isn't what you describe exactly what the portal is designed to do?
If a coach pulls my scholarship, and I've got a place to go that will give me one, seems like a no-brainer.....I'm gone.

Absolutely. I have no issue with the players choosing to use the portal to find a new home. My issue is the Buckeyes' decision to not extend their scholarship to keep them on the roster.

[Walter]

Dec 19, 2022 13:35:22 GMT -5 beuycek said:

Dec 19, 2022 12:42:01 GMT -5 Walter said:

Isn't what you describe exactly what the portal is designed to do?
If a coach pulls my scholarship, and I've got a place to go that will give me one, seems like a no-brainer.....I'm gone.

Absolutely. I have no issue with the players choosing to use the portal to find a new home. My issue is the Buckeyes' decision to not extend their scholarship to keep them on the roster.

I was watching the Texas/Louisville game and one of the liberos (Fleck? don't really recall which) was on her third school, so this must be pretty common.

[beuycek]

Dec 19, 2022 14:17:06 GMT -5 Walter said:

Dec 19, 2022 13:35:22 GMT -5 beuycek said:

Absolutely. I have no issue with the players choosing to use the portal to find a new home. My issue is the Buckeyes' decision to not extend their scholarship to keep them on the roster.

I was watching the Texas/Louisville game and one of the liberos (Fleck? don't really recall which) was on her third school, so this must be pretty common.

Yes, she started at UC Santa Barbara then graduated from UCLA before transferring to Texas for his fifth season. Ironically, Murr may end up in Texas to replace Fleck.

It has become more common in recent years, primarily because of the extra COVID year the NCAA granted everyone.

[Walter]

Dec 19, 2022 14:23:21 GMT -5 beuycek said:

Dec 19, 2022 14:17:06 GMT -5 Walter said:

I was watching the Texas/Louisville game and one of the liberos (Fleck? don't really recall which) was on her third school, so this must be pretty common.

Yes, she started at UC Santa Barbara then graduated from UCLA before transferring to Texas for his fifth season. Ironically, Murr may end up in Texas to replace Fleck.

It has become more common in recent years, primarily because of the extra COVID year the NCAA granted everyone.

Gotta say, UTx/LouisV was some o' the best damn volleyball I've seen in a while.

[daleko]

Dec 17, 2022 4:20:13 GMT -5 beuycek said:

Dec 16, 2022 23:29:46 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

no that doesn’t sound good. there was a time where the non-revenue sports (or those who cannot self-sustain on the revenue they generate) would dice up available scholarships to try and spread the wealth around some in a pinch. I know it’s happened w baseball and track at tosu recently. does that still happen?

Not for volleyball. At the D1 level, you get 12 full scholarships that cannot be split up so on a top tier team that is carrying 18-20 girls, 6-8 are paying their own way or receiving aid through academics, etc.

D2 volleyball is an equivalency sport that allows up to 8 full scholarships to be split up however the coach wishes. That said, we discovered on one of our visits to a D2 school that was recruiting Hannah, not all schools fully fund the 8 scholarships. The one we visited only funded the equivalent of four full rides so the coach had to be creative in where he spent his money.

D3 is a whole nother craziness where there is zero athletic money so schools are left to provide aid through any and all ways they can to get a kid. Hannah's final two choices were vastly different in terms of offers. Both similar in cost per year but one offered her 80+% in scholarships and stipends while the other, who was a branch campus of a very well known B1G school, offered less than 10%. You probably recall who that second school was. Cheap bastards... 🙂

A cpl of things. If it was a SEC school, a cpl of the players would be flag wavers from the pep band, on a partial, who play in-between sets.

I still remember the story a good friend who played FB at Aubarn back in the late 60s. All kinds of scholarships on the team. Incl "swimmers" and they had a three lane pool that didn't hold water. He was a LB on a wrestling ship. Ah the old days.

I had to look up what a libero was. I thought, even after reading the link, it was some South American version of a Three Stooges fire drill. VIVA Libero. www.ncaa.com/news/volleyball-women/article/2022-08-03/college-volleyball-libero-explained

[beuycek]

Oldenburg confirmed she chose the incoming freshman over the graduating seniors.

www.dispatch.com/story/sports/college/volleyball/2022/12/26/osu-volleyball-explains-transfers-of-all-american-players/69754260007/