SL Xpress

I don't know if there's a separate Logan Eggleston thread, but there probably should be. This is a really impressive award. https://www.ncaa.org/news/2024/1/11/media-center-logan-eggleston-named-2023-ncaa-woman-of-the-year.aspx#:~:text=Logan Eggleston%2C an All-American,of the Top 30 honorees.

I think so. AAU, PVF (professional volleyball federation) and LOVB. I love it as a sport and think it has a lot of upside, but I'm not convinced there's enough fan support for one league, much less 3. And they're not going to have the support of a men's professional league the way the WNBA does. The six cities the LOVB is starting in are interesting. Austin, Omaha, and Madison have great collegiate support. Salt Lake City, Atlanta, and Houston are the other 3. I predict a quick exit from the market and/or a merger for two of these organizations. AAU has that funky scoring system. I don't know. There are a lot of people on volleytalk who follow the professional leagues closely, but I can't bring myself to care. I don't even care about the NFL and NBA, and mostly care about baseball because the Astros have been legendarily good for the last 7 years. If the Comets couldn't make it after winning all those championships in a row, I'm not sure what hope a volleyball league has here. Also, the logos for the LOVB teams are hideous.

Logan Eggleston signs with the local Austin League One Volleyball team.

Chris Beard rental application: Address: slxpress's head Rent per month: free. Absolutely free. Lease terms: until death

Not just experience, either. They're both really good. I'd take either of them as a starter over our 3. They'll be the best middle blocker tandem in volleyball, IMO. I don't really understand the NIL numbers for volleyball. I know Hord was the highest paid collective NIL person when she went to Nebraska, but that was with a starting job. The NIL money was a big reason she went to Nebraska in the first place over Texas. I don't have any idea how much Landfair is getting paid, or how much we're paying any of Lauenstein, Rutherford, or Carlson. And there doesn't seem to be anyone else in volleyball that's truly competing with Texas and Nebraska on the NIL front. I don't think we're talking $100k per year. Is it $50k? More? Less? No idea. We did that banquet last year which brought in $250k. But Nebraska has a single donation for $500k per year for 10 years, plus their players make even more in endorsements year over year than Texas players do, and Texas players do pretty well outside of collective money compared to programs not named Nebraska. Just not a lot of transparency in NIL in any sport.

We might be #1 in any case. We were this past year. I didn't think we deserved it with all our losses and a true freshman setter, but no one contacted me to ask my opinion. In any case it's going to be Texas and Nebraska #1 and #2 in whatever order. That much is clear to me. Also, it's likely Nebraska is our biggest competition. There's more NIL money at Nebraska, but she has a clearer path to starting at Texas. Nebraska only has their two starting middles, Andi Jackson and Becca Allick, so they're in a somewhat desperate mode to add another one. Texas has the three, plus Byrd can be moved over, but none of them have starting experience.

A lot of money is a reason that comes to mind.

Too soon? More like too late. Already posted.

Yeah, her parents are Nebraska alums, and she grew up a Nebraska fan. We didn't have a shot at her coming out of high school. Not saying Elliott went hard after her, but she was very highly rated coming out of high school, and really did a number on us in that loss in Gregory in the fall of 2021. I have no idea what is going on with our roster. Our bench at this point resembles Doctor Who's telephone booth or Felix the Cat's magic bag of tricks. But under normal circumstances I don't think she's remotely an option. Phillips was a middle blocker moved to the right pin. The right pin is pretty much locked up by Rutherford, who is a left handed force at that position in ways Phillips never could be, even though Rutherford is 6' to Phillips 6'5. Not being critical of Phillips, who won two championships and reached another final while she was on the roster. Batenhorst also doesn't have the greatest vertical, nor a powerful arm swing. She'll have plenty of options available to her, but I don't see Texas as a destination unless there's finagling with NIL money. Right now we have some combination of Skinner, Wenaas, Kahahawai, Lauenstein, Helmers, Byrd, and even Kendra Miller, who I think could play for a scholarship at a place like Texas State or A&M-CC. I still believe Kahahawai will transfer in the spring, Lauenstein/Helmers are both coming off shoulder injuries (Helmers just now started being able to swing her arm). Byrd is more of a right side (or even a middle, although I'm not a fan of moving her from being a pin) because she's not good at serve receive right now. So it's potentially not THAT deep. But that's still a huge amount of OHes to be carrying on a roster right now, even if some of them are unknown quantities. I've jestingly suggested she go to USC. According to the Nebraska people, she wants to play both beach and indoor. I think it would be a hoot if she teamed up with Phillips on the USC beach team this spring. BTW, she has startling eyes. I watched her tiktok video explaining her departure (kinda not really) and her eyes are absolutely mesmerizing. As Js1 is saying, Blackwell is way more of a need than Batenhorst. Batenhorst would be for depth and playing beach. Blackwell would be the likely starter day 1. I feel like we'll be fine with our 3 youngins in Singletary, Bunton (also injured) and Ames, but Blackwell is one of the few middle blockers in the portal during this period who would actually improve the roster. There have been IG signs in terms of follows to indicate there's some mutual interest there. Hopefully something pans out.

IMO the buyouts are a bigger hindrance than the actual annual salaries. I was stunned to see the buyout amounts of many of the potential targets out there. We'll see what it looks like the next go around. I'm just not ready to talk about potential replacements when there's still at least a year and half realistically before it's possible.

I'll also point out he's continued that pattern at Tennessee. I love Rick Barnes but I felt like it was time for a change. We pushed Mack Brown out. We pushed Garrido out. We pushed Conradt out. All 3 of them performed at a higher level than Barnes. Texas is a tough place to retire on your own terms. But I can watch the TJ Ford/Rick Barnes videos over and over again. I'm very grateful Barnes was our coach, that's for sure. But I never get tired of Derka going on about him, either, when other people do. I love Derka's posts. He makes this place more fun for me. At least when I'm not so melancholy about the program. One of the things no one mentions is that there's a bit of an artificial ceiling on the basketball coach's salary in the form of Sarkisian's deal. I assume either this year or next year Sarkisian is going to get a huge extension to put him on the same level as many of his peers. IMO that will raise the amount that will be spent on the basketball coach as well.

I'm in the same boat for different reasons. I just don't like posting when all I'm going to be posting about is negativity, and that's where I am right now. But I don't agree with you that it's the university's fault because they're acting in a half ass way. There was a felony arrest. That's not the same as saying there was a felony, but it's sure not the same as saying it was a misdemeanor, either. He wasn't arrested for writing a bad check. I don't think the board - or the basketball program - is going to miss the presence of either you or me. Your post makes it seem like you're standing on some kind of principle, but nobody cares. I agree it's frustrating we're in this situation, but we'll see what happens after Terry is fired, which will be in another season or two. It wouldn't surprise me if it's at the end of next year unless he manages to make it to a Sweet 16, which I don't think is even a remotely reasonable expectation.

We're talking hypotheticals. I just want someone to point to me all the head coaches that are running around at their current job after being arrested with a felony domestic charge while being employed there. It's not all that common. The reason it's not that common is because the men in those situations don't put themselves in the position for that to happen. Including Sarkisian. No argument regarding the difference in priorities between football and basketball, but if they had no interest in winning in basketball, they wouldn't have hired Beard for over $5m per year in the first place.

How many other head coaches have been arrested for a felony domestic assault? How many comparisons do we have to work with here? Even if Chris Beard is innocent of the charges, he's still responsible for being in that situation in the first place. He had plenty of warning signs. I don't understand making Chris Beard blameless here for the sake of winning in basketball. And I loved Chris Beard. The bar wasn't even that high. Just don't get arrested. Texas has covered up all kinds of poor behavior that didn't reach the public eye. I don't think we have to go the route that Texas is a special snowflake that holds coaches to a higher standard of conduct. Or if we do, I feel like we should at least be able to present a list of coaches with similar circumstances that were kept on.

It's the stuff of nightmares. He felt like the Chosen One. Not just basketball success, either. He was going to be such an amazing ambassador for all the sports programs. I won't ever forget how I felt watching him give his speech at the Longhorn Welcome, proudly shouting that he's an alum. Gave me chills.

I'm not even going to think about it until the writing is on the wall for Terry. Mostly I've just wanted to stay away from making a lot of negative posts. I'm a big volleyball fan these days. I'm very curious as to what collegiate athletics looks like in 2 years. I'm not concerned about us. But I am curious what the landscape is going to look like. We'll be at the top of the pyramid in terms of bringing resources to bear, but I feel like there are going to be more and more pressures on the cost of doing business that may start pricing other programs out of the market. And look, for the people who prefer to hope for the best, the season is hardly over. This game is a snapshot. Not a requiem. It dovetails with preconceived notions I have about Terry that goes back to his days as Barnes' assistant, but maybe I end up wrong about the guy after all. I just think this is a clear example of someone getting Peter Principled.

Your answer confuses me. Primarily because I used a double negative. So that's on me.

You're not going to believe this. I didn't. But I've been told she's not exactly "no longer even in his life." I'm just going to wait for Terry to run out the string. I like the guy on a personal level. I've never liked him as a coach. I'm still in favor of him being hired last year after taking the team to the Elite 8. It's not like we have a ton of those to boast about. But right after he was named the interim coach, him being successful was something I had mixed feelings about. I was told I was getting too far ahead of myself, which was true, but the scenario played out exactly how I envisioned it might. What are ya gonna do? I wasn't going to root against Texas simply so he wouldn't get the job. It was a magical season and now we're going to be consigned to something not special until he's fired and his replacement is found - which is also no sure thing. My biggest hope is that Beard has another meltdown at some point. Otherwise that guy is going to make me miserable with his future success.

I apologize if this was posted previously, but this really is a must read from Asjia. It's long but so worth it. Right up there with Jordan Whittington's recent goodbye video. Holy crap I'm going to miss watching her play for Texas so much. Reading this makes me so proud to be a Texas volleyball fan in ways I haven't earned, but I'm grateful for nonetheless. https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/asjia-oneal-texas-longhorns-ncaa-college-volleyball

I wasn't a big fan of the Lauenstein pick up at first. But I wasn't a fan of bringing on Wenaas, either, and that turned out okay after not seeming to be okay for quite a bit of the year (with no knowledge of how bad it might have been if she hadn't been here). It helped immensely to have Skinner in the back row for her rotations, but it still worked regardless. But I'm with you. With Rutherford coming on board, I'm like, "who cares? Let's see how it pans out!" Plus Carlson? What kind of witchcraft is this? And both Lauenstein and Carlson are outstanding servers.

This is Rutherford's highlight reel for 2023 put together on January 4. Her season long hitting percentage out of the back row wasn't all that impressive, but you can see her showing what she can do from there on a few plays in the video. It is a highlight video, of course, so you're not really seeing her when she's struggling. I will say the editor picked matches against top opponents. While you watch the video, just think of her and Skylar Fields being on the same high school team. Also, both she and Skinner played club together. Anyway, to call her a dynamic right side is an understatement.

There is no pin out there with ambitions beyond college who aspires to be a 3 rotation hitter. The only reason 3 rotation hitters are able to be as common as they are in the college game is because the rules allow for 12 substitutions per set (the libero does not count as a substitution). In international play, including the Olympics and national team tournaments, but also in professional leagues, only 6 substitutions are allowed, and they're more limited in nature. Only being able to play 3 rotations severely limits any aspirations beyond college, especially since international leagues limit the amount of foreign players each team can sign. It's a big reason why Skylar Fields left Texas for USC. Even though she was pretty bad defensively both of her years there, USC was willing to feature her as a 6 rotation player because she was so good offensively in ways that Texas never would have. It's very common for transfers to occur among top pin hitters because even though they're playing, they don't have a path towards being a 6 rotation player. A player like Madisen Skinner was willing to play 3 rotations last year, but it was with the understanding she'd be trained as a 6 rotation player in practice, and then after Eggleston left (even while Eggleston was on campus last year towards the end of the season) Skinner started playing all 6 rotations. There will be a lot of juggling going on. Also, Henley Anderson is in the class of 2026 out of Austin. She's unbelievable as a left pin, and she loves Texas. Not to mention Byrd, Helmers, and Tompkinson already on the roster, all of whom redshirted. And Kahahawai who has two years of eligibility left. Plus you have Rutherford as a one year rental, and Lauenstein who still has 2 years of eligibility left. A lot of these players are almost certainly transferring at some point, when the rubber hits the road. I'm beyond shocked Kahahawai didn't enter the portal, but I still expect her to be in it in the spring period. Just like Parra left last year. Nebraska has similar issues after recruiting in cheat mode for 3 years in a row, plus adding Landfair and Beason. Jurevicius, the #6 player in the country last year, already transferred to Penn State. Lauenstein left the team last year. Kubik transferred to Tennessee. Batenhorst and Krause are having to compete with Landfair, who probably has 2 years of eligibility remaining. It's doubtful they have a 6 rotation spot open, given that Murray and Beason have two spots locked up, and they're going to want to play one of Choboy or Mauch. Rodriguez is considered one of the best liberos in the country. Choboy was the top libero recruit last year, and Mauch is the top libero recruit this year. First world problems.

Ayden Ames and Taylor Harvey were both at Nebraska for their big 92k football stadium event. I want to thank John Cook for putting them together on that recruiting trip so they could figure out they wanted to play together...somewhere else. Cook has been an MVP for helping Texas put together finishing touches on its championship winning program for a couple of years now. I want to thank him for creating a culture that continues to drive talented players our way.

I haven't heard anything along those lines, 10SNE1. The thing that's been remarkable about her recruitment is the number of unofficial visits she's taken to Texas. Like 4? I don't remember ever seeing any volleyball recruit for any school take as many unofficial visits as she has to Texas. Her sister goes to Stanford. Like Js1 already said, beating Stanford is really tough. It would be a huge feather in our cap for recruiting purposes. Texas is for sure a goliath when it comes to volleyball recruiting, make no mistake about that. But Nebraska and Stanford are really our only peers, and historically it's been tough - but not impossible - to beat either one. It would be really nice. Especially since she's considered the best middle blocker in her class.

I really do think we're getting Taylor Harvey. Could be a transfer portal person, though.