BevoBae

Guctekin plays good defense but would be a serve receive liability - Wisconsin hides her because she is error prone and streaky. I don't think she's enough of an upgrade.

Wow feels like we stole that set. Showing grit we lacked much of the season!

Agreed, priority should be DS. We have so much pin and MB talent already here and top recruits coming in. DS/libero transfers are arguably why we won our 2 natties.

Texas just completed their mid season invite, and crushed it. Most swimmers went personal best times, including many who had previously plateaued since high school. Holdovers from last year's team Will Modglin and Nate Germonprez have gone from impressive NCAA scoring freshman to individual title contenders as sophomores. Transfer Rex Maurer was a top recruit who had a disappointing freshman year at Stanford. But now he's suddenly elite again - he broke an NCAA record in his first big race as a Longhorn, and put up 2 more NCAA leading times. Bowman is just a great coach. He has already delivered in the development of swimmers even in just a few moths training them, and has some great recruits coming in. Eddie Reese will always be the GOAT, but Bowman is a worthy heir. The women did great too. Carol Capitani has gotten flack from the swimming community for being a better recruiter than coach, but she and her staff seem to have figured it out the last 2-3 years and the program continues to gain momentum. Emma Sticklen from Katy has become a star, setting program records left and right. Very deep team, great relays, probably a lock for 2nd place at NCAAs.

The aforementioned Notre Dame transfer picked Texas. We lacked a drop dead sprinter and Chris Guiliano may be the best in the country, making the US Olympic team in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyles this past summer. Texas has gotta be a lock for top 3 at NCAAs now, and has a very good chance at the title. Indiana may be the slight favorite as they have similarly beefed up with transfers and their divers are Olympians, Cal kept their best swimmers around for 5th years and has some strong freshmen coming in, and Florida is deep. Regardless, the accumulation of talent in Bowman's first year is truly remarkable. https://swimswam.com/olympic-gold-medalist-chris-guiliano-announces-transfer-to-texas-from-notre-dame/

You can still hide the setter in serve receive, and just put a passing pin hitter in the back to help cover the court. Like in a 5-1 when the setter is in the back row rotations.

Depending on where a high level transfer from Notre Dame ends up, this add could put Texas men's team into title contention already in Bowman's first year. I've been hesitant to bump them into that category because they still lack key pieces of typical title teams (elite sprinters and breaststrokers) but they have quickly assembled crazy talent in IM, backstroke and mid-distance freestyle events. https://swimswam.com/world-championship-medalist-ksawery-masiuk-announces-texas-commitment-for-january-2025/

Bowman is bringing in 4 transfers so far. One of them just made the US Olympic team and has at least 3 years of NCAA eligibility left. https://swimswam.com/first-paris-2024-u-s-swimming-olympian-is-aaron-shackell/

Looking at the TX-OU battles this year, it seems like Citlaly and Czech have had success against them maybe moreso that Mac/Kavan. And Citlaly has several wins against good teams. I didn't follow the early tournament games - is she in a slump right now?

Three of ASU's best 4 returning swimmers (I'm assuming Marchand will go pro) have already entered the transfer portal. Unclear if they plan to follow Bowman to Texas but certainly possible. If they transfer here, their arrival plus our current roster and hopefully a sprinter transfer or two could make up a championship team.

Thank you for sharing that information, definitely gives some insight into his style and unfortunately I've read similar accounts elsewhere. I'm hoping he either keeps on Wyatt or brings in an alum like Brendan Hansen to try and maintain some of the Texas culture that Eddie established.

Home run hire. He created Phelps, and developed the swim star of this coming Olympics - a French kid named Leon Marchand who could have won the NCAA title in at least half of the events. He brought ASU from nothing a few years ago to a convincing NCAA team title this year. He has revitalized the careers of several American pro swimmers in his current pro group. There's no question he can develop talent. If he can bring in a good sprint coach and use the Texas draw to improve domestic recruiting, he could build a powerhouse here. Will be interesting to see if he brings over any ASU swimmers and can keep the young talent we currently have. My only reservation is that I'm not sure how this will work with him 'overseeing' the women's program, because Capitani has built a solid program and doesn't deserve a reduced role. And agreed, hopefully we keep Scoggin.

Men's tennis has the talent to win it all, and anything short of final 4 would be a disappointment. Women's tennis is more like a sweet 16 or elite 8 team.

Is that the rumor or just your preferred target? He would be an amazing hire. But he's a Florida alum, would be a surprise if he left there. I'd be happy with Nesty, Bowman, or Holloway. Durden too but there's just no way