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Once players go into the portal, can they return to their original team instead of transferring? If so, does that ever happen?
She doesn't appear on the 2021 roster page either, though she is there for previous years.undefined undefined Roster - University of Minnesota Athletics
The official undefined undefined Roster for the University of Minnesota Gophersgophersports.com
Spring Roster minus Laura Kasey
Yes, players can withdraw from the portal; but, the team does not have to take them back. It happens; although, off the top of my head I can't think of a name.
I'm thinking of the Men's Basketball side. If I recall correctly Matz Stockman was going to head somewhere in California then came back to the Gophers. That may have been before the current rules and it was called The Portal though. I feel like I've seen headlines about a number of football players in the past year doing this.
Stockman tried to grad transfer to Stanford except he forgot the "graduate" part.
And now that I think about it, didn't Dunlap on the football team enter, return and then enter again mid-season? Anyhooo...it does happen some no tell on what will happen with Rubright. She had her moments but seemed to be overtaken by Husemann.
Uh, national titles are like… tough to win.
It's really hard to nail a likely top 4 down until the rosters are set in stone. There's still a lot of player movement to be had. Transfers in and out, players opting for the extra year or passing on it, etc. Purdue and Illinois may also be in the mix. Obviously, Nebraska looks like the front-runner. Will Hames return? Or will Orr wait another year to play?
(Yes, I'm not being serious.)"The real root of the team's struggles" is that they have a few all-BIG/all-American super stars supported by a thin & pretty ordinary (by top 10 standards) rest of the roster. IMO the Gophers have lagged behind a few other programs since 2018 in 1) recruiting and 2) in retention of a few superb talents. This tendency needs to be reversed soon to prevent a very slow movement downward in the standings. The past 3 yr., they've settled for #2 or 3 in the BIG, not #1. Hope I'm wrong....This has to be the earliest by a landslide that the Gophers have had their roster updated for the upcoming season - even if just for the short spring season of practice games.
The omission of Kasey is certainly interesting. Is she stepping away or moving on to a different job? Is Hugh opting to replace her? If she is most indeed gone, then I think a new assistant coach would be named sooner than later, right? I'm sure the Gophers are looking at the middle blocker transfer pool for an experienced Rubright replacement.
Hey, isn't it about time we bribe a custodian at the U to plant a bug in Hugh's office? Wouldn't it be great to know what the coaches talk about after Gopher losses? To get to hear what they perceive as the real root of the team's struggles?
Under Mike Hebert, the Gophers we're a far better program than Wisconsin, so Hugh started out with an advantage and unfortunately has lost it. His recruiting (recognizing the right talent) has been extremely hit and miss and you can't have that and win a national title. This also assumes coaching is not the problem.
I don't think it's as simple as you are making it out to be. Retention of a few superb talents? Who besides Barnes was a huge loss for the Gophers?
What advantage and how exactly did he "lose it?" Wisconsin wasn't some gutter program beforehand. I'm not clear how Hugh is somehow at fault for Wisconsin becoming an elite program with a really good coaching hire. How was he supposed to stop it?
Let's see what happens then in, say, "the next 2, possibly 3, years." I'd be overjoyed to be proven wrong and see some Final Fours and conference championships.
The reason Barnes left for Wisconsin is that HM put Kilkelly on scholarship and not Barnes. Wisconsin paid for Barnes schooling but Hugh felt that Kilkelly was better. Poor decision.
The advantage he had was Minnesota VB was the equivalent of a Notre Dame, Georgia, Oklahoma, etc. in football. Where Wisconsin was equivalent to a Missouri, UCLA or Oklahoma State, maybe. That means he should get better recruits. Also, the state of Minnesota has produced many more high level volleyball players than the state of Wisconsin has. Another advantage. As well, players not panning out is also a function of recruiting. It happens to all programs, but, less so to the more successful ones. He could've had Hilley too, but, chose others at her position in the previous class. Bad recruiting strategy? Well, Wisconsin won a national title before we did. To me, that should not be acceptable. We gotta be tired of being satisfied with "2nd Place" and quit making excuses.
I agree with you on Hilley. I'm also referring to who you recruit and when. That is part of a recruiting strategy. If you look at the 2017 and 2018 recruiting classes, there were many recruiting misses. I show this list with no intention of disparaging any one of them. 2017: Sara Nielsen, Sydney Kleinman, Alice Zeimann and Jazmyn Martin. Was the transfer of Lauren Barnes a miss since she transferred? 2018: Bayley McMenimen, Paulina Swider, Rebecca Rendahl. Was Adanna Rollins a miss since she transferred after a good Freshman and Sophomore years? Again, too many recruiting misses.