Gopher volleyball 2024

Donate To GopherHole

Hoping we hear some positive news on portal pick-ups for the 2024 team. Mendelson would be nice!
 
Last edited:

4EverAGopher said:
More than likely many Christmas wish lists are in the past and New Year wish lists are now in effect. IDK Gopher fans this is worrisome, at least to me, that there hasn't been any word to fill needed positions on this roster for the 2024 season.

Also, when players visit and then decide to transfer-in there is usually an announcement not too long after that. We heard of at least one DS/L visiting a few days before Christams but no word on someone transferring here....not good and that is telling me one of our top choices is more than likely going elsewhere. I sure hope I am wrong.

Another note.....I also read DS/L Mackenzie Morris (K State) was supposed to be visiting Oregon. I know Morris was on many Gopher fans Christmas wish list along with MB Maggie Mendelseon (Nebraska), MB Natalie Foster (Wichita State), and OH Hayden Kubik (Nebraska).

I know I would love it, if Minnesota was at the top of some these recruits lists.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
I have only read that Morris is possibly going to Oregon and Foster has committed to SMU.

Also, because Nebraska's Caroline Jurevicius has transferred to Penn State, Mendelson could be following her there. Mendelson is the two sport athlete out of Utah that had narrowed her college preferences two years ago to Nebraska, Texas, Washington, and Minnesota. Supposedly KCook went after her hard while coaching at Washington. So MN fans are hoping there is a chance she will come to Minnesota. But I have also read several at Penn State are following her.

Other than the above information I have not been reading or hearing a thing. Anybody with some great transfer-in news please post it.
 

Texas announcement seems too conveniently timed, to prevent their younger players from entering the portal themselves.

Wouldn’t be surprised if the transfers were kept from them as well.

Obviously will be competition in the spring, but would fully expect transfers out in the spring portal window. We should go after some of those if they make sense.
 

Wanted to wake up this morning to some definite news. I sure woke up to news but absolutely not what I was expecting. TayLa will be here at Minnesota for the 2024 Spring Season and Mendelson supposedly now visiting Kentucky. This program just keeps struggling, when trying to move on.

TayLa's situation has to do with her major and academically qualifying to transfer. That is the news for now with nothing on Davis staying or leaving.

At this point, one needs to believe in magic and that KK and KCook have magic wands.
 


She should not be allowed to practice with the team.

That she didn't figure out, get it cleared ahead of time, before making a public announcement that she was leaving the team ..... is so laughable and inexcusable on her part or her agent's part. LOL


You've made your bed. Lie in it. That's how the world works.


EDIT: for discussion, rumors, etc. of She Who Shall Not Be Named, please visit: https://gopherhole.com/boards/threads/taylor-landfair-has-entered-the-transfer-portal.113711/
 
Last edited:

Way to chime in with more negativity over an unconfirmed rumor. Agent. Good one.

There is zero chance, IF this is even true, that she would practice with the team.
 

Right now I am hoping the Minnesota administration can provide us with an updated Volleyball Roster by the beginning of the next Semester starting in January 2024. At least we will know who will be enrolled practicing with the volleyball team and available for matches during are 2024 Spring Season. Sure that roster would not squash rumors but IMO it would help by not leaving me completely in the dark.
 

This thread is about the Gophers 2024 team.

Taylor Landfair will not be on that team.


So I say we should not talk about her at all in this thread. No rumors, no opinions, no nothing.

Onward and upward.
 



(R)uffda! said:
negativity
Click to expand...
Is good and allowed on Gopherhole. This is not VT (as if there was none there).

I will be as negative as I choose to be. Indeed, it is cathartic to complain about players' poor performances on here. I will do that.
 


Here on out, let's keep it on the 2024 Gopher volleyball team. Please and thank you!

Take your personal disgust with specific posters to DM's or just put them on ignore.

Go Gophers!
 

Well the dust is trying to settle, but with no added players to this roster besides Olivia and Stella it isn't making me feel any more positive that more will be added for this upcoming semester and Spring roster.

My understanding is that as of today Mendelson is still visiting colleges. What I have been reading is that Kentucky is the latest and it is down to Minnesota, Kentucky and UCLA. A commitment by anybody and especially a MB or DS/L would be a "breath of fresh air"....still hoping.
 



Thoughts about the non conference schedule. I loved when they played the top programs in the country in the non conference, but I am unsure that playing that type of schedule with this roster is a good thing. It’s one thing to go and learn by playing the best, but as it sits here now the gophers could be embarrassed playing these teams. I mean look at the Labor Day tournament with Stanford, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Texas. One of those teams is not like the other 3 currently.
 

Players Trunk has Kylie Murr gophers trunk drop this Saturday
 

Now that all the players that have chasing a national championship as their top priority are gone, I’m interested in seeing KC build this team and make the program his own.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
Thoughts about the non conference schedule. I loved when they played the top programs in the country in the non conference, but I am unsure that playing that type of schedule with this roster is a good thing. It’s one thing to go and learn by playing the best, but as it sits here now the gophers could be embarrassed playing these teams. I mean look at the Labor Day tournament with Stanford, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Texas. One of those teams is not like the other 3 currently.
Click to expand...
I would like to see them schedule 10 non-conference matches allowing for a couple matches to work out early issues before taking on the top teams.
 

4EverAGopher said:
Well the dust is trying to settle, but with no added players to this roster besides Olivia and Stella it isn't making me feel any more positive that more will be added for this upcoming semester and Spring roster.
Click to expand...
Who wants to play middle in the Big Ten?

Step right up.


Surely some warm body?
 

But in seriousness, if She who shall not be named can’t grad transfer until her degree is earned, which can’t happen until the end of spring, then surely other high-end players are in the same boat.

And so we’ll perhaps have to wait until then. Still, they could go public on Twitter with their recruitment even if not formally in the portal?

Or perhaps waiting to see how it goes in spring volleyball, to figure out if they’re going to start or not?


(Which brings up an aside question: why is it that so many football players are able to complete their undergrad degrees in as little as 7 semesters, but volleyball players find themselves in the situation described above??:unsure:

Wonder if it has anything to do with difficulty of classes taken 💡)
 

MplsGopher said:
But in seriousness, if She who shall not be named can’t grad transfer until her degree is earned, which can’t happen until the end of spring, then surely other high-end players are in the same boat.

And so we’ll perhaps have to wait until then. Still, they could go public on Twitter with their recruitment even if not formally in the portal?

Or perhaps waiting to see how it goes in spring volleyball, to figure out if they’re going to start or not?


(Which brings up an aside question: why is it that so many football players are able to complete their undergrad degrees in as little as 7 semesters, but volleyball players find themselves in the situation described above??:unsure:

Wonder if it has anything to do with difficulty of classes taken 💡)
Click to expand...
Most football players do their "8th" semester doing summer classes every year.
 

Ski U Mah Gopher said:
Most football players do their "8th" semester doing summer classes every year.
Click to expand...
Sure, makes perfect sense.

Volleyball should be the exact same?? They’re both fall sports with spring practice seasons.

Also a good chunk of football recruits enroll early the first spring. So that’s another semester of class. But so do volleyball players??
 

MplsGopher said:
But in seriousness, if She who shall not be named can’t grad transfer until her degree is earned, which can’t happen until the end of spring, then surely other high-end players are in the same boat.

And so we’ll perhaps have to wait until then. Still, they could go public on Twitter with their recruitment even if not formally in the portal?

Or perhaps waiting to see how it goes in spring volleyball, to figure out if they’re going to start or not?


(Which brings up an aside question: why is it that so many football players are able to complete their undergrad degrees in as little as 7 semesters, but volleyball players find themselves in the situation described above??:unsure:

Wonder if it has anything to do with difficulty of classes taken 💡)
Click to expand...
It is quite possible the ratio is the same, it is just that with volleyball there are 15'ish or so players vs. 80'ish for football, making 1 player's absence more noticeable and the impact greater. Just a thought, anyway.
 

Very possible.

Wonder if her undergrad is something that Nebraska just doesn’t offer, so she has to complete it here before going there, if she doesn’t want to change her major?

Otherwise, shouldn’t she be able to access her free transfer?? Volleyball has always had one free transfer. It’s just football and basketball that used to not have that.

Point being she shouldn’t “need” to transfer as a grad in order to be eligible right away.
 

Mendelson to Penn St. Why can't the Gophers seem to get ANYONE from the portal? Lots of misses.
 

The program’s reputation is not what it was. Sure hope Keegan can stop the bleeding.
 

Not going to lie, things are feeling a little dire right now. We really need some good news, soon. It feels like a perfect storm was created when Hugh left. Coaching change, in team drama, top players leaving, lack of good options to fill the holes are going to leave us hurting again. I'm feeling a little nervous about what Cook will be able to do with this cluster because it hasn't really gone well so far.
 

GopherVB23 said:
Not going to lie, things are feeling a little dire right now. We really need some good news, soon. It feels like a perfect storm was created when Hugh left. Coaching change, in team drama, top players leaving, lack of good options to fill the holes are going to leave us hurting again. I'm feeling a little nervous about what Cook will be able to do with this cluster because it hasn't really gone well so far.
Click to expand...
Hopefully he can get some quality transfers in May. If the 2025 Class holds together, I think that’s when you will begin to see KC bring this program back from its current state of disarray.
 


^^ also interesting looking at those results (which need updating for the 2022 and 2023 seasons) .... I had no idea there was a one season coach inbetween Hebert and McCutcheon. That was before my time following the team.

Laura Bush went 20-12 (11-9 5th place in conf) and made it to the NCAA regional semifinal.


KCook does something very similar .... and stays.



EDIT - OK, did not realize that Bush never wanted to be head coach and was reluctantly pushed into keeping the seat warm as Hugh had to stay with the national team for the 2012 Olympics.

https://www.espn.com/espnw/news-com...innesota-golden-gophers-volleyball-good-hands

The reluctant interim coach took her place near the back line, and with the smile of someone clearly enjoying herself, gently bumped volleyballs toward one of her setters. The day's practice had not officially started at the University of Minnesota, but Laura Bush already was into the fun part of her job, the one-on-one work.

The not-so-fun part? Temporarily running the nationally ranked Gophers program as the bridge between retired coach Mike Hebert and incoming coach Hugh McCutcheon, who needed someone he trusted to oversee things while he coached the U.S. women's national team. Under an agreement with athletic director Joel Maturi, McCutcheon will not take over until after the 2012 Olympics in London, when Bush moves one seat down the bench and resumes her previous job as lead assistant and head recruiter.

The interim position is one Bush neither wanted nor campaigned for. She spent nine years as a head coach at Auburn and Marquette before coming to Minnesota, and running her own team, even temporarily, no longer appealed to her.

"It's kind of a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation as a head coach. It just is," Bush said of her position. "You're not the person people want. People either want Mike Hebert or Hugh McCutcheon. That's the reality of it. It's kind of getting ready for the barrage of it all. I took a few days and accepted it."

Bush took it on, despite misgivings, because the players needed continuity in the transition from Hebert to McCutcheon. And who else knew the program better?

"It's not an easy situation at all," Hebert said in a telephone interview from San Diego, where he relocated after retirement. "Basically, all everybody's going to remember is if you mess things up. ... The one thing I felt very strongly about was that she could maintain and continue the program, and that it would be a very easy handoff to Hugh. She wasn't going to screw it up."
 

MplsGopher said:
Dire? In what sense.

That feels like acting as if we're not going to have enough players to even field a team. That's of course not true. They'll get someone.


The core question is: has Minnesota volleyball been reset to pre-Hebert days? Or was 2023 a season like Hebert's 1998 and McCutcheon's 2014?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Golden_Gophers_women's_volleyball#Season-by-season_results
Click to expand...
Dire as in we aren't landing top, or even second tier, transfers. We had multiple transfer visits and didnt' land them. Middles don't seem to want to come here and we only have one middle for next season.

I'm afraid MNs reputation has been tarnished by the high publicity transfers and in team drama. Along with the team flailing last year I'm just not feeling great about where we are.

This is definitely a crossroads and I hope Cook can steer us in the right direction so we don't fall off too much farther. People no longer see us as a top team and that perception is huge in recruiting whether correct or not.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom