Taylor Landfair has entered the transfer portal.

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Did not seem to fit this year. Please do not consider Wisconsin!!!!!. Will be a star in the right system
 

Wow, I'm surprised by this. More-so because Shaff mentioned she is coming back and assumed that implied Landfair and Wucherer were on board also. Wonder if this now influences either of those two to leave.
 

No VB program that is in the hunt for a Natty will allow her to play 6 rotations so will be interesting to see where she ends up and how she's utilized. Have you seen the defense of these FF teams? She doesn't come close to being able to hang in the back row for any of those teams.
 

2022 Player of the Year.

2023 Awful.

She remains one of the laziest, slowest, clumsiest high-level players that I've ever watched.


She has run her course here.

Pitt would be a great place to land. Wish here the best of luck with her new team
 



jham13 said:
No VB program that is in the hunt for a Natty will allow her to play 6 rotations so will be interesting to see where she ends up and how she's utilized. Have you seen the defense of these FF teams? She doesn't come close to being able to hang in the back row for any of those teams.
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If you're one of these coaches that will do whatever it takes to win, you probably just lie to her. Tell her she will have every opportunity to come in and play 6ro.

Then as fall approaches you lay down that she's either a 3ro OH or she rides the bench.
 

Her original scholarship was for 4 years. This past season was year #4. I have it from a reliable source she was not offered an additional scholarship to return.

I guess fans weren't the only ones noticing the disinterest and lack of effort that reared itself on many occasions this past season. I've heard numerous rumblings about being difficult to coach, and this would seem to corroborate those stories.

I go back to something Booth said a year ago about being committed to winning as a reason for her transferring. She would have seen the attitude up close and personal, and decided if this was the bell cow for the team, she wanted no part in continuing the charade.

Wish her the best and hope she can get it figured out.
 

Volleyball is the only sport I know of that tries to game the rules and offer players a specific number of years of scholarships.
 



DarthGopher said:
Her original scholarship was for 4 years. This past season was year #4. I have it from a reliable source she was not offered an additional scholarship to return.

I guess fans weren't the only ones noticing the disinterest and lack of effort that reared itself on many occasions this past season. I've heard numerous rumblings about being difficult to coach, and this would seem to corroborate those stories.
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Whoa, these are bold statements! Extremely interesting, if true.
 

DarthGopher said:
Her original scholarship was for 4 years. This past season was year #4. I have it from a reliable source she was not offered an additional scholarship to return.

I guess fans weren't the only ones noticing the disinterest and lack of effort that reared itself on many occasions this past season. I've heard numerous rumblings about being difficult to coach, and this would seem to corroborate those stories.

I go back to something Booth said a year ago about being committed to winning as a reason for her transferring. She would have seen the attitude up close and personal, and decided if this was the bell cow for the team, she wanted no part in continuing the charade.

Wish her the best and hope she can get it figured out.
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Did coach K mention something referencing players wanting to improve/develop in an interview? I might not have this exactly word for word but it was something similar to this.....at least I thought he said it. If anybody else can add to this, please do.
 

Several things to consider:

* Landfair satisfied her 4-year commitment to Minnesota and Minnesota received the 4 years that they offered to her. We can be disappointed, but either side may have decided it was time for a change. That is OK.

* This provides an opportunity to re-balance a roster that is full of hitters; open scholarships can be used to strengthen the back row and to add some depth at middle blocker. A strong back row is a must have for Elite 8 and beyond aspirations. Wisconsin was reminded of this last night.

* This provides an opportunity at OH for Julia Hanson and likely keeps her at Minnesota. She has excelled in limited playing time and has a ton of potential.

* There is talent to be had in the portal at all of the positions of need; I believe there are now 3 open scholarships, enough to fill gaps.

* Expect things to move quickly with transfers - there were transfer visits at U of M today. The 1st window to enter the transfer portal ends 30 days after the NCAA tournament field is announced, which is January 1, 2024 It would be great to have the transfers enroll in January. There is another small window for the transfer portal in May, but it doesn't seem much activity.
 
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So is the coaching staff looking for an explosive OOS OH or do they feel there is promise of one on the roster or soon to be?

I am hoping actually for two experienced DS/L to add to this roster for next season. The game starts in the back court and I really do not believe Z will be able to wear the L jersey next season either. There is no doubt she will develop more but the coaching staff knows best when that Jersey will be hers.

Just keep thinking what you witnessed in the past two weekends on some of these teams. We are a long ways off and yes the rebuilding needs to start somewhere. As much as Z is a breath of fresh air she just isn't ready to take on that position.
 
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mpokrandt said:
Several things to consider:

* Landfair satisfied her 4-year commitment to Minnesota and Minnesota received the 4 years that they offered to her. We can be disappointed, but either side may have decided it was time for a change. That is OK.

* This provides an opportunity to re-balance a roster that is full of hitters; open scholarships can be used to strengthen the back row and to add some depth at middle blocker. A strong back row is a must have for Elite 8 and beyond aspirations. Wisconsin was reminded of this last night.

* This provides an opportunity at OH for Julia Hanson and likely keeps her at Minnesota. She has excelled in limited playing time and has a ton of potential.

* There is talent to be had in the portal at all of the positions of need; I believe there are now 3 open scholarships, enough to fill gaps.

* Expect things to move quickly with transfers - there were transfer visits at U of M today. The 1st window to enter the transfer portal ends 21 days after the NCAA tournament field is announced. It would be great to have the transfers enroll in January. There is another small window for the transfer portal in May, but it doesn't seem much activity.
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This is a great read, thank you for posting.
 

No talented middle is transferring here just to be a blocking specialist.

Schaff can’t set a middle to save her life. And are you going to pin your last year of college vball on the hopes that a true freshman setter will blow everyone away?

People … this is not rocket science.
 

mpokrandt said:
I think both is the answer to that. I expect that they are very interested in adding an experienced 6-rotation OH to the roster.
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No OH should be 6mo in college.

Use the subs. Specialize. This isn’t the Olympics.
 

MplsGopher said:
No talented middle is transferring here just to be a blocking specialist.

Schaff can’t set a middle to save her life. And are you going to pin your last year of college vball on the hopes that a true freshman setter will blow everyone away?

People … this is not rocket science.
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Both of the setters in Sunday's championship match are freshman...:)
 





GopherVB23 said:
Enough. Just enough. We don't need to hear every thought that is in your head because frankly it's mostly just mean.
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I don't get the vitriol either.

Some drop-off was to be expected with a coaching change. As mpok pointed out, we could use to strengthen the back row and middle block. This provides an opportunity to do that. For Landfair, a change of scenery may do wonders. Imagine if we got another Grote-type player on the team. Her energy and enthusiasm were a bright spot all season, so that is one example of Cook's talent evaluation. I was quite pleased with that addition. Murr was as advertised. So fun to watch. There are quality players in the portal. Let's see if the staff can nab a few.
 


MplsGopher said:
Yep!

It’s amazing sometimes how “scenery” directly correlates with a significant increase in consistency of set location.
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Taylor hit with zero power this year, even when the set locations were good.

Maybe she was injured, I don't know. Things were wrong all year for her outside of her serving.
 

NateDawgUM said:
Taylor hit with zero power this year, even when the set locations were good.

Maybe she was injured, I don't know. Things were wrong all year for her outside of her serving.
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If you never know where the ball is going to be on any given set, that might take away some of your power.

She did swing hard occasionally.

But agree with you, she was weak, slow, and looked like she didn’t give a S for a good part of the season.

I’ve shed zero tears so far.
 


MplsGopher said:
If you never know where the ball is going to be on any given set, that might take away some of your power.
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I disagree. I've seen players with less athleticism than Taylor, with setters that are less consistent than Mel, hitting the shit out of the ball for the whole season.

They don't always hit for a high percentage, but power is an important component in high level volleyball. You need to make the opposing defense work.
 

NateDawgUM said:
I disagree. I've seen players with less athleticism than Taylor, with setters that are less consistent than Mel, hitting the shit out of the ball for the whole season.

They don't always hit for a high percentage, but power is an important component in high level volleyball. You need to make the opposing defense work.
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I’m not saying it’s impossible to blast any ball that comes near you.

That’s what Wucherer did for much of the year. Double block right in your face on a trap set? Leeroy Jenkins!!

I’m saying perhaps for her (Taylor) she has a psychological thing where she can’t feel like she can unload unless she feels good about the set?

I’m coming up with excuses
 

MplsGopher said:
I’m not saying it’s impossible to blast any ball that comes near you.

That’s what Wucherer did for much of the year. Double block right in your face on a trap set? Leeroy Jenkins!!

I’m saying perhaps for her (Taylor) she has a psychological thing where she can’t feel like she can unload unless she feels good about the set?

I’m coming up with excuses
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Amicable divorce, IMO.

I hope that both parties come out with friendly statements.
 

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