Nebraska WVB coach John Cook is retiring after 25 years and four national championships. Louisville coach Dani Busboom-Kelly (a Nebraska alum and former assistant) is taking over. Some people didn't like Cook (including reportedly Russ Rose) but I always found his public comments classy and supportive. He really cared about the sport of volleyball and did an incredible job turning volleyball into the 2nd most watched sport in Nebraska. Maybe his most amazing achievement was to draw 90,000 fans to a volleyball match played outdoors in the Nebraska football stadium. (Something that would be great to see at PSU by the way)_ You see the NCAA VB tournament filling huge venues all over the country now -- Cook has been as responsible for that as anybody.
Huge WVB news: John Cook retiring
- Thread starter tboyer
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Yep this is big news in the WVB world. I know very little about Cook but seems like he was great for the sport. I think it is good for the sport to have Nebraska be a power so I hope the new coach can carry on their strong tradition. I think she will as she was successful at Louisville.
So completely off topic here.....Can any of our women's volleyball players help the women's hoops team? They have the height. I'm pretty much kidding but it does make you wonder since we are so horrible in women's hoops that any help we can get is sorely needed.
Hate to see U of L lose their coach as if they go downhill the pitters will not have an opponent in the ACC with a pulse....
Maggie Mendelson played BB at Nebraska but when she transferred to PSU she gave up competitive BB. Two sports is increasingly rare for men and women. WVB is a 12-month sport now. The level of competition is just so high, training basically never stops. Caroline Jurevicius did a youtube with Landon Tengwall recently talking about it. There is just no time off. After they won the championship, they got like three days off in December and then they had to be back in State College to start work on 2025. The level of commitment all these athletes make is hard for civilians to fathom.
They'll probably be fine. Kentucky has been hotbed of HS volleyball for years -- U of L and also U of Kentucky are big time programs.
But yeah, it's not great for Pitt that they don't get the same kind of day-in day-out conference competition that B1G teams get. That was part of what helped PSU this year -- when you've been through the rigors of a B1G season there's nothing in the NCAA tournament you haven't seen before.
Oh yeah absolutely. At the elite level that PSU is I see it as a 12 month sport for all the players. Probably just about all of the elite high school players focus exclusively on volleyball although some may play hoops in the winter. But even if they do that I'm sure their plan is to be full time into volleyball in college and that is the expectation when being recruited.
The real answer to my question is recruit better women basketball players and probably get a better coach.
By the way, the 12 month around the calendar schedule is like that with every sport I think. My son is a D1 level distance runner. Cross country in the fall, week off. Into winter track then immediately into spring track. Week off after track season and then start training for cross country. Train 6 days a week. Weight training and cross training added in as part of the regimen.
From what I could tell, Russ certainly did not like Cook. And that sentiment seemed to be shared by Russ' players at the time also. My dad had an immediate dislike of Cook too.Some people didn't like Cook (including reportedly Russ Rose) but I always found his public comments classy and supportive.
This is who Cook reminded me of. He spoke respectfully also:
I think Cook softened up and became more likable in recent years, but I didn't like him either a decade ago. Regardless, can't deny his accomplishments and with DBK at the helm Husker volleyball may not skip a beat. Hopefully coach Katie is working the phones already as two very talented rosters just had a coaching change, transfer portal possibilities are at hand. There are already rumors because Husker All American middle Andi Jackson just started to follow coach Katie on Insta.
Maybe. Perhaps the fact that we have not been as dominant as we were during that period could be a contributing factor as well. My opinion of him is based solely from watching him coach against our Ladies back when Russ was still coaching.
The matches that we played against Neb back then were always super intense and competitive. And the dislike between the coaches and teams was palpable.
And for me there was something about the almost constipated look on coach Cook's face during critical junctures of their matches that made it even easier for me to dislike him then
But as you pointed out, his accomplishments and success that he had as Neb. WVB coach cannot be denied.
Interesting about Andi Jackson. Apparently she’s a close friend of Caroline Jurevicius (spelling?)
Wow, wow. One can dream.
One can dream. Andi Jackson's the best middle in the country. Jackson and Jurevicius were freshmen together at Nebraska and consider each other best friends. Jackson is also good friends w Maggie Mendelson. Jurevicius and Mendelson transferred to PSU not because they didn't love Nebraska but because PSU could offer them more playing time. Top level players who aspire to play on the national team don't want to sit on the bench because they only have four years eligibility and game action is important to their development.
Well, Maggie might have come to PSU for more playing time, but Caroline's story is a little more complicated than that.
BTW, John Cook was, is and shall remain an a**hole.
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