In the opening theme song for the 1960s sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, it said that “Californy is the place you ought to be.” And that’s definitely the case for the 2019 VolleyballMag.com Boys Fab 50, where California most definitely is the place to be.
The Golden State is teeming with entrants on this exclusive list, which ranks the top 50 senior boys players in the country. This is not a list of the top club or high school players, but rather an amalgamation of the top 50 players in the country — period. The list is not voted on by VolleyballMag.com staffers, but rather an elite list of NCAA Division I-II men’s coaches.
Thirty of the 50 players on the Fab 50 list call California home, while 17 of the 25 players on the 25 Underclassmen to Watch list are from California.
In terms of colleges, UCLA and Loyola Chicago tied for the lead with six Fab 50 signees each, while two-time national champion Long Beach State, Lewis and Stanford were a close second with five Fab 50s each. A total of 19 schools had at least one Fab 50 selection.
As far as top recruits in this class, UCLA signee and Pac6 club star Alex Knight was the panel’s choice as the No. 1 player in the class by a decent margin.
After that, it was a photo finish to get into the top five, with Stanford signee Will Rottman and Illinois standout Kevin Lamp, who will join Rottman on The Farm, tying for the No. 2 position.
UCLA recruit Merrick McHenry, from Hurst, Texas, was the No. 4 recruit based on voting, while there was a logjam for the final spot with Kevin Kauling, another Illinois-based Sports Performance standout along with Lamp, Texas, product Nathan Lietzke and Pepperdine signee Akin Akinwami tying for the fifth position.
Interesting to note is that two Texas players made the top five list, showing the continued progress of the boys game in that state.
A total of 27 club programs are repped in the Fab 50 with Southern California-based Balboa Bay and Pac6 each having four players on the list. Neighbor 949 and suburban Chicago-based Sports Performance each have three Fab 50s.
On the 25 Underclassmen to Watch list, SCVC’s Clarke Godbold, Balboa Bay’s Sebastian Rodriguez, and OCVC’s Ben Montplaisir and Grant Sloane were the top vote getters. The top 25 underclassmen in the country is a simple list of standout freshmen (there is one on the list this year), sophomores and juniors to keep an eye on going forward. This list was also voted on by the panel of NCAA Division I-II coaches.
2019 Volleyball Magazine Boys Fab 50
Top 5 Players
1. Alex Knight
2. tie, Will Rottman
2. tie, Kevin Lamp
4. Merrick McHenry
5. tie, Kevin Kauling
5. tie, Nathan Lietzke
5. tie, Akin Akinwami
Name, Height Position, High School, Club, College
Akin Akinwumi, 6-6, RS-OH, Peninsula (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.), Rockstar, Pepperdine
Nick Amoruso 6-7, MB-OH, Commack (New York), LIVBC, UCSB
Garo Barsemian, 6-6, OH-RS, Crescenta Valley (La Crescenta, California), Legacy, UC Irvine
Max Beck, 6-8, MB, Canyon (Anaheim, California), Pulse, USC
Carson Brandt, 6-4, RS, Glenbard East (Lombard, Illinois), Hitmen, Grand Canyon
Mason Briggs, 5-11, Libero, Bishop Alemany (Valencia, California), Legacy, Long Beach State
Colton Brooks, 6-4, OH, Amador Valley (Pleasanton, California), Bay to Bay, Loyola
Inaki Bustamante, 6-6, OH, Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, California), SCVC, Lewis
Colman Chadam, 6-5, OH, Monte Vista (Danville, California) PacRim, Loyola
Dayne Chalmers, 6-4, OH, Newport Harbor (Newport Beach, California), Balboa Bay, UCSB
Adam Chang, 6-4, MB, Westview (San Diego, California), Wave, Stanford
Taylan Cook 6-2, Libero, Sage Creek (Carlsbad, California), Coast, Loyola
Adam Flood, 6-2, OH, Corona del Mar (Newport Beach, California) Balboa Bay, USC
Nathaniel Gates, 6-8, MB, La Jolla (California), Coast, Stanford
Cole Gillis, 6-4, OH, Branham (San Jose, California), Mountain View, UC Irvine
Nathan Harlan, 6-4, OH-RS, Tesoro (Santa Margarita, California), 949, Long Beach State
James Hartley, 6-6, OH, Marvin Ridge (Waxhaw, North Carolina), Carolina Union, Princeton
Jackson Hickman, 6-4, OH, Boulder Creek (Phoenix, Arizona) AZ Fear, Lewis
Ethan Hill, 6-7, MB, St. Margaret’s Episcopal (San Juan Capistrano, California), Balboa Bay, UCLA
Justin Howard, 6-6, MB, Pacific Palisades (California), Pac6, Ohio State
Marty Jepsen, 6-1, OH, Marist (Chicago, Illinois), Ultimate, Lewis
Gavin Julien, 6-7, MB, Whitefish Bay (Wisconsin), Milwaukee VBC, BYU
Joe Karlous, 6-0, S, Newport Harbor (Newport Beach, California), Balboa Bay, Pepperdine
Kevin Kauling, 6-8, S, Neuqua Valley (Naperville, Illinois), Sports Performance, Lewis
Alex Knight, 6-4, OH, Pacifica Christian (Santa Monica, California), Pac6, UCLA
Aidan Knipe, 6-3, S, Huntington Beach (California), Team Rockstar, Long Beach State
Kevin Lamp, 6-4, OH, Lake Forest (Illinois), Sports Performance, Stanford
Nathan Lietzke, 6-5 S, St. Andrew’s Episcopal (Austin, Texas), Austin Juniors, Stanford
Jake Maffett, 6-4, OH-RS, Los Alamitos (California), SCVC, Loyola
Merrick McHenry, 6-7, OH-RS, Bell (Hurst, Texas), Austin Juniors, UCLA
Cole Power, 5-11, Libero, Edison (Huntington Beach, California), Balboa Bay, UCLA
Sebastian Negron, OH, Trabuco Hills (Mission Viejo, California), 949, Concordia Irvine
Marcus Partain, 6-3, S, Palisades Charter (Los Angeles, California), Pac6, UCLA
Nico Posivak, 5-11, Libero, Loyola (Los Angeles, California), Pac6, Princeton
Will Rottman, 6-5, MB, Santa Barbara (California), SB Coast, Stanford
Michael Sack, 6-8, MB, St. Laurence (Burbank, Illinois), Chicago VBC, Lewis
Zach Schneider, 6-6, OH, Lockport (New York), Lockport VBC, Long Beach State
Michael Scott, 6-7, MB, Carmel (Mundelein, Illinois), Adversity, Pepperdine
Ethan Smith, 6-7, MB, Aliso Niguel (Aliso Viejo, California), 949, Harvard
[…] he was selected to be on the 2019 AVCA All-American Watch List. He was also a 2019 honoree in the Volleyballmag Fab 50 and the 2018 CIF Los Angeles City Player of the Year. Outside of high school, Tangutur […]