The majority of NCAA Division I volleyball recruiting occurs outside the Power 5 conferences. There are 27 leagues that deal with a completely different set of circumstances, wants and needs, and with the coaches finally able to go out and see club and high school players on June 1, we wanted to get a handle on things.
So we invited Fresno State head coach Jonathan Winder, Akron head coach Tom Hanna, Stony Brook assistant Sarah Bullock, and Houston Juniors director of recruiting Kara Pratt to participate in a Zoom roundtable. We talked about the many issues and unique situations they’re facing in the brave, new recruiting world.
Winder’s team plays in the Mountain West. He played at Pepperdine, professionally and for Team USA, and was an assistant indoors coach at Washington and the head beach coach before taking over at Fresno in 2018.
Hanna’s Akron Zips play in the Mid-American Conference. He went to and coached previously at Marist. He’s been at Akron, in northeast Ohio, since 2015.
Bullock, who joined the Stony Brook program on Long Island in 2017, handles recruiting for the Seawolves of the America East. She played at Auburn and previously coached at UT-Arlington.
Pratt is the director of recruiting at Houston Juniors, a massive club that produces a ton of future college talent and she’s very busy these days.
