What DI Programs Look For
Every athlete at one time or another has dreamt of playing at the DI level. Unfortunately, the opportunity to play at that level is much smaller than you may think. I recently received an email from a power five DI coach that really impressed me. I want to share the content of that email with my clients and followers of PIC3.
The numbers below are estimated and for guideline purposes only. Obviously their are players that do not fit the profiles below and excel in a high level environment.
POWER 5: Hitters touching 10ft3 plus, passing 2.0. Libero’s passing a 2.5 plus on average, Setters standing at 6ft plus with a strong vertical if in a 5-1 offense
Mid Major: Hitters touching 9ft9plus, Libero’s passing a 2.3 plus on average, Setters standing around 5ft10 plus with a strong vertical if in a 5-1 offense
Low DI: Hitter touching 9ft7 plus, Libero’s passing a 2.0 plus on average, Setters standing 5ft8 plus with a strong vertical if in a 5-1 offense
Nikki,
Our staff is eager for the 2024 evaluation period set to kick off on President’s Day weekend. In the meantime, I will be busy with organizational work to help determine who on our staff will be scouting where. Is there anyone that you’ve seen who you think we should have on our radar? We are looking to evaluate elite talent - regardless of position or class – who can contribute to our winning legacy.
EXCEPTIONAL EXPECTATIONS:
Once we have a grip on athletic ability, we will shift our focus towards pinpointing which players are likely to thrive in our team culture. We try to have answers for questions like:
How does she interact with teammates while trailing in a set by 10 or more points?
What is she doing during timeouts?
Is she playing the game the right way, even if her team is leading by 10 or more points in a set?
How does she approach her officiating responsibilities?
Can she be coached unconditionally, or can she only be coached on her terms?
What is her approach to getting herself ready for an 8:00 am match?
After mistakes, does she go to her teammates or do her teammates have to go to her?
Is she constantly needing her parents to give her water, Advil, food, direction, sympathy, etc?
Top Skillset for one of our: Powerful Attacker & Elite Passer: 6ft4 Outside Hitter
Attack: 4.15 kills/set. Hit a season best .300 percent, Averaged 4.62 points/set.
Serve/Pass (3pt scale): The only OH with passing responsibilities in the to average over a 2.00 (2-person pass pattern for 3 rotations), Serving .18 aces/set
Defend: 0.53 blocks/set, Added 1.93 digs/set
Top Skillset: Dominant at Net: 6ft6 Middle Blocker
National Awards: First five-time first-team AVCA All-American across all major DI sports. One of six athletes to earn four first-team All-America awards. Also earned 2017 AVCA National Freshman of the Year.
School Records: Set career records for hitting percentage (.423), total blocks (738), and points (2,314). Also ranks second in kills with 1,810.
National Team: USAV National Team gold medal winner at VNL, helping the U.S. qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
We want a place where people can compete their asses off and people that enjoy competing, “People that team is more important than individual. It’s not a place where I think we do particularly well with prima donnas, the world revolving around them. We want people that are basically gym rats. They love to train. They love to work on their game. They may have other interests, as well, academic interests or whatever it is. But they love being in the gym. I would say people that kind of have a bring-it mentality.”