Texas Today, What Tomorrow? The Post-College Landscape

For many college sports, the greatness of a program is often measured by what its players do after they graduate. In football, NFL is the endgame. College football is huge, but it is clear that the NFL is king. The average Thursday Night Football game (infamously known for its low-quality matchups) got more viewers last year than ANY regular season college football game. Basketball is similar in that the dream for many kids is to make it to the NBA. For the top prospects, college is just the required stepping stone. The so called "one-and-done" players are already thinking about their pro careers before they even step on campus. Texas just saw one of these pass through in Tre Johnson, and we love him to death, but he was an NBA lottery pick after just one college season, so he got all he needed out of Texas.

Volleyball is different. The decision for players to attend Texas rarely seems to come down to what the program can do for them after college. The focus is much more on the experience of playing for Texas itself. High school football recruits often talk openly about wanting to go somewhere that can get them to the NFL, but volleyball recruits don't seem to frame it that way. They want to win in college, to enjoy that atmosphere, and to compete for championships in burnt orange.

According to freshman Cari Spears, "I think that girls dream of succeeding in college, even more than they think about playing professionally or internationally." Cari has aspirations to play after college, but those goals seem distant to her, and her complete focus for now is on Texas. She even sees this in her younger sister who also plays volleyball, a dream to play in college, not in the pros or abroad. And that represents a fundamental difference between volleyball and other major college sports: for many, college itself is the ultimate goal.

That idea could change though, as more young players see their idols such as Madisen Skinner competing in US-based leagues. For years, once a college volleyball star graduated, they effectively disappeared from the American sports spotlight. Now, with the rise of multiple domestic pro leagues, young players can watch their heroes compete without crossing an ocean. Cari believes that could be a game changer, saying “Now they [young volleyball players] are gonna be like, oh that’s what I want to do and that’s who I want to be after college.” For the first time, the role models are staying close to home.

Torrey Stafford offers a slightly different perspective. She has her eyes set on the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, calling it 'the dream'. For her, playing professionally overseas would be a way to prepare for that stage, but she is also open to returning to the US to play in a domestic league. Her focus is on Texas for now, but she values the development aspect of it as well, noting that at Texas practices, “both sides are really good and I think that we’re making each other better every day.” For professional volleyball in the US to thrive, it has to capture top domestic talent like Torrey. Around here, there is a saying that the best in Texas play at Texas. For the sport’s future, the same should hold true at the professional level: the best in the US should be drawn to play in the US.

It is still a new, volatile landscape though. Just a few days ago, we saw a "merger" between Major League Volleyball (MLV) and Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF), even though the MLV never really existed. Down the line, there will need to be one unified league that hosts all domestic pro volleyball athletes... you don't see any other sports succeeding with multiple major pro leagues. And frankly, the product gets redundant with only 6-8 teams in each league who play each other 4 times/year every year. At the end of the day though, there is more visibility than ever on volleyball, and that's a great thing for the growth of the sport. Especially with LOVB's investment in club volleyball, it builds that connection between youth sports and pro sports. Soon enough, young athletes will start to dream not only about playing for Texas or Nebraska, but for LOVB Austin or the Omaha Supernovas.