10 Programs to Watch for in June: College Programs w/ Recruiting Momentum

Yes, recruiting is changing.  Yes, the Blue Bloods will land their big names, but if you have paid close attention the last couple of years there has been a bit more parity in college volleyball (still so far too go) and again with the EARYLY CALENDAR they are committing 2 years out so it takes forever for the verbals to pay dividends at struggling programs, but ther have been programs still trying to get it done the the old fashioned way and building solid classes through the recruiting windows.

Their work hasn't gone unnoticed everywhere, and we have seen them rising up the charts.  We have also seen more and more '28s and '29s continue to add those schools' camps to their Select Camp visit list.  We have said this for years now, "you have to start getting recruits to your campus so they can see and feel the excitement before you can ever just expect them to commit or transfer to your school.  Whether they commit or not isn't always Job 1 immediately; you have to get top commits on your campus 1st.

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Here are 10 Programs that we have a feeling could continue some recruiting momentum and turn it into solid 2028 classes starting on June 15th.

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1. North Carolina: The Tarheels put together a class with a PPV of 205 last year and landed their setter of the future in Marlie Smith.  Mike Schall has done a very good job at Chapel Hill building and winning the past couple of years, and Rachel Ferguson, his top assistant, is an excellent recruiter.  They do not get helped one bit by not getting an NTDP invite, like the top 1/3 of the ACC does, but that's an entirely different podcast about things not making ANY SENSE AT ALL in VB RECRUITING.  Still, Carolina has built some momentum and had a very talented crop at their recent select camp (again, despite the state's elite talent going elsewhere bc of NTDP ties).  The Tarheels are also producing in the post-season.  I have only had a couple of brief conversations with the coaches on the qualifier tour, but I like the straightforwardness. approach of Schall, and that Tarheel blue is just such an amazing college color, you can do some pretty awesome jersey combos with it. We need to get them on some prime time matches, lol.  Watch for the Tarheels to land 1 or 2 bigger targets this class.
2. TCU: Is college volleyball ready for "The Horned Frogs" to be a household name?  I'm pushing hard for them, and I think they have already had some recruiting and portal momentum that has moved them way up our Prestige Board (about 20 spots the past season, actually).  Coach Williams is in the mix on MANY big recruits and now they are in the purgatory of several schools: do they get in the bidding war for 1-2 stars or do they play the $ management game and take a value player that might not look as impressive to the websites and fans and then spend the $ on older transfers with the 5 for 5 rule going into affect soon?  Regardless, the fact is that the prospects have bought into whatever TCU is selling, and they have done it in an under-the-radar way that is more sustainable than doing it simply with $.  TCU is legit, and it's making the Big XII look like a heck of a top-heavy VB conference.
3. Utah State: Ok I do it every year, good or bad.  I get on a bandwagon early, and I don't get off of it, so sign me up as head of the Utah State VB Fan Club. I think Keith Smith and his young staff are going to get things going in a hurry out there.  The guy is a hard-working, tireless recruiter; he has worked his way up the USA VB ladder, so he has deep NTDP ties and will use the heck out of them in recruiting.  Now they also lost a lot to the portal when the previous coach took much of his old roster w/ him, so there wasn't much left for Smith.  This will be a couple-year rebuild to show results, but I think you'll see this as Northwestern's staff did, and year two will look very, very good compared to year 1.  Don't doubt this guy, though; he can recruit.
4. Clemson: Jackie Simpson Kirr is doing a great job with Clemson and they are building!  213 Class PPV in '27 and 5th in the ACC behind, yeah, you know, all the teams with legit spending power.  But, I loved Clemson's approach last year and in the portal (very Pitt/Louisvillesque), they knew what their Program Prestige Level is/was, and they targeted prospects slightly above that with Open Level playing experience and landed them.  Thus, they raised the Program's Prestige Level and the talent level of the athletes they are bringing into their gym.  Exactly what the top of the conference rivals did for about 6 yrs straight to become the powerhouses they are now.  Now those recruits must overtrain and overplay their talent, and if you need to win a match or two, you shouldn't go along the way and upset someone in the tourney to gain some Program MoJo, but they are following the recipe!  I think Clemson does more of the same this class, but maybe they go for fewer athletes and maybe 1 or even 2 higher profile difference makers and see if they can add one, an OH WOW commit this year???
5. Virginia: The news of the $10million female sports endowment had to be great news to Cav Volleyball, though I do not know specifics at all on how it helps them directly.  I do know that this has to be the hardest-working staff around, year 2.  They are everywhere, and we still see so many prospects saying they are attending UVA's Select Camp.  You give them more $ now to assist the coaches, well, that is what it takes now to land better commits, so that would signal better recruiting to me.  I'm serious, this staff works their tails off in the summer, going to club camps and at their own camp, they simply haven't had the same resources to compete with the rest of the conference. I hope the gift helps them out, and it's a better thing for Virginia VB
6. Arizona State: Another year, another year picking the Sun Devils in this category.  They just had a talented crop at Select Camp 1.  It's Tempe, AZ, people, and they have $ and facilities, and they have won every year of the new staff.  So why is this staff having to go sign 3 and 4 athletes p/ year from Minnesota?  I understand the whole "well, some kids just don't want to stay home" thing a little bit, but how about the "some kids really like to win a lot and in front of thousands of screaming family and friends every night" thing?  I guess I just don't get it, as it's 51 and rainy outside my window.  I've already mentioned TCU, and Kansas is not going to rebuild with foreign players again. Ullmer is going to have them as a national power, and I think K-State is a Top 16 type program yearly.  Arizona State is a great place to be, and well-funded. I don't know the program that well, apparently, but I just don't see why it has been so hard to get elite prep recruits. It shouldn't be.  I think that changes with this class, and again, the way recruiting has changed, they don't need 4 or 5; they need 2, maybe 3.
7. UCLA: Guess they shouldn't be in the "new or surprise" list, but this isn't your aunt's or sister's UCLA Bruins volleyball or even last year's Bruins.  New HC, new direction.  Yes, they will inevitably have to get a couple of transfers simply to fill immediate holes left by all the transfers that left off of last season's failed transfer-only experiment gone wrong.  Matt Werle is in as HC now and has vowed to build with their commits, and Stevi is back and is still one of the best recruiters in the game, and that is music to her ears.  It's also a great time to be UCLA in LA (you can figure out what that means on your own), so this staff is ready to pounce.  If you talk to coaches nationally (off the record, of course), the word is that no one on the West Coast has simply been aggressive enough recruiting nationally in this new era, and it has honestly shown.  That isn't a knock on anyone, but VB is cutthroat now, and what does UCLA offer their "rivals" in the B1G?  Also, how much do you concentrate on Cali kids vs. recruiting nationally?  A problem that other B1G schools don't have to worry about, honestly.  You have a built-in rival for recruiting and playing, you also have to build up excitement for a fan base so you need local athletes that sell tickets, but you have to win.  I like Matt and love Stevi I love the direction, but work is ahead for them.
8. BYU: These guys could be much higher on this list, and BYU could end up with a Top 4-5 Class in the country this year without much actual work of their own at all.  This is hard for me because I'm torn on the situation here, but I think BYU gets much better, and I think part of the fit is great.  Let's just wait and see how everything works out.  
9. Northwestern: Year two of the new regime was amazing, and the staff overcame a total departure of the previous regime's commits in year 1.  Talk about starting at Ground Zero and in the B1G.  Tim Nollan and his staff were great last year, and they added a couple of highly recruited transfer pieces that people might not be talking about as much as they should be.  They compiled a 207 Class PPV with the 2027 Class, and that was 4 commits, a very solid group to build around.  If they could add another class of 3-4 more around that or even a bit higher, that would be really laying a solid and competitive foundation for the Wildcats.  It actually put them 7th in the B1G, so think about that moving them to the middle of the conference in Coach Nollan's 2nd year.  This is a team we will definitely be watching starting on the 15th, and they just held their Select Camp yesterday. Again, they hosted prospects that are attainable, but above their Prestige Level, which improves the talent in their gym!
10. Texas Tech:  Flyer here on the Red Raiders only because they signed or brought in a couple of high-profile names at the end of the '27 class and in the portal.  Honestly, the first time I've ever truly heard of TT volleyball at all, and now I have heard of them 5 times this Spring.  It makes me wonder if they have a newfound NIL/Rev Share budget like their softball and football programs came up with in the past year that made both of those programs instantly national contenders.  Not saying that will happen for VB, but it may allow them to at least be relevant in this '28 recruiting space and bring in 3-4 prospects they would not have been running for in past classes?  Again, just a flyer, but that's my guess.