Diamond Status for 2027 Middles Leads Update News

Work, Work, Work. Harrington and Williams climb as they prepare for a college rivalry

​

"Great shouldn't be GIVEN, it should always be EARNED, and it should mean something," a football writer at Rivals.com years ago, when I asked him how to decide what is a 5* prospect.  He said, "You don't just hand them out like Halloween candy, they have to be special, and I honestly think we should start every recruiting class with NO ONE having a 5* rating.  You should have TO EARN THEM". 

That is how we have approached the DIAMOND LEVEL Prospect rating at VBAdrenaline.com. Yes, athletic ability matters, but other things have to matter, and you can't have 10-12 Diamond Level Prospects in a class or it loses meaning.  I'm also sorry, but things like attitude, effort, coachability, culture person, teammate, etc, will always play a part in our evaluations. They are not everything, but they are the little things, the 5 or 6 point fluctuations that move the needle up or down.   So over the next week or so we are going to unveil quite a few RISERS in the 2026 and 2027 classes, some of the biggest jumpers in our PPV evaluations during their careers.  So let's get that started with a couple of middles in the Class of 2027 that have all of the above and risen up the USA Volleyball ranks, and definitely our levels, and will find themselves heading to two of the top programs in college volleyball soon.  

Two middles that didn't start as gold or even silver level prospects with us.  These two have EARNED this, but a couple of our favorite athletes to cover in this Class of 2027, and they could very well be the two best when it's all done.  The two newest DIAMOND LEVEL Prospects are Taylor Harrington (Penn State verbal) and Kayla Williams (Pitt verbal).  I'm not sure you could find two middles that go about their games much differently, but they both get excellent results.

​

Taylor Harrington - Paramount Volleyball

Harrington impressed me so much with her personal maturity this past year.  She developed and became stronger, and I think her focus in the gym became better, but as a player and maturity-wise, I saw a night and day difference in talking with and watching Harrington.  I felt she went from someone who went from wanting to be one of the crowd to wanting to be "the one on the court" and then be the connector and social organizer that makes her a leader for not only this amazingly Penn State class, but I think all of USA Volleyball, to be honest.  She has that personality to be "that athlete" that can be a national star in college, but don't misunderstand, Harrington WORKS, and she is serious about volleyball, and that was evident this season as she passed some others on the USA Volleyball ladder and "rankings" list.  She has earned the Penn State offer. She is dang good. Her athleticism and her explosion make her a weapon on both sides of the net.  Her potential was evident this July as she earned high praise and honors during her time on the US National team as the best middle during their international tourney.  She also just realized how good she can truly be when she truly commits to really working hard, which is scary for the NCAA.  Again, I know the "other publications" have talked of others much more for longer, and they are talented also, but Harrington deserves this Diamond level rating and is rising.

​

Kayla Williams - AVC Cleveland

"Kayla Williams will just keep showing up and getting better and won't say a word.  Eventually, all the others that were talked about so much more will look around and be like Where did she come from, and she will be as good as all of them because she simply outworks everyone."  I will never forget that quote I heard after an NTDP about 18 months ago when a scout first told me about Kayla, and that person knows what they are doing!  She just keeps doing what she does in Cleveland, physically dominating, getting stronger and more physical and explosive and terminal.  The absolute perfect fit for a school if there ever was one, she epitomizes Pitt; underrated, undervalued, and tough as heck.  Go ahead and doubt her talent, just keep not talking about her and not giving her awards.

She wasn't overly talked about; she isn't flashy.  Her club doesn't overly promote her and doesn't allow her to talk about recruiting, so she has little or no social media, but Kayla Williams is a dominant middle who can beat you multiple ways.  She is quick on the block and plays plenty high for a P4 middle.  She runs multiple routes and can hit angles.  She does whatever an All-American middle needs to do to dominate at the next level.  All she needs is the hype machine!!

​

Congrats to Taylor and Kayla, keep getting better, and don't let up for a day!  Thanks to our subscribers, and tell a friend or two to subscribe.  In the near future we will be announcing our first ever TOP 150 in America....That's right, we are giving in and doing our version of the Top 150 PPV evaluated athletes regardless of graduating class 2026-2029 in the USA.  Just like a high school program:). So stay tuned for that, and stay tuned as we announce more of the top RISERS in the country.