Fifteen 2028s We are Anxious to See Again as the new Club Season Begins

Fifteen 2028s We Are Excited to See Again as the new Club Season Begins

​

Whether it was at Nationals or Select Camps there were quite a few players that left us wondering as they headed into Prospect Hibernation and off our main radar for a couple of months. It’n not that they took any time off volleyball, we just got busy with other things and took our focus off their games for a bit, but as January approaches and the 2028s are the main focus now through September basically here are 15 names that have some extra interest on our Big Board to see how they progressed through the Fall. Were we drinking too much of the recruiting lemonade when we saw them late last year OR were they legit and they are on the radar to stay? We will soon find out, but we have their schedules marked that is for sure.

​

*Leah Greeny - Outside Hitter - West Virginia - Plays 17s with 3DGE out of Pittsburgh so figure that all out. Honestly think she is one of the hidden gems in this class (media wise), but she did go to Kentucky and Pitts prospect camps so she isn’t that hidden. Strength and explosion. Remember playing with 17s!

​

*Lana Frelix - Opp - SG Elite - California - Silver Level she is one of the West Coasters that has kind of hid out there, but thankfully she created a Player Profile and we got to know her. Boy is she a TALENT (we believe anyway). Multiple time NTDP and UA NEXT out West, touches over 123” already and is an Opp which any other year she might have been the #1 or #2 highest evaluated in the class. Watch her because she has already camp East of the Rockies!

​

*Shaun Waller - Middle - Tennessee Performance - Silver Level - Shaun isn’t an unknown prospect at all, but we didn’t enjoy her talent enough last year until Select Camp time. She when she made the U17s squad we knew to pay attention more. Early in ’26 that will be different. She’s a good one no doubt.

​

 * Kolby Ross - Outside Hitter - Illinois Adversity - Silver Level man did we miss on Kolby early last season. She has made the largest PPV jump of anyone in the nation and rose 101 points last year. Yes that means she improved, but that also means we messed up big time when we first evaluated her.  She’s hanging in that Silver Level and we hope she starts January with a bang and stays there all season. We will be watching her.

​

Now we are moving to some on border and into the Elite Red Zone that we loved or were riddled by or both:)

​

*Landry McCrae - Setter - Excel - Texas - Landry is one that was up and down several sites “rankings” depending where you looked and for new 2028 parents remember we aren’t ranking kids based on how they are playing as Sophs in HS, we are evaluating them based on college prospect potential. A part of that is consistency so that is something we simply need to watch her more at the beginning of the year to get a feel for. Athletically she’s there for certain.

​

*Sade Bello - Outside Hitter - Houston Jrs - Texas - Now Bello has the athleticism to go up against most anyone in the class, but when she got to some of the Big Gym opportunities was a bit overwhelmed last season. Don’t get us wrong this is still one of the class’ top15 OH’s regardless, but we can’t wait to see how much more confident she plays this season, with that year of maturity and growth under her belt now. Could be a world of difference.

​

*Lola Loncar - Outside Hitter - AVC Cleveland - Ohio - Loncar made nearly a 20 pt PPV jump with us last Summer. A similar boat as Bello and similar athletes. She did make a big jump and that’s is why we are so interested to watch her early on in January up to Triple Crown.

​

*Julia Clarke - Middle - A5 - Georgia - Clarke was late getting a Player Profile so honestly we didn’t notice her until this Fall, but once we did we made notes and highlighted her name immediately. She has an interesting set of Select Camps attended and has an NTDP under her belt. Her height puts her in a good recruiting spot and her approach touch does as well. So she’s going to be a fun one to see how she comes “out of the gates” early on. Interesting to watch her Block Touch, as we don’t have a data score on that yet.

​

*Halima Watkins - Opposite - NYC Volleyball Academy - New York - Boy Watkins has been a head scratcher for us since the Spring. She literally “jumped” onto our list watching a NTDP session when we watched her in a drill and had to get her name. Her physical #s put her in the ball game: Height of 75”, Block of 118” and Approach of 123”. She has been to NTDP twice. Her skills are raw and the volleyball competition in the upper NE isn’t the greatest so she isn’t seeing some of the year-round reps others are seeing, but you want to talk about “high-ceiling” here is your candidate right here ladies and gentleman. So Halima is circled, underlined, highlighted you name it we have her covered and her physical game will hold up at the next level NO PROBLEM.

​

*Chloe Ritchie - Libero - Munciana - Indiana - Chloe is another one we missed on early last year and we have bumped her 35 pts already. Plus when you throw in the words; Libero, Municana, Yorktown High and Indiana with a recruit and you have to say “we need to watch a little bit more” then let me tell you what the answer is going to be 95% of the time….POSITIVE. But Chloe doesn’t have a Player Profile yet so we don’t know as much about her and what her journey has been up until now so we just aren’t as familiar with her and what makes her tick yet, like we are several of the other top liberos in the deep class. Thus, she is on this list so we can get a feeling either way on the Munci 2 prospect. It’s a hell of a year to need a libero from Indiana I tell you that.

​

*. Camble Booth - Opposite - Colorado Jrs - Colorado - I know we should know more about her, because this is a volleyball legacy name, but we don’t. Booth doesn’t have a profile and we haven’t had many dealings with the Colorado Jrs. Club as a whole. We have watched her at some NTDP sessions and she didn’t stick out from others. Plus she’s an opposite, which again is such a deep position in this class. So we want to really get a great look at her early and get a better feel for her game and athleticism, especially in a Big Gym type setting.

​

*Rilynn Wingenbach - Middle - HPSTL - Missouri - She gained quite a bit of interest last Summer and was invited to several impressive select camps. She is a defensive middle at this point in her career no doubt and her physical numbers reflect that. She has been to an NTDP and has an All-American award at USA Nationals. The strength and the explosion are going to determine what direction her recruiting goes and how high it goes, that is the reason we can’t wait to see how she comes out in January. Athletes like this can do wonders when they get a few intense months in a weight program and their bodies get a bit of time to rest and recover from the club grind. She was talked about by many in the summer so can’t wait to see how Rilynn starts off 2026.

​

*Janie Myers - Setter - A5 - Georgia - Ok great example here of the example between someone who has had a very good Prep career, but is coming on later with their recruiting. Myers has won an All-American award and several high school honors in her career, but her Select Camp invites varied last summer. She is the setter for one of the most recognizable club teams in the country and there are other top prospects that coaches will be watching so she will get her opportunities to be seen. Her height and her block touch scores are in a the 9.3-9.4 range on our TOP Score scale which is well within what most Top 20 programs look for so that is good news for Myers. We are just curious to see how she looks early in the year and if she makes a statement or “is just another setter in the class”. She is going to be good, but does she wow people early?

​

*Surfia Grounds - Opposite - Spike and Serve - Hawaii - Ok this officially makes more Hawaii write ups that I have written on the 2028 class (4) than we wrote in our first 3 years combined (3). Grounds physical numbers jump out at you immediately 78” height and 122” approach touch for another Opposite hitter (some of these girls should have tested out and had their parents move them up to be 2027s). Her Select Camp resume makes you pay attention also: Mizzou, KU, ASU, Utah, CSU and Auburn. Then she has been to multiple NTDPs and has won an UA NEXT MS MVP and has been to 3 UA NEXT camps already. Our immediate question is going to be at that height what is her foot speed and can she play at the big P4 level? With the camps and the accolades you have to assume she can, but that is the primary thing we are watching for when we get her on film early in January. Plus, living in South Dakota I’m asking the boss if I can fly to Hawaii and watch an early tourney of Sufia’s in person to get a better scout for exactly how good she is:)

​

* Chayse Courtney - Outside - Vision - California - Chayse is actually a Silver Level, but we had to throw her in because she made a big jump on our evals late in the summer and we weren’t even looking at her, we were talking on the some of her regional classmates and she just blew us out of the water. Approach touch at 119” and Block touch at 123” she’s been to NTDP and made our VBAdrenaline USA Top 200 of America list. She looks like she is staying home as she hit up every select camp on the west coast last summer, but we have to watch her early because we can’t wait to brag her up to America some more and we are hoping those physical test #s have gone up a little bit more!