The Recruiting Recap: July 13-20 Class of 2027

The Daily Recap: July 20th

Notes and Highlights from the Open Period Class of 2027

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Top Commits of the past week. So many talented athletes are still going to top schools. Congratulations to these ten and the 50 that committed over a month into the open period. Taking your time, going to camps, and talking with coaches multiple times have their advantages.

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1. Caelyn Whoesendove Outside A5 PPV 227 to Clemson

Scouts love the high ceiling of this athlete still learning the game.

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2.  Isabella Stojkovic Outside Aspire PPV 233 to Northwestern

Difference maker and impact pin that Northwestern desperately needed in the B1G arms race

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3.  Charley Gardner Outside Legacy PPV 204 Bowling Green

Solid six rotation outside that chooses Bowling Green over P4 offers and caps off a huge week for the program.

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4.  Katherine Nowak Outside WAVE PPV 212 Georgetown

High-flying pin with big match experience. Could be a day one impact maker. Big sign for Hoyas

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5.  Ainsley Wilson Middle 1st Alliance PPV 202 Dayton

Wilson chooses a solid Dayton program over interest from big schools. Recruiting W for Flyers and a solid recruit from one of the top clubs in America. Possible year 1 plug and play.

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6.  Avery Kapeller Outside High Performance PPV 192 Georgetown

KAPS, a great weekend for Hoyas, this is a leader and program-building athlete with energy and locker room presence. True six rotation skills, but a culture and energy builder no doubt.

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7.  Mazzy Johnson Opposite Austin Juniors PPV 161 Rice

Johnson is a powerful athlete who was used in multiple positions on her club team. Opposite will probably be her natural spot in college, but she has flexibility. She is quick to release her attack and has a variety of shots that don’t give the block much time to read her. She needs to work on her vertical game to dictate what role she plays at the next level, but the power and shot-making abilities are there for her.

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8.  Margaret Foote Middle Sudden Impact PPV 179 Gonzaga

Loving the class the Zags are putting together in ’27, and Foote is just making it better. A slender middle that is long and quick off her block. Runs slides well already and will continue to improve on her offensive game with reps and time. The conference will be a great fit and offer a chance for her to make early contributions and have early success.

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9.  Kendyl Strack Libero The Academy PPV 170 Bowling Green

2nd solid pickup for Bowling Green of the week. Same recipe, top club in the Midwest, and solid player who is a gritty competitor. Someone who could fight for time early, but will be a contributor for them soon.

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10.  Evelyn Pool Middle Forza 1 North PPV 172 Duke

This commit just fits the theme of the day. Pool is a tremendous “value commit” and I think fits this range perfectly for Duke. Talented athlete with a high ceiling for growth, but low potential for “bust ability”. She has played plenty of high-level volleyball and performed well. The game will develop as her strength and explosion develop at the next level. This is a great fit both ways, athlete/program.

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Staff Shouts:

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Wofford “Woof Woof”

Let’s have a day, Terrier Staff! Not sure if they planned the Big Splash day to parade their new “litter of Terriers” to the world or it just happened that way, but boom, BOom, BOOm, BOOM! On July 15th, it was Wofford’s Day as here comes the crew.

Olivia Badyna Libero, Marley Moore Opp, Kamryn Penn Setter, and Kenzie Smith Middle verballed one by one. It was a great day to be a Wofford fan for sure.

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Clemson is coming on strong:

The Tiger staff means business this season, and I also love how they didn’t panic like some people do when the Big Guns fired their shots the first 48 hours of recruiting. The Tigers are aware of their position and the circumstances surrounding them, and they appear to be sticking to a plan. They have designated targets (around the ATL), and they are talented with high potential.

**Reminds me of the podcast I just did with Todd Chamberlain of Louisville, when he talked about their first few years of their staff’s recruiting!!

Clemson has moved to 16th in the country (actually higher when you subtract a couple of classes that will be removed if they don’t sign more than one athlete) and 4th in the rugged ACC, which features two of the Top 5 teams in America. I love watching new teams make moves, so keep an eye on these Tigers.

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Georgetown (yes, that Georgetown)

What a weekend for the Hoya Nation. Two pins 192 PPV and above. That is starter material in most any conference, and if Creighton didn’t have their most ridiculous class ever, this Hoya class would at least be making those birds fly a little bit faster than normal to the Big East recruiting title. Again I just think this is a small sign of the change with the Rev Share and the rules, athletes will slowly trickle and better athletes will spread out and disperse the talent onto more schools and make for better parity at great schools like a Georgetown where not only do they get an AMAZING education and jump start on a career, but they get to play instead of sitting on the bench for 2-3 on a Top 20 program.

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**What is ahead:

Even though it seems like the 2027s have been in recruiting for forever, it’s been five weeks, and we are about 10 days from Official Visits beginning. What I am hearing with many of the names still remaining is that they are waiting to take official visits before committing.

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Now, in the past, that has happened a couple of ways:

1. They take them right away in August, complete them, and commit before prep season gets rolling and school starts.
2. They wait until football season starts and take visits with already committed athletes so they can get a truer feeling of campus, school, and take in a volleyball match, etc.

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Then there are those waiting on a better offer, or offers get pulled, or they haven’t received the offer they want yet, and they will just wait until club season in January and play into their Junior years to commit.

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Or you commit to that one really prestigious school that doesn’t allow you to announce until May, and in that case, you are just sitting here and getting asked for nine months, “where are you going to school and when are you going to decide?”

However, we only know of one of those so far.

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Interesting things in California, where it seems like a few more of the top prospects are still uncommitted, but are also waiting to take visits, and I believe have planned to all along. I have never really believed in doing any kind of “Best Available List” until after visits begin simply because as someone who advocates for athletes to take their time, when you start posting content like that I think you are inferring that “if they are still available” that maybe they shouldn’t be available and they should have committed already. I think the athletes waiting until visits are the ones doing it the right way.

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More to come as we start to preview and break down the college preseason, and begin to look at the Class of 2024 and how they might fare now that they are in the big time, as well as what their PPVs in college will look like compared to their Prep PPVs.

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