In town for Kentucky vs. Texas and decided to record at one of UT's biggest tailgate spots.  It's been a while, so I'm just getting caught up on '27 recruiting topics, '28 Class Preview, and what we learned doing the America's 200 Project.  Plus College Volleyball: what we learned.

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We talk about the basics of recruiting for future classes after watching some of the top recruits in the Class of 2025 start their college careers.....on the bench this past month.  We reflect back on talking with them during their recruiting processes and their stories.

1. Did they take their time?  2. Did they do their research?

3. What can prospects start to learn when watching college vb now?  

4. What questions should you be asking and what research should you be doing if you are a 27, 28 or a 29 prospect?

5. Why it isn't the coach's fault when you don't play early.

6. We tell some stories of some perfect culture fits that weren't highly ranked recruits and how they are thriving because they picked culture over anything else.

7. Plus our college thoughts and early POTY rankings.

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Connect with VB Adrenaline:

• Check out the website
• Connect with Darren on Instagram @vbadrenaline.com

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Thoughts on First Serve in Lincoln and on to Nashville.  Talk Vandy VB and more opening thoughts.  Plus Class of 2027 recruiting notes and some recruiting prospect updates.

On your radar, athletes, some staff shout and show shouts to some coaches, making some great presser comments, and more.

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Connect with VB Adrenaline:

• Check out the website
• Connect with Darren on Instagram @vbadrenaline.com

PS- Do you love this podcast? We would appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review for the show. This will help us continue to grow and spread the word about all the amazing things that are happening in the world of college volleyball.

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I get back on my kick of trying to make college volleyball more exciting again.  Pumping up the need for better rivalries and more exciting coaching characters in the sport.

I point how colorful HC's in other revenue sports fuel rivalries and get "edge spectators" to tune in and spend $ on tickets, apparel and draw additional interest to a program or contest that normally they would not.  Still going back to my main point that eventually volleyball is going to need to draw my "Buffalo Wild Wings Crowd" to truly grow and survive and thrive if they want to catch basketball as a revenue sport (at the college level).  Also, it's just boring listening to the same old press conference where every coach and every athlete says the same boring rehearsed line time after time.

Plus we get into staff shouts from the latest recruiting weeks and who has been crushing it at the end of the Select Camp Circuit before we head into Prep VB season.

Lots of fun banter as the college "fan" in me comes out and I draw up some potential trash talking rivalries that might be fun to see for VB Fans:)

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Connect with VB Adrenaline:

• Check out the website
• Connect with Darren on Instagram @vbadrenaline.com

PS- Do you love this podcast? We would appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review for the show. This will help us continue to grow and spread the word about all the amazing things that are happening in the world of college volleyball.

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I talk with Louisville Associate HC Todd Chamberlain about many topics in his career at Louisville from: Talent evaluating, to building their culture, treating people the right way, locking down hometown recruits from Day 1, all coaches having valuable say and knowing who they could get and who they couldn't.

He talks about the early years of building to get a step better and how they struggled to fill their 1000 seat arena in the first year, but they invited anyone who wanted to be a Louisville fan to do so.

One of the great guys in the sport who has been a part of the recruiting and talent evaluating for the past 8 years.  One of the people I have been fortunate enough to meet and know in this sport.

Support the show

Connect with VB Adrenaline:

• Check out the website
• Connect with Darren on Instagram @vbadrenaline.com

PS- Do you love this podcast? We would appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review for the show. This will help us continue to grow and spread the word about all the amazing things that are happening in the world of college volleyball.

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We talk about some changes in this year's 2027 class and also break down some of the fits of the commits of the top programs.  Then we talk about the movement of getting the calendar changed so that athletes can take their time in recruiting

Connect with VB Adrenaline:

• Check out the website
• Connect with Darren on Instagram @vbadrenaline.com

PS- Do you love this podcast? We would appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review for the show. This will help us continue to grow and spread the word about all the amazing things that are happening in the world of college volleyball.

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We explain the other half of the PPV Pyramid and how it came to be.  There is the athlete PPV Chart and then the program PPV Chart.  Recruitology is the study of volleyball recruiting and it's patterns and predictability.  I break down who is rivals with who, what programs tend to recruit where and and why the actual athlete PPV score doesn't matter as much as the Level does.  This is a generalized look at my study of program recruiting trends over the past 3 seasons and predicting this class from information gathered through our website and communication with prospects, etc.

It may be interesting if you are a volleyball recruiting nerd and it may be extremely boring or useless who knows

Support the show

Connect with VB Adrenaline:

• Check out the website
• Connect with Darren on Instagram @vbadrenaline.com

PS- Do you love this podcast? We would appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review for the show. This will help us continue to grow and spread the word about all the amazing things that are happening in the world of college volleyball.

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We dive deep into some sensitive subjects, dealing with hot topics in our world of recruiting and helping athletes and families have the experience that is best for them.

We tackle topics like athletes being unable to attend Select Camps due to club practice, overpractice, and too long a season, as well as the insane month of June for 16s.

Then we dive into our yearly topic of WHY would any club ever tell prospects that they ARE NOT ALLOWED to talk about camps they are going to or schools they are looking at ?  We discuss why that benefits the athlete and the reasons why the clubs may be doing it in their best interest, not that of the athlete.

Other topics covered...." Anytime a coach or club person tells you 'you are not allowed to... ' that should probably be a RED FLAG," and why athletes should and need to speak up about their experiences MORE in HS and College.

This aligns with what we teach in our Str8 Talk Recruiting Series, which focuses on educating people on the process and asking why.  This is an individual process that clubs shouldn't have blanket policies on.

Support the show

Connect with VB Adrenaline:

• Check out the website
• Connect with Darren on Instagram @vbadrenaline.com

PS- Do you love this podcast? We would appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review for the show. This will help us continue to grow and spread the word about all the amazing things that are happening in the world of college volleyball.

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We talk about the happenings of Spring around volleyball, and that definitely includes college volleyball. We bring in Anders Nelson, head coach of Vandy Volleyball, to talk about Year 1, how things are going with his new program, and everything exciting leading up to their August start date.  What an exciting time in Nashville.  Then we bring on C.C. McGraw of Louisville to talk about everything new and old in The 'Ville as the Cards go through Spring under Dan Meske.  She talks about the program in great detail and everything that makes it one of the best.

Support the show

Connect with VB Adrenaline:

• Check out the website
• Connect with Darren on Instagram @vbadrenaline.com

PS- Do you love this podcast? We would appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review for the show. This will help us continue to grow and spread the word about all the amazing things that are happening in the world of college volleyball.

Don't forget to FOLLOW the podcast so you don't miss a single episode.

Mac and Darren break down the biggest story in college volleyball in some time.  DBK has taken over for John Cook at Nebraska and Dan Meske has moved over a seat to replace her at Louisville.
We discuss what it means for each program in regards to culture, staff, recruiting and the future as two of the most high-profile programs in the sport go through the ultimate face-lift.
Then we break down what is the PPV for our yearly batch of new fans following our content.  Why we don't do rankings and how PPV is way different, plus we show you the PPV Level Grid and talk about how college programs recruit and evaluate talent.
Finally, we talk about five 2027 stars that have caught Mac's eye early on in the film process.

Connect with VB Adrenaline:

• Check out the website
• Connect with Darren on Instagram @vbadrenaline.com

PS- Do you love this podcast? We would appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review for the show. This will help us continue to grow and spread the word about all the amazing things that are happening in the world of college volleyball.

Don't forget to FOLLOW the podcast so you don't miss a single episode.