Dave Rubio knows how to reel in a top recruiting class.
In 2002, Arizona boasted the nation’s No. 1 class in the country featuring Kim Glass, Bre Ladd and Jennifer Abernathy. And in 2006, the Wildcats’ group — highlighted by Tucson prep star Whitney Dosty — ranked fourth.
This year’s recruiting class is ranked No. 7 in the country and first in the Pac-12.
Rubio said plenty of factors go into recruiting — including the available talent pool, each team’s needs, how coaches share their vision with players and how well the recruits fit in.
There’s something else sprinkled in, too.
“Some of it is you just get a little bit lucky,” Rubio said. “If you are going to get a top-10 class, that means you’re getting some recognizable kids that everybody knows about. You’ve had to go fight for those kids tooth and nail and somehow convince them to come to your school.”
Most great recruiting classes start with the first player.
For Arizona, that was Jaelyn Hodge from Chandler’s Basha High School. Hodge, the 2019 Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year, is ranked as the No. 20 recruit in the country by Prep Volleyball. She’s Arizona’s highest-ranked recruit since Dosty, who was No. 4 nationally coming out of Salpointe Catholic High School.
Once Hodge committed, the rest of the class fell into place. As a result, Arizona is the only school to have four players in Prep Volleyball’s top 100: Hodge, Lauren Ware (No. 50), Emery Herman (No. 68) and China Crouch (No. 73). Shelby O’Neal was in the next 10. N’Jiaye Bonwell, Jalessa Caroccio, Joy Galles and Sofia Maldonado round out the class.
Still, “nine is a big number,” Rubio said. “And when you’re talking about three others coming in as well, the complexion of the team is certainly going to be a lot different than it was in the past.”
The Wildcats have also added three transfers — Akia Warrior from Belmont, Merle Weidt from Rutgers and Dilara Gedikoglu from Tulsa.
They’ll join a UA roster that returns just four players with match experience: Senior outside hitter Paige Whipple, junior defensive specialist/libero Malina Kalei Ua, junior middle blocker Zyonna Fellows and sophomore defensive specialist/libero Kamaile Haipo. Redshirt freshmen Simone Overbeck and Mackay Sennyey, both outside hitters, have yet to make their college debuts.
The UA must also replace assistant coach Gregg Whitis. The ace recruiter left the program last month, citing personal and health issues.
UA coach Dave Rubio talks with sophomore outside hitter Whittnee Nihipali, 18, before the Wildcats’ win over Alabama State in September.
Leaning on WhippleThe roster turnover means Rubio will be relying on his senior, Whipple, to lead.
“It’s a brand-new team,” he said. “The key to any time that you bring in a new class regardless of the number — but when the numbers are bigger — it becomes a function of the leadership in the upperclass and how well they can manage the locker room. And that’s going to be, for all intents and purposes, Paige Whipple. She is the one that’s going to carry most of that load.
“Trying to establish that culture and it’s going to be a brave new world for us. There’s going to be a few bumps along the road. … Paige, so far has really stepped up and it has risen to the occasion on the leadership side.”
New offense or old offense?
Rubio installed a new offensive system last season. With the spring season canceled and the potential of a shortened preseason, Rubio isn’t sure if he’ll use it again this fall.
“If we don’t have a lot of time, then the chances are pretty good that we’ll just go back to kind of the general system that everyone plays,” he said. “Of course, had we had the normal spring season, by the time that would have finished we would it would have it down. It’s certainly going to be a work in progress once we start the season next year, whenever that is.”
To that point, Rubio has been working through the different scenarios of when the season will start. He said that he thinks volleyball will follow football. At issue is the length of the season, which matches will air on the Pac-12 Networks and who gets gym time and when.
An open position
The UA is in the midst of a hiring freeze, but Rubio said he plans to seek a waiver to fill Whitis’ position.
“They can only say no,” he said. “I think that will have a decent job of getting an opportunity to hire somebody. The good news is if nothing’s going on, we can’t be out recruiting. So being down a coach is not that big of a deal at this point.”
When he is allowed to hire, Rubio will have quite the list to select from. The coach said he has been receiving daily calls from assistants who are interested in joining his staff.
