One of the main talking points of the offseason for Wisconsin volleyball is how youthful the roster is. The talent is impressive, but the team will feature mostly freshmen and sophomores this season. There will be zero seniors, and thus, in an ideal world, this roster all returns for next season and builds off of whatever 2026 ends up looking like. The downside to this is that Wisconsin, a top school for many high school recruits, isn't really recruiting right now.
The class of 2026 was so big and so impressive that 2027 will now have zero recruits (thanks to Decelise Champion), and 2028 will only have a single recruit, according to Kelly Sheffield. Of course, that can change, but he says his plan is to only bring in one player for 2028.
Kelly Sheffield says they are done recruiting for 2028 unless something changes
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Sheffield joined Jon Arias on his "Joncast" podcast and talked all about Wisconsin volleyball. The most telling part of the interview was his approach to 2028 recruiting. Sheffield said, "We're done...Here we are four days afterward (opening of the contact period), and we've got our recruiting class of one."
He did say that he was ideally looking at bringing in two players in the class and that things may change, but he's happy with one. Sheffield said the one player they are bringing in is perfect for them, "We feel really, really great about the one person that is coming here and her potential and fit."
That one person, whom Sheffield has to be careful not to mention by name until the class is signed, is 6'3 hitter Taylor Freeland from Utah. She's one of the top players in the country and an elite hitter who brings a lot of pop to her attacks.
That's it for 2027 and 2028 unless something changes. And it's because 2026 was an exceptional class and Wisconsin added young talent from the transfer portal, too.
2026 recruiting is so elite it's changed Wisconsin volleyball for years
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2026 recruiting brought in seven freshmen. Not just any freshmen, either, but elite players from both overseas and out of high school. Audrey Flanagan, Halle Thompson, Lynney Tarnow, Isabelle Hoppe, Kymora Scott, Decelise Champion, and Anna Bardaro. Those final two from international waters.
Champion was originally committed for 2027 but recently decided to declassify and come in 2026 with an already loaded roster. It muddies the hitter waters a little bit, but Sheffield said in the same interview that he loves the competition and isn't worried about the logjam or playing time, "It will figure itself out."
He was also a lot higher on Bardaro than most of the American news around the libero. Sheffield thinks she's one of the elite international liberos in the world and will push Kristen Simon for the spot, making Simon work to keep the position. "[Simon] knows that someone super talented is coming in and she wants to be out on the court." Simon is already working tirelessly to improve.
At the end of the day, the loaded roster has really created a recruiting dilemma for Sheffield, but it's one he's loving. The fact that he has such top young players is a great thing.
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