By The Numbers: Playing in the Power 5

Usually when I am doing a recruiting seminar, I spend the majority of the time talking about D1 scholarships and how those numbers break down. I talk to a lot of parents that have athletes that can play in the Power 5 or they want to play in the Power 5. I thought I would run some numbers and try to show how difficult that task really is.

*the Power 5 conferences are the SEC, ACC, Big 10, Big 12 and PAC 12

**I did round-up some of the answers to help keep the math simple

First, lets use some base numbers so the figures we come up with for the Power 5 schools will have some perspective.

HS Athletes playing Volleyball - 429,634

Athletes playing volleyball (NCAA all levels) - 16,647 (3.9% of HS athletes)

Athletes playing at the NCAA D1 level - 5155 (1.2% of HS athletes)

Next, we will look at some of the base numbers for the Power 5, then we will start combining all of this information.

Athletes playing in the Power 5 - 1020

Athletes on scholarship in the Power 5 - 756

Smallest : Largest (Roster size) - 12 : 22

Average Roster size in the Power 5 - 16

% Athletes on scholarship in the Power 5 - 75%

Ok, lets combine some of these numbers shall we!

19% of D1 Athletes are playing in the Power 5

0.23% of all HS volleyball athletes are playing in the Power 5

0.17% of all HS volleyball athletes are on scholarship in the Power 5

...in any given graduating year in the Power 5

Athletes recruited by each school - 4 (average)

Athletes recruited by each school on scholarship - 3 (average)

Total athletes recruited in the Power 5 - 252

Total athletes on scholarship in the Power 5 - 189

Now obviously there are more options to play volleyball outside of the Power 5; 272 D1 schools to be exact, and plenty of D2 schools as well! If anything I want to help athletes understand how difficult it is to play at an elite level, but of course not impossible. Continue to look for a GOOD FIT! A "good fit" means that you fit more than just the level that you can or are able to play. It means you are finding a good match and a good situation to play volleyball. The 400 or so volleyball athletes that were in the transfer portal this year should indicate, at a minimum, that we aren't matching athletes into situations that are going to be beneficial to them.

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