Recruiting the Libero Position

*Originally posted September 26th, 2022

I have said in many of my seminars that the libero position is one of the toughest positions to get recruited in volleyball. It's probably a toss-up between the libero and the 6-2 setter as to which is actually the toughest. Either way you want to look at it, it's really hard to get recruited as a libero. I think this is true regardless of the level.

It's a numbers game

Just from a starting point, you are competing against a TON of other athletes in your position. It can be really hard to stand out. It can be really hard to work your way onto a list as well.

Every club team in the country basically will carry two DS/Liberos on the roster. The distinction between the two athletes in regardless to talent and level isn't necessary at this point. Just looking at 1 Qualifier at the Open level, I've got 64 liberos to evaluate. That by itself is more liberos than I ever want to have on my list. What is going to make 1 of those athletes stand-out as I'm walking by their court? Chances are it's going to be because they already sent me film and I like their film. I have even argued, that if push came to shove I could find a libero I liked with only looking at half of those teams. Put me in the middle of 4 of those courts and I could find 1 athlete out of those 16 to help my program. 64 liberos at 1 qualifier? But how many P5 teams are there in D1? Right now there are currently 63 P5 programs (That number is going to go up in the next couple of seasons). That means that every team in a P5 conference could take 1 libero each from 1 qualifier. Just remember there are 12 qualifiers in one season. That just by itself is a lot of athletes in one position. Not to mention all of the teams playing USA or lower that could potentially filling rosters spots at other D1 programs across the country.

Scholarships

If the sheer number of athletes in your position isn't hard enough of a challenge, let's talk about how many scholarships are available. First, out of 335 D1 schools and 300 D2 schools, how many of those programs are even recruiting a libero in your class? In a good year I would say about half; maybe a little higher. I think plenty of schools tend to have 2-3 libero's on their roster each season. If we're talking about a scholarship position (either for all 4 years or 1-2 years) then that number goes down quite a bit. If we are talking about getting a scholarship as a libero, that number will be anywhere from 25%-30%. I think it might be higher adding in the D2 schools where they can give partial scholarships to this position fairly easily. Plenty of schools will only realistically have 1 libero on scholarship at a time. Whether that is a 2, 3 or 4 year scholarship, in most cases coaches are only using 1 scholarship (1 out of 12 for D1 schools) at a time for that position. Again, that number will potentially be higher for D2 schools; but that will depend on how much scholarship money is available for each class. In general though you are looking at fewer than 100 D1 schools that are looking for a scholarship libero in any given class.

I'll this here as well, because I think it's something to consider: Most (not all) college coaches aren't recruiting a libero to come in and start right away. They are expecting you to train for a season, then take over the libero position the next season. That means your freshmen year a senior libero is on scholarship. Right out of the gate you're looking at a 3 year scholarship opportunity.

Mis-steps...

The other piece of info that I hear from parents regularly is that "liberos get recruited last" or their "process is slower." Now this might be entirely true for some but it isn't always the case. It's anyone's guess as to how many libero's commit in the spring vs fall seasons. But one thing is sure, you CAN get recruited and make a commitment "early" in the process if you are a libero. I think too many athletes and families make the mistake of assuming that their process will be "longer" and so do little and sometimes nothing in the recruiting process.

Here are a couple of things that I think are good to think about regardless of your position:

Figure out where you fit athletically - this will REALLY help your recruiting process.

Start sooner rather than later - yes, this might make your process "longer" but doing the things to HELP your process is always better than NOT doing them.

Don't stall-out! - This happens a lot in the fall. Be willing to take that next step in the process: email, text, phone call. Then plan on taking a visit!

This is process is hard and it can take longer than you think! If it's something you want to do though, hang in there and stick with it!

As always, feel free to reach out to me if you need help!

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