I believe we'll here very soon that she is....in fact....gone.
Stafford in the portal
- Thread starter ratking17
- Start date
I think no longer being on the roster is pretty telling that she won't be remaining at Pitt, unfortunately.
They took Cat off last year. That's why I said what I said. I would agree that she's gone.
Quick rant related to this - I think Pitt VB is in a precarious spot right now in regards to our talent and expectations vs reality in the NIL world. When Kellen Petrone was on a podcast this year (maybe the Pitt News Volleyball podcast?) he talked about how expectations for the program have changed and with that the level of recruits they target has changed as well. As the NIL world has come to volleyball as well, if Pitt doesn't commit to NIL funding for volleyball (which is small compared to football and basketball but not insignificant) it will be difficult to maintain that level of recruiting and more importantly roster retention. Hence Stafford this year. If we are going to be recruiting elite level players, they will want to get paid and Pitt can only afford so many. So will either lead to a lack of depth, or will need to aim lower some of the time to have those depth players
So Stafford leaving is all about money? Just curious since those in the know on this board don't seem to want to give the reason that she entered the portal.
I don't think anyone has insight into why she left. Could be money.? Could be the spotlight? Could be she wants to play with a friend? Homesick? Doesn't like the cold? Is upset about the changes in downtown Oakland? Who knows?
I think if you look at the schools she visited/considered there's only a couple of potential reasons that make sense.
1. Money
2. Be the featured player on a championship caliber team
3. Some sort of falling out with coach/player/school/whatever
My assumption is that its some combo of 1 and 2. If she visited/considered Penn State and Wisconsin its not for weather or to be closer to home. And I don't believe for a second she left because she didn't think Pitt can win a championship. Maybe she didnt like Pitt's campus or wanted a different campus environment, but thats not enough on its own IMO to transfer away from the team. And I'm not saying I blame her, totally respect her decision. But even though we may never hear exactly why, would bet a lot of money its some combination of the reasons above.
Whether its all about money or not, I would be shocked if money isn't part of it. We would all care about money in her shoes, and if you don't think your job is paying you fairly and you get an offer to go make more money doing the same thing somewhere else, why not leave?
Yeah ... she may be going there, but its official when she or the school announces it publicly.
The person who reported it on volleytalk has access to the portal and can see that she committed. It lines up with the timeframe of Pitt removing her from the roster.
Meanwhile, SMU, which lost pretty much its entire starting lineup, has recruited an entirely new team from the portal despite having 4 freshmen and 5 incoming freshmen. I assume they are certain that the scholarship numbers are being raised.
They signed Texas’ starting setter this past year, who will be at her third school in Texas and apparently was recruited over by a transfer portal setter. They also signed two USC frosh who did play this past season but either were pushed out or thought they had been recruited over by new players. Both were top 50 HS recruits. They also signed the Mountain West Player of the Year, the Big South libero of the year and a starting outside hitter from Auburn.
Feeling in VT is it makes them a top 10 to 15 team next year. Also, that SMU apparently has a lot of NIL money for volleyball.
They signed Texas’ starting setter this past year, who will be at her third school in Texas and apparently was recruited over by a transfer portal setter. They also signed two USC frosh who did play this past season but either were pushed out or thought they had been recruited over by new players. Both were top 50 HS recruits. They also signed the Mountain West Player of the Year, the Big South libero of the year and a starting outside hitter from Auburn.
Feeling in VT is it makes them a top 10 to 15 team next year. Also, that SMU apparently has a lot of NIL money for volleyball.
I think you are right. The portal in volleyball is closed and there really isn’t an OH left of the caliber Pitt would need. I still think we need two since I thought we needed one before Stafford left.
The problem with waiting until May is that less players enter the portal then, although the portal is so new that might change.
Everyone now knows that Pitt needs outside hitters. I'm sure that interested players can reach out to current Pitt players to get some questions answered, express interest, etc.
OK, now it’s official. Very sad to see her go, but wish her the best.
That’s not really how it works. It turned out to be true but Texas fans are sort of like the WVU conference expansion dudes.
Very interesting that ryla jones is the only current player to comment on the post. Wondering if there was actually a falling out
Also I don’t want her to get hurt or anything, but screw the wish her the best stuff. I hope she gets paid all the money she was promised, but I don’t want Texas to have any success.
100%
I’m not wishing her ill will, but I ain’t out here rooting for her. Hope she stinks. Hope every team Pitt plays stinks and Pitt never loses. I want things to happen that increase Pitt’s chances of winning. That’s it.
If no other pitt players comment on her post by tomorrow ish, I’m comfortable saying that there was likely a falling out of some sort. Especially since she was the only one no to comment on babcock’s return post.
I guess kinda get why my gf enjoys drama like this now lmao.
I guess kinda get why my gf enjoys drama like this now lmao.
I don’t agree at all. I wouldn’t expect Pitt players to comment. They can understand and respect her decision without publicly celebrating it.
9:25pm Bayless and VVG liked it, but didn't comment. A few others commented, including Flood. No Fairbanks, Kelley, Klicka, or Babcock. Babcock did manage to find time to put out a Redbull mention, though.
thanks for your contributions at Pitt but screw you and Texas if we meet up, otherwise better you gone than Olivia
and really, what's the chance this wasn't in her head during the season, zero
take from that what you want but not 100% all in WITH Pitt
take from that what you want but not 100% all in WITH Pitt
This is quite the revisionist history. I don’t recall anyone suggesting that she was distracted or not fully committed to Pitt during the season. She was a first team All-American and had the best numbers of any OH in the country. The idea that she wasn’t “100% all I’m with Pitt” during the season is unsupported by any objective evidence.
all true and yet does nothing to say I am incorrect in the thought
I thank her for her effort, think she was great and love that she helped Pitt, but she's not a Pitt girl any longer and wish her nothing but nothing
she will do fine next year and in life, she's an impressive person, but she's not a Pitt girl while she can still be for 2 more years
she shouldn't care what some random Pitt fan thinks on Lair, but if she does or did then she should've asked and I may have helped her out before she decided to leave
I wrote this elsewhere so will repeat it, if Torrey were my daughter I might have her do exactly the same as what she chose, so I understand and admit that while wishing her nothing
Maybe, I do remember Pitt football players supporting JA tho. I could also just like the potential drama haha.
The only comment uttered all season about any sort of issues have come from Babcock and I don't even know that I'd read anything into them. First comment after the Louisville game when she said "we would have been more aggressive" when Louisville momentum was wavering and then in an interview after her player of the year award she said, "I don't play for the awards, I play for the people. When you're playing for good people and people that love you, good things come out of it." You can read whatever you want into it but there was a bit of an undertone to some of that and I doubt we'll ever really understand what happened.
If anything, I think this was a multi player decision. Ella Swindle was rumored to be leaving Texas and now she's not. They're friends. It could be that simple and that's fine. I do in fact wish here all the best because these girls are doing what's best for themselves.
Pitt will be just fine.
