I spent some time going through the 37 pages of posts on the Volleytalk.proboards thread on the transfer portal hoping to find some info on players who Pitt might be looking at — and vice-versa.
First, the defensive player we got from VT has gotten zero posts. That is surprising because most times when a top teams lands a transfer portal there is some comment about it.
Second, the strong consensus is that Pitt really needs a MB and three really good ones are reported to have taken visits. Alas, none have chosen Pitt.
The first one was a MB from Baylor. She apparently narrowed her list of schools to Pitt and two others but chose one of the other two.
The second was from UC Irvine. This one was really interesting because she apparently made her decision pretty much on the academics side of things. She was down to Pitt and Oregon, both of which offer a two-year Master’s program in her chosen field. Because it is such a difficult curriculum, she wants to redshirt this coming season to focus in academics and then play the following year. That was okay with Oregon but not Pitt, where Fisher needs someone for 2023. So she committed to Oregon.
I don’t know where the third one is transferring from, but I do know that she narrowed her many offers down to Wisconsin and Pitt — and chose Wisconsin.
So, we were finalists for 3 MBs, all of whom are supposed to be excellent players, but got none of them.
The portal closed on January 11 and reopens on May 1. Right now, there don’t seem to be many if any uncommitted top players left. Fisher might have to go to Europe or rely on Jepsen and Babcock at that MB position.
