LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Louisville and Kentucky finished last season with top-25 rankings in women's volleyball.
They backed it up with NCAA Tournament success, the Wildcats advancing to the Sweet 16, the Cardinals to the Elite Eight.
Then they backed that up on the recruiting trail. According to the rankings at PrepVolleyball.com, Louisville coach Dani Busboom Kelly signed a class ranked No. 17 in the nation.
Craig Skinner of Kentucky topped that. Skinner recruited a class that would make John Calipari or Mike Krzyzewski blush. His UK class was ranked No. 1.
"Obviously, they have to perform," Skinner told UKAthletics.com. "There's no guarantee of anyone performing until they get to college and perform at the highest level. But it's a pretty well-rounded class, on top of their athleticism."
Guess who wants to join Skinner and Busboom Kelly in the national conversation: Steve Aird at Indiana.
"We want to be at that table," Aird said.
According to the recruiting rankings, Aird at least put his name on the reservation list. PrepVolleyball ranked Aird's third class, a group of eight players, No. 15 in America. Two of the recruits -- Leyla Blackwell and Savannah Kjolhede -- were named Under Armor all-Americans as middle blockers.
As an assistant coach at Cincinnati, Aird said that he watched Skinner start the journey of making Kentucky nationally relevant in 2004
"His is a blueprint that I look at," Aird said.
He said he's known Busboom Kelly since her days at Nebraska. "Dani is a fantastic coach with a great staff," he added.
Aird and IU defeated the Wildcats in Lexington, Kentucky, last season. He said he would love to get Louisville on the Hoosiers' schedule.
His goal: Upgrade Indiana to a program where the expectations and achievements are similar to the expectations at UK, Louisville and the powerful Big Ten programs.
"There's a path to do it," Aird said. "It's not easy, but you can do it."
A former player and coach at Penn State, Aird came to Indiana from Maryland. In two seasons the Hoosiers have won 30 of 64 matches. After an 11-2 start last season that included the five-set win at UK, the Hoosiers were reminded how daunting Big Ten volleyball can be.
They finished 3-17 in conference play, one spot ahead last-place Rutgers.
But, after finishing 13th in the league on the court, Aird and his staff finished sixth in the Big Ten in recruiting.
"To be blunt, I think with some of these kids ... if they were recruited by UCLA and USC — and there's a bunch of them that had big, big offers like Wisconsin — if they ended up there, their rankings are probably higher," Aird said. "And the class as a group is probably ranked higher. But we've got a lot of work to do to establish real credibility."
Hiring Aird brought credibility. So did the opening of Wilkinson Hall, the new volleyball/wrestling facility that sits east of Assembly Hall. So did the attendance jump to 1,809 per match, an improvement of 42% from Aird's first season. IU ranked 15th nationally in total attendance.
Aird said that, before he took the job, the first question he asked was: Is this a place it can happen?
His answer was yes because of the success Indiana has traditionally delivered in soccer and swimming and started to generate in baseball and women's basketball.
The recruiting area is prime. Indiana has long been one of the top prep volleyball states in the nation.
"Kentucky is unbelievable," Aird said. "Ohio great. Illinois great. Missouri great. Within a three-hour drive some of the best talent in the country."
But Aird had an interesting stat. Indiana high school volleyball has produced several hundred college All-Americans. One — Ashley Benson — played for IU.
How does the Indiana coach change that trend?
"By not being afraid," Aird said. "Not been afraid. I think that's No. 1. There's been an expectation that Indiana wasn't going to get the top kids. My expectation has been let's go get the top kids.
"You have to be built that way. That's got to be your DNA if you are going to try to rebuild.
"It's an interesting progression because I've been through it.
"It starts with, 'That kid is going where?'
"Then it's, "That kid is going there, too?'
"And then, in a year or two, it's, 'Oh, it's no surprise that kid is going there.'"
Steve Aird got a few of those recruits. He intends to get many more.
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