Many have taken to social media and more to decry the upcoming NCAA D1 women's volleyball 18-person roster limit ruling. The main concern has been the "compression effect." The concern is that now with a roster limit, fringe talent D1 talent will take the spots in D2, going all the way down the pipeline so there are less opportunities to get recruited. Some have even labeled this as scary. But how many are typically on a D1 roster in the first place? Fortunately, I have done that work for you. Here is what I did in a quick roster survey. - 1 school from each of the 31, 2024 NCAA D1 Conferences - Randomly selected - Used 2023 roster numbers BECAUSE with the portal in swing, SID's and coaches have already taken down 2024 roster webpages, taken players off, etc...making the data inaccurate. A10 - George Mason - 17 ACC - Boston College - 20 America East - Bryant - 17 American Athletic - Rice - 16 ASUN - North Alabama - 17 BIG10 - Indiana - 17 BIG12 - K-State - 17 Big East - DePaul - 17 Big Sky - NAU - 16 Big South - High Point - 16 Big West - Long Beach - 20 CAA - Hofstra - 16 Conference USA - FIU - 15 Horizon - Oakland - 16 Ivy - Brown - 19 MAAC - Manhattan - 16 MAC - Ball State - 18 MEAC - Coppin - 16 Missouri Valley - Drake - 19 Mountain West - Air Force - 20 Northeast - FDU - 19 Ohio Valley - Eastern Illinois - 15 Patriot - American - 18 SEC - Alabama - 16 SoCon - ETSU - 17 Southland - Lamar - 14 Summit - NDSU - 14 Sunbelt - Coastal Carolina - 16 SW Athletic - Alcorn - 13 WAC - Abilene - 17 WCC - Gonzaga - 14 The average of all of these? 16.7.
And since you can't have .7 people on a roster, the answer is 16. In 2023, the average roster size of a NCAA D1 team was 16 student-athletes. Therefore, the reasonable conclusion from the data is that the 18 person roster limit ruling does not have a bearing on limiting opportunities for recruits at the D1 level. (the transfer portal, is another story and subject). Whether or not it is at a school you want to play for is a different story as well. Sure, some teams have to cut, but not everyone. Some are doing their best to find athletes to fill their rosters. Yes, even at the coveted D1 level. What are the possible implications for the ruling?
1.) Many dishonest coaches will have to stop selling their program to a fifth string DS recruit on a roster and telling them that they will be the face of the program on their visit. 2.) The quality of volleyball at the D1 level has an opportunity to improve. With less programs at 20+, athletes will receive in general more attention from coaches, helping them become more skilled players. 3.) Coaches that over recruit out of fear, cauldron style, or alike, will be challenged to teach the game at a higher level, not just recruit their blind spots. 4.) Coaches that cannot teach volleyball as well as others will have lack of skill development be a main reason an athlete transfers from their program. Athletes talk with other friends at other programs and know whether or not they are getting developed in comparison to their peers in other gyms. 5.) Cultures have an opportunity to improve because athletes feel like they have a better chance to play competing against less athletes. Anything beyond 18 really has approximately 1/2 of the roster wondering at all time, "how the heck am I going to play when we have over 3X the amount of girls needed on a team?" There are more implications for the ruling from many angles, but this is a good start. Subscribe and feel free to ask me questions.