The cliche has always been “recruiting is the lifeblood of a program’s success.” But since the advent of NIL and the transfer portal, recruiting plans can go south literally overnight, leaving coaches to recruit new players as they try to field competitive teams.
That was the situation newly-minted Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley and her staff faced when she took the reins at Penn State in 2022, after the retirement of coaching icon Russ Rose following the 2021 season. Seven players had transferred from Penn State: backup OH AC Fitzpatrick transferred to Florida, starting OH Adanna Rollins transferred to Kentucky, starting setter Gabby Blossom transferred to the University of San Diego, starting libero Jenna Hampton transferred to South Carolina, backup setter Emily Oerther transferred to Mississippi State, freshman setter Rachel Muisenga transferred to Michigan State, and starting middle blocker Kaitlyn Hord transferred to Nebraska. In addition, five players had either exhausted their eligibility or had retired.
That left Coach Katie with nine returning players from the 2021 PSU Roster, plus two incoming freshman, for a total of 11 players committed to Penn State — only two of whom had started 10 or more matches in the 2021 season.
Coach Katie and the Penn State staff went to work and brought in four transfers who had played significant roles at other colleges: starting middle blocker Taylor Trammell, starting setter Seleisa Elisaia, starting RS Zoe Weatherington, and starting OH Kashauna Williams. In addition, Penn State was able to add two freshmen — Gillian Grimes and Katie Hurta — who flipped their commitments to Penn State in 2022, after Coach Katie was named head coach at Penn State. (Technically, Grimes and Hurta weren’t “transfers,” as they never played for another school, but we’re including them because of how late in the process they flipped their commitments). That made for a grand total of 17 players on the 2022 PSU Roster.
Much was made at the time of those six transfers — that Penn State didn’t value high school recruits (even though two of the six “transfers” were … wait for it … high school recruits). That it was the transfer portal gone mad. But the truth is, the six transfers-in (counting Grimes and Hurta) were actually one fewer player than the seven who had transferred out of the program.
Furthermore, there were plenty of other programs whose use of the transfer portal was strikingly similar to Penn State — but without having experienced roster turnover following a coaching change. That’s clear from the table below: in 2022, for example, Texas (61.1%), Wisconsin (64.7%), and UCLA (68.8%) all joined Penn State (64.7%) in having rosters with less-than 70% high school recruits. In 2023, Wisconsin’s 53.3% was the lowest among our survey of seven programs.
Looking ahead, change is coming for Penn State. In 2026, per the DigNittany Player Matrix, 15 of 18 players on the Penn State roster will be high school recruits, with only three transfers (83.3% high school recruits). In 2027, per the DigNittany Player Matrix, 15 of 17 players on the roster will be high school recruits (88.2% high school recruits). Those percentages would rank at or near the top for our seven surveyed programs in each of 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
It can take some time to stabilize a roster after a major program upheaval like the retirement of Coach Rose. But Coach Katie and Penn State are getting there. And in the process, Penn State even managed to win a National Championship in 2024, with Coach Katie becoming the first female head coach to win a D1 Women’s Volleyball National Championship.
Nicely done all around.
Summary Table -- % High School Recruits on 2022 to 2025 Rosters
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HS Recruits as % of Roster | 94.1% (16/17) Louisville 2022 | 83.3% (15/18) Louisville 2023 | 82.4 (14/17) Louisville 2024 | 87.5% (14/16) Louisville 2025 | |||
| 92.9% (13/14) Nebraska 2022 | 92.9% (13/14) Nebraska 2023 | 78.6% (11/14) Nebraska 2024 | 82.3% (14/17) Nebraska 2025 | ||||
| 64.7% (11/17) PSU 2022 | After Russ Rose retired following the 2021 season, 7 players transferred out, and 5 players exhausted their eligibility/retired, leaving 9 returning players from the PSU 2021 Roster. There were 2 incoming freshman, and 6 transfers-in (2 of whom were freshmen), for a total 2022 roster of 17. | 57.9% (11/19) PSU 2023 | 62.5% (10/16) PSU 2024 | 66.7% (12/18) PSU 2025 | 83.3 (15/18) DigNittany Player Matrix | 88.2 (15/17) DigNittany Player Matrix |
|
| 73.3% (11/15) Pitt 2022 | 75% (12/16) Pitt 2023 | 87.5% (14/16) Pitt 2024 | 73.3% (11/15) Pitt 2025 | ||||
| 61.1% (11/18) Texas 2022 | 77.8% (14/18) Texas 2023 | 65% (13/20) Texas 2024 | 75% (12/16) Texas 2025 | ||||
| 68.8% (11/16) UCLA 2022 | 76.5% (13/17) UCLA 2023 | 68.4% (13/19) UCLA 2024 | 66.7% (12/18) UCLA 2025 | ||||
| 64.7% (11/17) Wisconsin 2022 | 53.3% (8/15) Wisconsin 2023 | 81.3% (13/16) Wisconsin 2024 | 64.7% (11/17) Wisconsin 2025 |