U.S. volleyball: Shrinking college pool bodes ill for men’s team

LONDON--It was hurtful enough that Loyola Marymount cut its men’s volleyball team during Reid Priddy’s senior season. It was what came next that baffled him.

“By the next basketball season,” he said, “there was a million-dollar scoreboard put in place.”

Priddy freely admits he does not understand all the dollars and sense of college athletic funding. But, as the U.S. men prepare to defend their gold medal, the rapidly shrinking number of college volleyball opportunities could jeopardize the future ability of the U.S. men to play at a world-class level.

That is why Priddy would rather see volleyball officials leverage the Olympic exposure to rebuild the sport on the college level rather than nurture the fantasy of a U.S. pro league.

Every Pac-12school offers women’s volleyball, but only three -- USC, UCLA and Stanford -- offer men’s volleyball. According to the NCAA website, 321 schools competed in Division I women’s volleyball last season, with 30 competing in Division I men’s volleyball.

“It’s not enough,” Priddy said. “I don’t know what we can do without violating Title IX, as good as that has been for women.”

By mandating equal athletic opportunity for women, Title IX has forced colleges to add women’s sports and/or cut men’s sports -- even at Loyola, which does not field a football team. The colleges that do offer men’s volleyball offer fewer scholarships than they do for women’s volleyball.

Priddy said increased exposure can help the best aspiring men’s volleyball players realize they do not need to choose between playing the sport beyond college and earning a living. Priddy, 34, has played in pro leagues in Russia, Italy, Korea and Greece.

“When I graduated college, I didn’t know you could be a professional player indoors,” he said. “I thought all I could do was beach volleyball, because that’s all I saw.

“Salaries overseas are significant enough that you could pay back your student loans within a season or two.”

Not that the overseas experience is easy. Pro clubs have little patience for development, so play well or go home.

“It feels like an episode of ‘Survivor,’” Priddy said. “You have a bunch of people just trying not to get voted off.”

Priddy lives in Huntington Beach. He would love to play for a Southern California team in a U.S. pro league, but he admits such a league would need a sugar daddy, the role Lamar Hunt and Phil Anschutz played for Major League Soccer.

“MLS is a great model,” Priddy said, “if you have somebody who has $50 million to lose.”

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