Huff leaving Wahine volleyball program
Megan Huff will leave volleyball and concentrate on basketball as of today 9-16. Release from UH coming soon.
Shoji said he’d have a comment soon.
A surprise and not. Only because she had worked so hard the past five weeks and over the summer. But she was going to have to start sharing time with basketball practices, from what I understand, and is limited to 20 hours a week of practice total. So it was going got be a hard choice.
She is on basketball scholarship so that is her priority.
The question now is Who trains on the right? And do they move Mitchem on the right? that could be a huge front row in some rotations.
COMMENTS
Comments are closed.
Mitchem is WAY to good to move behind Taylor. Move Maybe Casey there. She has the height, and the passing skills. I like the three middle thing Dave has been using.
1 didn’t say Mitchem would be behind Taylor. but in the rotations that Taylor hits left, that would be an option. Castillo is the logical choice as right-side backup, even Granato.
Will be interesting to see the lineup Friday. Much will depend on who is feeling better. Greeley and Granato both missed practice Tuesday morning.
I really anticipated this move by Huff. Too bad, because she worked so hard to get more playing time and it showed how much she improved over last year whenever she entered the game. Just hoping that nothing happens to Taylor since there appears to be no adequate replacement for her. Good luck, Megan. you’ll be a star as a basketball player.
good luck to huff … i’m sure it can’t have been an easy decision.
we’ll see how the coaches and wahine adjust to this now …
Really too bad, Shoji did find her first.
I wish she had redshirted so she could have played her fifth year on the volleyball team maybe?
Actually, with Megan being on a basketball scholarship now, it occurred to me that next year, it might make sense to redshirt her in volleyball — the reverse of what Kalei did her senior year, when Nikki will be a senior. Then she will have 2 years after Nikki graduates.
But, they still need to resolve the practice time issue, and if Megan takes over as the starting right side, her availability will be up in the air. What happens when both sports are in season is the question.
Even though this is good news for the wahine basketball team (they desperately needed a decent frontcourt starter). This is really bad for wahine volleyball depth, I fully expected Huff to play a lot in the big when TMO struggles or during blow outs to rest Nikki, and possibly start next year.
Need Nikki to stay healthy all season Now with no backup with experience for her.
Warriorfan is correct: this is a huge blow to our depth. I think this is huge no matter how you spin it. Dave effed up by not trying to find a place for Huff while TMO was struggling. It showed Huff that no matter how bad things get she wont be seeing much playing time on this team….
Best wishes to Huff. As others have said, she was killing it in practice but still very little play time.
Wishing her all the best. Coach Beeman had said that Megan had the potential to make it into WNBA so Megan future is very bright.
best wishes to Huff. She made the right choice. She wasnt playing and she will be a starter in BB.
Basketball doesn’t have any good front court players and they needed her badly to start the season, probably a reason she decided to go full time with them.
@11. Not entirely true. Wahine have 6-1 Sampton (F/F) and 6-3 Morris (C). 6-3 RS transfer Briana Kennedy (C) is eligible and 6-1 Kalei Adolpho (C) returns for her final year of eligibility.
Im sure if she was playing a steady role in VB, it would have been difficult to make the move…she wasnt!
12. She wasn’t because the volleyball team is a lot more talented than basketball team. She was playing behind a first team all american.
None of those basketball front court players are that good ( no offense to them sorry) which is why Huff will step right in and play most of the minutes.
It is hard to excel two sports in college. Only a handful of athletes did it. She is going to be a top notch basketball player. That is better if you compared her with someone who just recently played two. Mediocrity in two versus excel in one. Hard choice but better choice unless you are Dion Sanders or Bo Jackson
I really wonder if she would have picked volleyball full time if UH still had a scholarship open, they used that scholarship on Burns. I think Huff would have definitely started next year in the front row, once she got comfortable on the left. Too bad.
Probably either the first or 2nd best athlete on the team with so much up-side. A big lose. Perfect chance for Castillo to get more playing time.
A12 hmmm…have you seen Kennedy play? Practice may be? Morris has one year under her belt, Sampton was a frosh and Kalei has never played a full season.
The same analogy you make for the wahine BB players is also true for some of the VB players in the front row playing ahead of Huff–who had amazing potential.
Last year Laura Beeman saw Megan’s potential and played her raw. By season’s end she began to see Huff’s upside.
Look, why would Huff go through all this to quit in mid season?
Now going undefeated the rest of the way just became a little harder. I fully expected Huff to help out off the bench, especially in that long road trip to end the season. Now need to rely on two freshmen who don’t have the size of Huff (Granato) or bring the same heat yet (Castillo)
17. You don’t get my point lets agree to disagree, and Kennedy barely played at LMU who is a bad team.
Huff knew when signing to a a top ranked team like the wahine volleyball team that playing time would be hard to come by her first two years, especially since she was very raw as a volleyball player. So I don’t think it’s a lack of playing time that made her quit volleyball. She would have helped out a lot in conference and would have definitely played a bigger role in her junior and senior years.
I think it’s something else that made her quit.
I think some folks are overreacting to Huff’s leaving WVB and its impact on the team’s depth. A little overblown for someone who had one good match off the bench vs. UCLA and otherwise did not impact the team’s on court performance. I think she was going to impact next year with maturity and graduations. She just didn’t improve enough from last year to unseat the veterans (btw, like TMO, she is a sub .200 hitter). Her best opportunity is with WBB. But Castillo can fill in nicely, and I like developing this freshman for next year’s post-season run.
2o. I disagree Huff can bring heat that Castillo at this point can’t. She also showed she can put the ball away against good teams like UCLA and Florida off the bench when needed. She would have helped in conference on those road trips that affect some of the wahine outside hitters efficiency, and in post season IMO.
TMO needs to get consistent the rest of the season hopefully so not having Huff won’t hurt as much.
I usually agree with you Maverick but on this one I don’t. Huff was the number one backup to Nikki Taylor at opposite. So yeah that has significant impact on depth. We will now be without an experienced opp if something (heaven forbid!) happens to Nikki. Regarding Castillo, she will be the future on the left side…..with Nikki Taylor entrenched at opposite and Dave’s refusal to remove TMO from the starting lineup no matter how badly she plays, Huff probably knew that no matter how bad things get she wasn’t going to see significant playing time. Why else would someone quit midseason?
21. Agreed. One other point that I would add is that Huff has been practicing at opp behind Nikki and Castillo has not. So we lose and experienced backup (one that I believe would start at most other D1 volleyball programs) at opposite.
She will also be missed at practice where she was the perfect B-team member to play against the A’s if you wanted to prepare for a team with a big left. side hitter .
We can agree to disagree, that’s the fun part of being on this blog, but just a couple of comments:
21. Huff only had one kill against Florida, hardly the kind of performance to suggest how good she is. She had one good match against UCLA. Otherwise, no real impact and just a .192 hitter. I think she is given too much credit for the UCLA match and not enough for all the other matches she played in. She could have helped in UH’s other matches this year, and she could also have been ineffective. Not yet consistent. Plus, I don’t think Dave is going to pull Taylor for significant minutes no matter how poorly the team is doing…not his M.O. when dealing with star players. Upside is definitely for next year and thereafter.
22. Agree that Huff’s leaving impacts depth, just not as much as others think, IMHO. I think the reports about how much Huff improved since last year probably are playing a role in views of the impact of her leaving. It’s an emotional issue, I get that. But her experience is very limited. Taylor going down with an injury would put the team in serious jeopardy with or without Huff. Probably turns them into a non-top 25 team. Maybe Castillo switches to right given theses events and the existing depth at left. But I agree with you that her leaving was greatly influenced by her belief that playing time was going to be limited.
23. Agree she could start at many other D1 programs, but there are 334 or so such programs, and the vast majority are not very good at all. Better question…name a few top 25 teams she could legitimately start for today.
Cindy, was curious does Huff have any intention in returning in the near future for VB? can she possibly Red shirt next year , if she was interested?
or she quitting VB altogether?
I think your’e just looking for the positive which is understandable, Yes getting more playing time for Castillo is good and will be good for next year but she is not as ready to contribute this year as Huff was.
I think she showed enough against the bruins, then all players were struggling to put the ball away, she came through and almost brough the wahine back from the dead that fourth set. UH might need that type of performance again, if they face UCLA or a similar team in the post season and I don’t think Casey is ready this season.
24. That’s a very good point.
@hapaguy #22.
BINGO!
“Dave’s refusal to remove TMO from the starting lineup no matter how badly she plays, Huff probably knew that no matter how bad things get she wasn’t going to see significant playing time. Why else would someone quit midseason?”
28. Agree Castillo isn’t there yet this year. But the silver lining is that if she can get more reps, she can be better prepared next year. I think next year is a legitimate final four year if the team continues to develop and there are no injuries. A big if, however…
Let’s not forget that being a two sport athlete is “tough.” IMO she tried it, she knows where the scholie is coming from. She made a decision. Believe its a good decision and for the program, at the right time. It allows time to have someone fill the void prior to league play and post season. Wishing her success in becoming an impact player on the WBB team.
31. Umm maybe the basketball coach made her make a decision and the volleyball team doesn’t have a scholarship for her?? It could be many other reasons. I don’t think her sitting out the san diego state match is the reason she quit entirely, or that Dave is the reason entirely.
Huff knew coming in to the ranked wahine volleyball program that playing time would be hard to come by with more talented players which is why the wahine program is ranked and the basketball program isn’t.
31. To be honest I think it would help to make the final four, if Adora Anae transferred back home, She is a gamer. Or Granato/Castillo will have to make huge leaps in their offensive games.
33. Relative playing time and ability to make an impact. I think these are the two big reasons, given the difficulties of being a two-sport athlete. WBB provided both of these in abundance, and WVB did not. Maybe, just speculation, she was feeling guilty about being on a BB scholie and not playing much VB–hard to tell Beeman she can’t play BB because she is riding the VB bench. Just speculating.
34. Is there a scholie available? I don’t keep track. Definitely need significant improvement in players not named Nikki Taylor, but height is there.
26. Maverick I have watched a number of the top 25 teams play on the internet but not enough to say with certainty that she would start for any of them and I don’t have the time to research them to give you any kind of logical analysis. But I’ve been around volleyball for over 20 years now and I’ve watched Huff play and practice for the last two years now so I would make an educated guess that she would start on a few of the top 25 teams. But let me try to play your game: Are you saying Huff is not good enough to play on ANY of the top 25 teams? And, better question: do you think that with the problems we’ve had with TMO’s inconsistent play, that Dave could not find a way to use Huff more effectively?
If Megan quit over playing time, it’s best that she move on to basketball. Not everyone can start and many others have accepted their roles as utility players because it is what is best for the team. It doesn’t do much for chemistry if players are mad or upset over playing time.
Having said that, we don’t know what the situation is and Megan may just love basketball more and feel she can’t do that team justice if she doesn’t commit her time totally there.
Or maybe Shoji used her so sparingly because he knew she was on the fence about staying with the team and didn’t want to invest too much time in someone who either wasn’t happy or wouldn’t commit fully to the team.
In any event, I hope she’s happy and does well in basketball.
Cindy, would you clarify what is happening? Is Huff going to be just playing basketball, or will continue playing both? Your headline to this blog says she is leaving the “program,” but in your report, you said:
“Megan Huff will leave volleyball and concentrate on basketball as of today 9-16. Release from UH coming soon.
Shoji said he’d have a comment soon.
A surprise and not. Only because she had worked so hard the past five weeks and over the summer. But she was going to have to start sharing time with basketball practices, from what I understand, and is limited to 20 hours a week of practice total. So it was going got be a hard choice.”
This makes it seem that she is doing both, but she is making the switch now because of the overlapping seasons and limit on practice hours. She did opt to go on scholarship for BB, and gave up her VB scholarship, so only natural that her priority is BB. The opposite of Adolpho’s situation.
As I noted, it may make sense for her to redshirt on year in VB (next year) anyway as Nikki returns for her senior year, then have 2 years left after Nikki graduates.
Hard decision, but a good one.
37. I was responding to the assertion Huff could start for most Div 1 teams, and trying to obtain a more comparable view, top 25. I don’t watch all the top teams’ matches and Huff’s experience to date, including inconsistency, makes it difficult to say for sure if she is a starter for a top flight team. Just speculating, but I don’t think she would start for any of the top 15. Maybe 1 or 2 of the 20-25 ranked teams, depending on who is being ranked.
Regarding TMO, Huff was training on the right not the left. Difficult to ask Huff to learn another position. There is a learning curve. Both players are inconsistent.
Also, she came into the volleyball program as a middle and then was moved to the right so she had to learn a new system there. Apparently, she was now being asked to move to left and learn a new system again. It may have been too much for her to do that and still concentrate on basketball as well. Wish her the best but I also totally understand the positions Shoji (and Beaman) were in with her.
35.She shouldn’t feel bad, it’s NCAA rules that make it that basketball has to take the scholarship.
I just feel bad for Dave. I mean Dave and Scott Wong recruited her first, they used their recruiting money to bring her in for a visit and vice versa, and now she is with the basketball team and they didn’t recruit her at all.
I remember I was happy when she wanted to play basketball like Willoughby/Hittle cause I thought it would mean an extra scholarship for Dave but now I wish she just stuck with volleyball full time.
43. Maybe Beeman should give some of her recruiting budget to WVB? Lol.
41. Ok so we’ve found some common ground re: Huff – top 25 teams.
You’re last sentence I think you misunderstood me. I never suggested Huff move to the left because she would have to pass and there is no evidence she would be able to pass if she was on the left. Let me be specific regarding using Huff more effectively: do you think that with TMO struggling with her passing and hitting that trying a lineup that has Nikki in place of TMO and Huff in place of Nikki at opp would work? Nikki is a decent passer so she wouldn’t hurt us they way that TMO does and Nikki would be an upgrade at hitter over TMO.
Granato is undersized to play OPP where the opponent’s OH’s are usually over 6′ and big bangers. As for Castillo not being ready for extended play, Shoji should give her more playing time, right or left, against lesser teams. How else do you gain game time experience?
I think Adolpho was on basketball scholarship when she played basketball and volleyball. If you play both, you have to be on basketball scholarship, Cindy explained, i think.
I think if Megan was given more playing time in VB, she may have stayed.
#37 hapaguy. You are on a roll 🙂
hard to keep up with you folks.
will be at UH in a bit and might get some clarity.
As far as I know, Huff is done with volleyball.
Thought the headline pretty clear: Huff leaving volleyball program
Huff was on volleyball scholarship then decided to play basketball. Basketball had an available scholarship for the second semester last year.
Beeman had her on scholarship this year but there was an understanding that they’d want her during fall part time, not just have her show up after volleyball was done. That is asking a lot, especially since Wahine were going to be on the road after Nov. 1.
With Huff on basketball scholarship, that allowed Burns to come in late.
That Manu-Olevao was playing has nothing to do with Huff.
Agree about the depth situation, as my lead in the breaking news story said a few hours ago:
Hawaii’s depth chart took a hit Wednesday with sophomore Megan Huff’s decision to leave the volleyball team and concentrate on playing basketball for the Rainbow Wahine on Wednesday.
Good luck, Huff-diggity. You will be missed.
Quotes from UH’s press release:
“I just want to say ‘Thank You’ to volleyball for the support I experienced through my freshman and sophomore years,” says Huff. “But, I had to make one of the toughest decisions of my life to focus on one sport to better my future.”
“Megan meant a lot to the volleyball program, so we are disappointed in her decision,” said head coach Dave Shoji. “But, she is doing what she feels she needs to do to further her athletic career and we wish her the best.”
45. Ok, now I get what you are saying. On your proposed lineup, that’s a lot of changes to address TMO’s inconsistency. Upgrade on left side hitting, not clear on passing. Significant downgrade on right side, Huff is nowhere near Nikki’s level. I think the coaches tried to address TMO’s inconsistency without impacting the right. Find left side players to take some of the back row responsibilities from her and let her focus on fewer things. Don’t think your proposed lineup would yield net benefits with all the changes. That being said, I am on record here with stating that Taylor takes too many swings, is too much of the offense. Diversifying and giving backups more playing time against lesser opponents makes a lot more sense to me. But I am not a hall of fame coach, so what do I know?
#47. WOW! another BINGO!
Look, Kendra and Guinasso would be starting at most D!A programs too.
Where is Koelsch going to play after Higgins is gone and the Shoji’s next super setter arrives next year? Ditto for Baby G.
Actually Beeman and Shoji were scouting her at the same time but didn’t know it until, I believe, Huff mentioned it (may have been to Wong).
Beeman did not see her play but one of her former assistants did and it sounded like they weren’t that impressed at that time.
When you commit the amount of practice time that Huff did for VB, you don’t quit mid season without thinking this through. I suspect that there are several reasons, with the reality of improving her BB role foremost for this season. Combine that with the way Shoji likes to ride his goto players and Huff knew the the practice for this year wouldn’t offer a balance on any playing time.
It is a loss, but the suggestion of her red shirting next seasons VB, would allow her an additional year after BB and to allow Nikki to clear her tenure in the VB program.
Makes some sense, just a tough hit within the team, as she did anything asked of her without complaint. That in itself has to be difficult watching from the bench when players at this level have been leaned on by their club coaches to play the most minutes.
Best of luck to Huff, a really hard worker as demonstrated by her off season transformation.
Do we know that the reason for her leaving WVB is an issue with her playing time? Had she had more PT would she have decided differently? She had to know early on in practice that playing behind your teams top player, PT would be limited. Even with her being on the team, had Nikki gone down with an injury, Hawaii would still be in trouble in the BWC and post season.
I think both Granato and Castillo have huge potential. They just need more experience at this level.
52. Nikki is a decent passer so IMHO it would be an upgrade over TMO on the left. Agree with you regarding it being a downgrade at opp and also agree with you that it is obvious that Dave does not want to move Nikki for any reason as she is so effective there. I also agree that Nikki takes way too many swings. But TMO’s passing has really been a problem this season. If her hitting numbers were better that would be one thing but she’s only hitting like .200 which is not good at this level of play and doesn’t bail her out of her passing problems….lets just hope that TMO straightens out her problems and plays the way that we all think she can….
Granato has potential, but she didn’t play in any of the last two matches (Florida and EWU) , if my reading of the box scores is correct.
57. Let me preface by saying I am not a psychologist. To borrow a line from Dr. Phil, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. TMO is a career .190 hitter who is inconsistent/streaky/etc. She admits to having problems (mental part of the game) when her serving or passing falls off. Shoji mentioned it too. I don’t think we should hope for any sudden consistency this year. You need to have a certain level of short term memory loss to play well at the Div 1 level–helps a player get over a bad play or string of plays. She has issues letting go sometimes. Best we can hope for, IMHO, is to have the subs spell her when she gets in trouble, or the coaches to reduce her responsibilities.
That being said, she is a great team captain. What she did for Nikki two years ago is exactly the kind of person you want as a captain. This role should not be forgotten.
What a surprise, the usual suspects (not Maverick, two other people in this thread) are turning Huff leaving into an opportunity to bash Tai Manu-Olevao. What part of Cindy saying “That Manu-Olevao was playing has nothing to do with Huff” do you not understand? Or Maverick pointing out that they play two different positions?
Hey, while you’re at it, why don’t you blame Tai for the football team’s loss to Ohio State? Or the $1 billion cost overrun on rail? Must be Tai’s fault too!
59. I agree with you regarding her career hitting % etc….In spite of the fact that you quoted Dr. Phil (lol) I hope and believe that she can get it together. But like my mom always told me: “you hope for the best, and prepare for the worst”….
You guys all make me weak! Here’s the correct answer for all you wannabe conspiracy theorists, “She like the basketball shorts mo betta than the volleyball shorts.”
Because of a number of players being ill, they have cancelled official practice. But they have 9 at the moment and they’re taking some reps (Anderson at class).
Higgins the only setter.
Sounds like a rough week health wise, Good thing the opponent friday isn’t so strong.
62. Maybe so but I wish she came to that conclusion before the season started, you know so coach Shoji could have given reps on the right side to Castillo or Mitchem.
BTW, Shoji said Stanford not on the schedule for next year.
65. wow volleytalk wrong again, I am bummed , would love the wahine to play Stanford again, those matches are always real fun. Hopefully in 2017.
crosing my fingers for Penn State or Texas for next years home schedule, those two are always rpi boosters.
64. true that it would have been better if she had made up her mind earlier but she probably just realized how much of a conflict it was going to be now that she was supposed to spend more time with basketball.
Not that they were moving Mitchem to the right. But now they will have a lot of the players practicing right, including Mitchem and Castillo
Megan is really needed in the basketball program. Dave didn’t really use her enough in the volleyball team. I feel happy for her on her decision. You fans need to wake up and look what is better for the person. To sit on the bench on a ranked volleyball program waiting to play a little or to start in hopefully a ranked basketball program, that’s a no brainer. She could have really helped the volleyball team if Dave woke up and gave her more playing time but the time was ticking in basketball and I for one fully support her decision. So go get them in basketball I’ll be there supporting them with season tickets make us proud.
69, Can you please stop blaming dave and lack of playing time for Huff. The reason Huff played more for the basketball team as a true freshman is because the basketball program is not ranked in the top 12, they have less talent then the volleyball program and basketball bench players are used more than volleyball, afterall Huff didn’t start last year for the basketball team despite being the best post player, she was the 6th woman of the year.
69. Raiderdog I agree completely especially what you said regarding Dave. As a current booster and former director of the UH Wahine Basketball Booster club, I am a big Megan Huff fan and I think that the UHBball team and Megan will be so much better with her devoting herself full time to bball….this is the best thing for her….
71. and as full time volleyball supporter I have to disagree. I think Huff would have been so much better as a volleyball player , while playing beach volleyball in the spring. She had a chance to be an all american by her senior year, something that I don’t see happening in basketball simply because Hawaii will never be a top 20 team in basketball. Also she had a chance to win a national championship in 2016 something that will never happen in basketball, So I’m bummed she picked basketball instead.
I was actually surprised that Huff was on the volleyball team at all this year. At the end of last season it was mentioned, I think it may have been Beeman that Huff would focus on basketball this season. Having watched her play I think that she has the talent and skill to make all Big West as our center. She is that good. With the return of Ashley we should be really good again.
Beeman never said Huff would focus on basketball. She said that with Huff on basketball scholarship that they would have to work at it being more equitable when sharing her during Fall.
Cindy I thought that when Dave was recruiting Huff he mentioned to Beeman how good of a basketball player she was.
#70. disagree with your assessment of Huff and both wahine programs. It doesnt matter that one program is ranked and the other not. That is totally irrelevant. The point is Megan Huff makes a difference on the basketball team. She was given an opportunity to contribute last season, despite coming in late. In VB this season, she did everything to work for a spot. Coaches said she had great practices. There were matches when Hawaii had clear leads and she did not play. She played in 10/33 sets and made cameo appearances in 7/9 matches. Please note in football and basketball playing time is defined by minutes played. IN VB, a player’s time is defined by entering a set. However abbreviated. Now, for those who lament our wahine lost a valuable player who could contribute depth this season– her playing time is a poor illustration. It does not stand the test. The time to give a talented reserve experience is in the beginning of the season, not in post season play.
Megan made a “no brainer” decision.
wow you’re on a roll always with the sutle digs against what Shoji does as I read you between the lines. As far as Huff she had the opportunity to make a choice and she did so I respect her choice no matter how she arrived there. Coaches have the toughest job in the world but to be a great coach you have to have thick skin because there are so many off the wall, know it all coaches. I’m glad Shoji has a thick skin.
77. I respect her choice too and wish her luck. I disagree with the timing though and also completely disagree with people blaming coach Shoji. Sure Huff might not have left if she was a starter, but she knew coming in she was very raw as a volleyball player and wouldn’t make much of an impact until her upperclassmen years (she was right on schedule for that , too bad)
@77. BTW, the word you used is spelled, “subtle”.
Huff was in her second year, she was not “raw”. I did not say “start” but she deserved more PT. Especially since TMO was playing poorlyat times and certainly inconsistently most of the time up until the Florida game.
81. She is raw as a volleyball player, she is not the type of player that grew up playing the game and was ranked in the top 30 like Greeley or Taylor . Huff was a recruit that was considered a project for the wahine volleyball program.
If she played on a volleyball program the equivalent to the wahine basketball program she would probably be more of an impact player there in her first two years.
I believe what you are saying is Megan Huff did not come from a “known” VB program. She did play all 4-years at Beamer HS. And was offered by other D!A schools. She wanted to play VB. Something happened AFTER this season started to change her mind.
Below is a quote from her recruiting article.
“The coaches (at Hawaii) are known for developing professional volleyball players,” Huff said. “And my goal is to be a pro volleyball player.”
Huff also took official visits to the University of California Irvine, University of San Francisco, New Mexico and the University of Oregon. She also took numerous “unofficial” visits to other schools.
80 don’t know if she deserved to start. Considering that Manu-Olevao and Huff play different positions it would take some lineup juggling. which you saw how chaotic it was against UCLA, even during the comeback. Huff doesn’t pass well and they did a good job of screening her out of being targeted on serve-receive.
Bottom line: Her decision. Timing was bad for sure but she had always said she wanted to see how far she could go in volleyball because she knew she could go far in basketball. It’s demanding to play two sports, especially when they overlap.
Megan stated it was a difficult decision -please be happy for her new opportunities on the BB team.
M. Huff fans it is time to buy Womens BB season tickets!
Although I’m disappointed and saddened that such a promising and exciting athlete left our Wahine VB program, I’m just glad she didn’t leave the University of Hawaii in general. In this day and age of transfers, I’m just glad that she is still representing UH and we get to see her do great things for another great coach we have at UH. Dave will do fine without Huff, she wasn’t the first talented player to leave and she won’t be the last. Again, at least she left to help better another UH sports program and not an entirely different entity. Shoot, I’m also glad Beeman wasn’t persuaded to take a new position elsewhere. I can’t wait to see the Wahine BB program with Karaitiana, Adolpho, and Huff!
quite a difference between the blogs … UH MBB loses an assistant coach and other problems and there was only one comment. Not that it matters, because the academics and happiness of the players takes precedent, but it doesn’t seem to me that it took that long to make the decision.
Is Huff moving to basketball full time a sensitive subject? It wan’t covered on the evening sports news on KITV, so are they downplaying this?
#77 Totally agree. It is at least consistent. We all makes for good entertainment!
85. Here! Here! Well said WaWa….
Adolpho a starter for volleyball so it was hard for Beeman to ask her to share practice time. Huff a nonstarter so its easier for Beeman to ask her to share practice time. Huff made a hard decision and lets be ok with it, I agree with WaWa , lets support Adolpho and Huff in basketball too.
85.89. Shoooots, WBB will be very exciting to watch by actually having some bigs to work with. You could see how Huff was getting stronger with each game, lol, you could tell where her heart was by wearing basketball shorts to volleyball practices. They just need another Kuehu…
Mahalo for your enthusiasm and focused work for WVB, Megan.
Huff was certainly that steady player to play front row with Taylor, Koelsch, Greeley, and Magill. She wasn’t given enough opportunities to present what she can offer. Now that’s over, I feel they should play Casey Castillo. She has height 6’3″ and can play all 6 rotations. She just needs game experience and we will see her steady athleticism.
I think we’ve exhausted the Huff debate, so I want to change direction a little. Here are the next seven opponents and their records: Bakersfieldx2 (2-8), UCSB (4-5), Poly (7-2), CSUF (0-9), Riverside (4-6), and CSUN (1-8). Clearly there is a perfect opportunity to get the subs significant playing experience against Bakersfield, CSUF, and CSUN, and probably against Riverside and UCSB. I don’t know if that will happen, but if not, it will be a missed opportunity to build real depth and experience before the tournament. It’s not like we have Big 10/pac 12 powers to deal with every week.
I’m actually glad she decided to focus on one sport. It’s tough enough for a student-athlete to play a sport and go to classes. By trying to play both VB and BB, she was really limiting her ability to reach her full potential in either sport. She was on a BB scholarship, so she did the right thing by sticking with BB.
It will be interesting to see how the lineup will change now that Huff’s position is open.
Huff was or should have been one of the main substitutes and should have gotten more playing time from the coach. I don’t recall her playing much even against the lower level type teams.
Huff and puff all you want, but you can’t blow Huff back in to volleyball. I do agree with fans that other hitters should get more sets and let Nikki Taylor rest more. In fact, if the team is way ahead against Bakersfield, Nikki should get more bench time and reserves be brought in. We need to spare Nikki for tougher opponents like Long Beach. Also, Cal Poly is improving by leaps and bounds so better not overlook that team next week.
94. Agreed. Huff is gone to the BBall team so that’s that. I also agree that with Bakersfield coming in this week it would be great to see more play from the subs and maybe Kendra can get a whole set to play setter to see what she can do.
90. Beeman inherited the deal with Adolpho from Takahara-Diaz so it was a completely different situation. . Last year, Adolpho was on volleyball scholarship and only played one sport. This year, Adolpho on basketball scholarship, only playing one sport.
Huff moved to basketball in December and was off volleyball scholarship. it was the only way she could play per NCAA rules. She could not be a walk-on.
When she was going to remain on basketball scholarship for this season, Beeman made it pretty clear that she would want Huff part of the time in fall. Had nothing to do with Huff not being a starter in volleyball.
To put things in perspective, EWU head coach Wade Benson who was here last week has stepped down due to fatigue and will serve in a limited roll. He missed last season when battling throat cancer.
#94. UCSB is better than their record may imply. For somr reason, one of their top recruits has not been playing. Hard to read Cal Poly. They do have talent, but hasn’t been tested.
RE: Huff, she was a project in VB. A middle in HS, switching to RH. Improved but likely at least a year away from primetime. Serve receive a big Q on te left – IMO.
need a scapegoat for huff leaving wahine vb program?
blame this volleytalkers big mouth in link below, poster 31:
http://hawaiiwarriorworld.com/volleyshots/top-25-scores-sdsu-at-hawaii/
“After Megan Huff’s performance against UCLA I am speechless as to how she could not get even one minute of playing time. Maybe as Cindy stated, Shoji does not want to show too much. However Florida has to have tapes of Hawaii’s matches.
If I am Megan Huff I have got to be thinking that I should just concentrate on basketball, cause I seem to have no future with this coach and this team.”
in fact i think that character kkv3000, caused drama last year as well..if not always causes drama. ALWAYS.
Volley, I do not think I ever posted any comments until this year. If I did in the past it would have been a very rare occasion. As for that comment you are referring to, I agreed with maverick that saying she had no future with the program was an over reaction to my disappointment that she did not even play in the SDS gane after her performance in the Ucla match. The team was not playing in the sds match and many were disappointed that she did not play. I still stand by my comment that she has to be questioning her role or future with the team when not getting playing time. She is a quality basketball player that is integral to the future of the womens program. I think the past demonstrates with Kim Willoughby and Kalei Adolpho that playing volleyball full time and joining basketball later in their season did not really allow them to develop their basketball potential. She has had a tough decision. I am very disappointed that she is leaving volleyball, I think her potential is immense. From basketball and her Ucla game performance, she is a gamer, very competitive. I do not think stats in her case or in TMO’s case mean much. From the Florida match, when TMO is on her game we can beat anybody. The passion, leadership and energy she brings when playing well is irreplaceable. I think Megan Huff is another gamer type player. To think that a poster is going to determine a future players thinking is ridiculous. We don’t know nothing, we just speculate and players know that. We express frustration or joy depending on the situation. I am not attacking nor do I attack anyone.
thank you and best of Hawaii , to Megan Huff. A lot of us (fans) have watched your game and can see (the) potential greatness that you will bring to basketball. UHWVB will move on! Also , thanks to all the WAHINE for this new season. I look forward to each and every match———-IMUA
I have not read any comments above yet, too many.
But, I feel sick that we had to lose Huff. I feel sick that she had to make a choice. I have loved Laura Beaman and what she has done for the basketball team, but it makes me upset that she forced Megan to choose by demanding her to play part time with the basketball team in the fall. I think if she was allowed to stay with volleyball for the fall, she would have stayed.
Women’s volleyball is the bread and butter of the women’s athletic teams at UH, not basketball. She took away a huge part of our team. She has lost me as a fan of women’s basketball.
Dave should have played her more, to show how valuable she is to the team. And when TMO was struggling, it was the perfect time to get her in. Megan probably saw the writing on the wall that playing time was not going to happen for her no matter what. It’s not like she had a role in this team. Her role was non existent. So I can’t blame her for choosing to go with a sport she could make a difference in.
I just really hate that she was forced to choose. This makes me sick!
@103. Agree with your assessment. Shoji slights his reserves even when they play well…and ignore the wobbly wonks, they will say anything to protect the throne.
Megan Huff wasn’t forced by anyone when making her decision to focus on basketball only. Picture having TWO FULL TIME JOBS AND GOING TOO SCHOOL FULL TIME. That takes a toll on a person physically, mentally, and emotionally. Her splitting time between two sports wasn’t giving her totality to each sport. For the sake of her well being, she decided to give up ONE of her full time JOBS. Wish her the best in her future endeavors.
Yeah, I agree she was not forced to choose. But we cannot forget that she is on basketball scholarship. She is leaving volleyball where she had very little playing time. What’s the problem?
i never intended to say anything.
but watching people point fingers and blowing this way out of the water has really upset me. Megan leaving the program really hurts, but it now opens up opportunities for other players. Megan played behind Nikki right? alright everyone has been saying it was due to a lack of playing time. Everyone has been blaming Dave because of it, saying that losing Megan is his fault. saying he favors his local players over the mainland girls. that’s the most ridiculous thing i have ever heard. Nikki has been slamming balls down from the beginning of the season, i knew after week one that Megan would have a hard time playing possibly especially because of how good Nikki was turning out to be.
people are continuing to spin this story into something bigger than it actually is. i don’t know what ultimately brought Megan to make this difficult decision, neither does everyone else. Megan said her piece so let it be. go watch Basketball, and you’ll be able to see her play. i wish Megan nothing but the best. it is just sad to see her go, and more upsetting to see people turning this into something completely ridiculous
No baddies in Huff’s departure. Like CL suggested, I don’t think Huff fully realized how difficult it would be to continue overlapping sports with her elevated role & responsibilities as a foreseeable starter in basketball. It’s one thing to join basketball midseason as a frosh rotation player. Big diff once you’re a projected starter/anchor and potential leader on that team.
Wow, lots of spirited and entertaining comments. At the end of the day, it is Megan’s decision. Only Dave and Laura know the details of their arrangement to share Huff. While her blocking and hitting physicality skills appear to have improve significantly, she still requires lots of work on her overall game. With a bright future as starter in BB, and perhaps even professional opportunities as hinted by Coach Beeman, I think she made the right decision! All the best to Megan. I never watch W. BB but did last year and will do so again this year – only because I wanted to watch Megan play.
She will be the best player on the BB team with King. She wasn’t given ample playing time by Dave to prove her worth in the VB team. He finally is giving Kendra some good playing time at setter. Maybe this will be a wake up call for others to get more time. We are not good enough to let only 7-8 get playing time in games. If we are going to the final four we need others to be able to play or same result good record but not out of the regionals. I feel happy for Megan ion her decision and look forward to women’s basketball for it.
109. Ashley … She didn’t play at all even in somewhat easier matches vs. Idaho and San Diego St.
Anyway, today’s article by Cindy says Casey and Annie will get more reps and swings on the right side now.
Good luck to you Megan. Looking forward to seeing your dominant presence on the hardwood!
looks like we’re having problems with our server again. going to close this out for now and put a new link when I can. Agree with some that this has gotten too long to have a good conversation going. I know I couldn’t keep up.
Just to clarify one thing: Beeman did not say that Huff would be playing in games during the volleyball season. She wanted Huff to be able to practice with basketball. Huff is limited to 20 hours of week of practice. I wasn’t able to talk to Coach Beeman yesterday but will try to get her today.
New link up for Thursday
http://hawaiiwarriorworld.com/?p=33252