The 2024/25 volleyball transfer window has been chaotic, to say the least. Several teams, including those who made it beyond the first round of the 2024 NCAA championships, have lost multiple players. During the latest episode of Kicking Back with the Cooks on the Huskers YouTube channel, coach John Cook and analyst Lauren Cook-West explained and discussed the chaotic shuffle.

“I don’t know if you have any idea what’s going on but Purdue and Pitt are the two programs that stand out to me,” Cook-West asked the veteran coach. The Nebraska Huskers analyst cited players such as All-American Torrey Stafford leaving Pitt and several Purdue star players, including Chico Chicoine, Lourdes Myers, Lindsey Carr, and others choosing to enter the transfer portal. Unfortunately, John Cook didn’t have the answers.

The Nebraska Huskers coach didn’t sugarcoat the situation

Despite his 25 years of experience as a coach, Cook didn’t shy away from admitting he had no idea. “I think it’s one of those things in this day and age now… There’s no rhyme or reason to what these people are doing and why they leave,” said the Huskers’ mastermind. “You’re right. Purdue got devastated,” Cook said on the podcast without holding back.

“Now, they brought in a bunch of transfers, but, I mean, they’re literally rebuilding a whole team,” added John Cook, and he wasn’t wrong—the Boilermakers also lost Eva Hudson and Raven Colvin, taking their loss to five. Although head coach Dave Shondell has scrambled to fill the ranks with six young talents, losing five seasoned players is a big blow.

Even the 2021 and ’22 NCAA champion Texas Longhorns lost players; “Texas had a bunch of players leave,” noted the 68-year-old. Thankfully, the former champions picked up the former Pittsburgh Star. “Of course, they got the prize recruit, which was Tori Stafford,” added Cook. However, why it turned out like this continues to baffle the coach. “It makes no sense,” said the four-time national championship-winning coach. The Huskers coach is also taking precautions to prevent something similar happening to Nebraska.

John Cook is hoping to find a solution before the problem finds Nebraska

Cook’s Nebraska Huskers also lost stars such as Merritt Beason, Lexi Rodriguez, and others. However, the seniors had to leave, as 2024 was the year they graduated. Players such as Lexi Rodriguez, who spent four years with the program, vouched for their love for the program. “I’ll say it for my entire life, that this program was the best thing that ever happened to me,” Rodriguez said after her final college volleyball match.

However, John Cook is aware that the program needs to evolve to retain players. So the veteran coach is already taking steps toward strengthening the already strong volleyball culture at Big Red’s home base. “We’re just going to try to build a great culture that players want to be a part of… Make them feel like they’re playing for something bigger than themselves,” said the BIG10 title-winning coach.

The first step toward that will be hosting this year’s AVCA First Serve event at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln. AVCA CEO, Dr. Jaime Gordon, added that the event “promises to be an unforgettable experience for players and fans alike” and will kick off the 2025 NCAA Women’s Volleyball season. So, it’s clear that the 68-year-old is invested in continuing the legacy of the Nebraska Huskers as a team that rarely loses players.