More notes from USAV Nationals: Nuggets, recruiting from China and more

Every once in a while, this becomes a don’t-do-today-what-you-can-put-off-for-a-long-time job.

I was in Chicago the first week of July for USA Volleyball Girls Junior Nationals and the next week wrote this notebook:

USAV Nationals notes: LSU football, IUPUI, recruiting Egypt and more

And there was every intention of following up the next week with more. Well, here you go, better late than never. Most of these items are not about club volleyball, more about NCAA teams as we took time to visit with a ton of coaches. 

But to catch up, if you missed it, here is John Tawa’s season-ending girls club volleyball Dots:

Tawa’s Girls Club Volleyball Dots: SCVC pulls stunner; Storm wins second in three years

In the meantime, we’ve got the NBA/volleyball angle, a couple of updates, and what it’s like to recruit while in China.

Volleyball Nuggets

In that last notebook, we started with all the LSU football tie-ins to top-level girls club volleyball. In this one, we’ll start with the Denver Nuggets.

Yes, the NBA champions loomed large inside the McCormick Place convention center in the form of head coach Mike Malone. He was watching his daughter, Bridget, play for her Colorado Juniors team that won 16s Open..

“You know, it’s not really fun,” Malone said. “I get more nervous watching my daughter play than coaching our games with the Denver Nuggets. 

“I’m a proud father and I don’t get a chance to see her play enough. But now that the summer is here I just come here as a dad and support her and get really nervous watching them win every match.”

Almost. The Colorado Juniors 16Shannon went 10-1 (20-3 in sets). The team lost only to Dynasty 16 Black but came back to win its last five matches, including a 25-21, 25-21 victory over Austin Juniors 16 adidas in the final.

The Nuggets’ ties to Colorado Juniors also include general manager Calvin Booth. His 6-foot-7 daughter, Carter, played her freshman year at Minnesota and after last season transferred to Wisconsin. 

And don’t forget that the Nuggets play-by-play announcer is 1984 men’s volleyball Olympic gold-medalist Chris Marlow.

“Great guy, been with him eight years now in Denver and we always talk about his volleyball experiences and also that he coached his daughters,” Malone said. 

Malone married into volleyball, so to speak. His wife, the former Jocelyn Cole, played at Providence College, and their other daughter,…