JJ Van Niel left a lucrative financial career to become volleyball coach
Jeff Metcalfe started covering Arizona State University sports in 1985 as a reporter for the now-defunct Phoenix Gazette.
For the next 36 years, he was a constant presence at Sun Devil athletic events, devoting himself, in particular, to the coverage of women’s sports.
So, when Metcalfe says this year’s ASU women’s volleyball team — which will play at Stanford on Thursday in a Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament game at 9:30 p.m. Arizona time, televised by ESPNU — has done something he has never seen before, his words matter.
“I can’t think of any ASU team in any sport that’s done something more surprising or more like a bolt out of the blue,” Metcalfe said.
How surprising?
Well, the volleyball team had a losing record six of the last seven seasons … and hadn’t reached the postseason since 2015 … and had eight players transfer before the new coach was hired last Dec. 29 … and the new coach had never been a head coach in college before.
And yet, here the Sun Devils are, in a place no one expected them to be, and guaranteed — even if they lose to Stanford — to have the best winning percentage (.800) in program history.
“I don’t know what I expected this season to be, exactly,” Metcalfe said. “Maybe they could slide their way into the tournament if they were totally lucky. That would be the ceiling. And now, basically, they’re the best team in school history. It’s mind-boggling.”
And it happened because that coach, JJ Van Niel, decided he’d rather be happy than be a millionaire.
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