Feb. 17, 2003

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue formally introduced new head volleyball coach Dave Shondell to the media and the community in a press conference Monday morning. What follows is a transcript of that press conference.

Purdue Athletics Director Morgan Burke

On history and the search

"Those of you who go back a ways know that volleyball has a very unique and important role in our intercollegiate athletic history. Going back to the 1980s, we had a run for seven out of 10 years we were in the NCAA Tournament and competing for Big Ten championships. We want to put ourselves back in that position to compete at the very highest level.

"We have gone through a very careful and extensive search. I want to compliment Roger Blalock, who led the effort to cross the United States to find the person that we think is the right person to lead Purdue volleyball at this point in time. I firmly believe that as you get to know this individual, you will come to realize that the ties that he has to Indiana and the Midwest, and, quite frankly, throughout the country, will be instrumental in helping us continue the work that has been started with the incumbent returning players and allow us to move up and compete at the highest level."

Associate Athletics Director Roger Blalock

On the search

"When we began the search for the coach who could lead the women's volleyball program back to prominence, among the things that we wanted to find in the next coach was someone who was capable of motivating, recruiting and teaching talented student-athletes. We were extremely impressed by the level of interest expressed in our program by coaches from across the country. In response to our posting, we received more than 60 applications from college coaches, both head coaches and assistants, and from international coaches, who were in club and professional programs. Little did we know at the time we first began, that not far away from the Purdue University campus, in our own state was one of the well-known teachers, trainers and motivators of student-athletes.

"I had the opportunity to speak with college coaches from some of the top 25 programs in the Division I volleyball from across the nation and the comments that I received about Dave Shondell were these ...

'His teaching methods, dedication to the idea of team and his pursuit of excellence have affected most of the coaches in the sport of volleyball.'

-John Dunning, Head Coach, Stanford University

'Disregard the fact that he is not a college coach. Dave Shondell is one of the most knowledgeable and respected volleyball coaches in the country. He can teach and train at any level.'

--Tom Pingle, USA Volleyball

"There is nothing more meaningful that I can tell you about Dave Shondell other than that his name is synonymous with the game of volleyball. Coaches at all levels know him, and they listen to him."

--Mick Haley, head coach, University of Southern California

"Dave came into this interview process on a mission. He was business-like, he was professional, and he brought with him passion and enthusiasm for volleyball and this job. Everyone that he spoke with was impressed and recognized that he was well prepared to bring Purdue volleyball back to prominence. We are extremely confident that Dave has the background, the experience and the knowledge of the game of volleyball to provide the leadership that will move this program forward. I am extremely honored to introduce to you, the new women's volleyball coach at Purdue University, Mr. David Shondell."

On the risk of hiring a non-traditional coach

"What set Dave apart is the fact that he is a person that is so integral in the sport of volleyball as well as the fact that so many of the nation's top coaches know him, not only as a club coach and a high school coach, but know him as a peer. Dave is someone who generates that kind of respect from coaches who are in the top 25 in the country and that helped tell us that he was the right person for the job. Our head coaches as well as the search committee challenged him to make sure that he knew what he was getting himself into and the kind of challenges that he might face as a high school coach coming into the college ranks."

Dave Shondell, Newly Introduced Volleyball Coach

On the opportunity to coach at Purdue

"First of all, thank you everybody for being here this morning. This is certainly a great honor for me. This has been a dream of mine for a long, long time. I grew up in the state of Indiana and my father was the long-time men's volleyball coach at Ball State University. Many of the best coaches in the nation went to Ball State and played for him, and I was able to be a part of all that as I was growing up. I owe a lot to him. I want to thank the players that are here today, both those currently enrolled at Purdue as well as those who will be here next fall. That certainly makes me feel good that they are here and giving me that kind of support. I want to thank the president, Martin Jischke, for his support, as well as Athletics Director Morgan Burke and Associate Athletics Director Roger Blalock for having what I consider courage for hiring somebody that would be a non-traditional hire for an institution like Purdue University.

"I never thought that I would see the day that this would happen, but certainly I am pleased and promise you that we will succeed at Purdue. Purdue is a university with outstanding academic and athletic tradition. I have been so impressed with reading about the volleyball team, not just the outstanding seasons they had when Carol Dewey was at the helm and when they brought Big Ten titles to West Lafayette, but also the academic prowess Purdue has had both recently as well as way back. Certainly, year after year, as many as five, six or seven people make the Academic All-Big Ten team. That is a tribute to what has happened here.

"Jeff Hulsmeyer, your former coach, is a friend of mine, and I think a lot can be said about the job that Jeff did in bringing quality young women to Purdue. When I stand in front of team and get to know them like I have in our two meetings, as well as the recruits that will be here next fall, it is obvious that he was interested in bringing good people to Purdue. They are people that I think will work hard, listen and certainly have the desire to take Purdue back to be contender in Big Ten volleyball.

"I look forward to the challenge of competing in the Big Ten. I have gone on record saying that it is the toughest volleyball conference in the country and has the best coaches. I think Morgan Burke referred to them in our phone conversation as Hall of Fame coaches and they truly are. To me, that is a great challenge. One thing about me is that I thrive on challenge. The best way to motivate me is to tell me that I can't do something. I met one Big Ten coach at the NCAA Finals this winter in New Orleans and he flat out told me that I can't recruit and that I wouldn't be selected at Purdue because I haven't proven anything. Those are the words that I needed to hear to motivate me to succeed.

"I will go into this spring season with the desire to improve each athlete that we have who is healthy, and we hope to get the others back to playing condition as soon as possible. We have a quality group of women that I think we can contend with next fall. My goal, as proposed to the administration, is to dominate the state of Indiana recruiting. The players in the state of Indiana have been waiting for a long, long time for a reason to go to Purdue University, and now they have that reason. I am convinced by the reception that I have received in the last three or four days that we will bring the best players in the state to Purdue. I am 100 percent convinced that we will get them, and I will start with this next recruiting class. My job is to start in Indiana and then work some of the other hotbeds, such as Chicago, Cincinnati and Louisville. Certainly, Indiana is one the top three states in the country for volleyball. The people at the grass roots level, in high schools and clubs, have done a great job of developing that talent, and now it is time for Purdue to continue that heritage and start bringing some winning teams to the state of Indiana.

"My family is eager to come to Purdue and be a part of this community. I have been more than impressed with every single person I have met and talked to since I have been here. I knew that it would be big time and I knew that it would be impressive, but I never realized that the people would be so caring and concerned about my well-being. I believe Purdue has every resource necessary to develop a Big Ten power in volleyball. It was done with Carol Dewey and things have improved since then. I am just ready to get started and do what I can to bring Purdue to the top."

On his chances of being hired

"I felt like I had a chance because I have had other offers from Division I programs in the past. I felt this was unique because it was a perfect fit for someone who has a very good reputation in the state of Indiana as a coach that has the contacts that I have. I wasn't sure going down to the final days if I was going to get the job because there were certainly some outstanding candidates."

On coming to Purdue

"I think there is plenty I could still do in Muncie. I think there is a challenge every year, regardless of what level you are coaching. It was the fact that I have always had the desire and dream to coach at a big-time university like Purdue and not just to coach volleyball, but to be a part of the entire athletics program and community. In the past, I have had several different jobs. I have been a teacher. At the same time, I have coached high school volleyball, I have been a club coach and a club director. I also have broadcasted high school basketball games and been the father of four children. Some of the jobs I will keep, but I like the idea that now I can focus most of my attention on one objective and that is to bring Purdue back to prominence in college volleyball."

On recruiting

"I feel from the coaches I have talked to, who represent some of the top players, that they are going to give us good consideration. We still have to convince them as a program that Purdue is the school they should select. I really like the group we have now and I feel they have been underrated tremendously. Having talked to Big Ten coaches, they believe that this group has been underrated, that there is a great talent base here, but because of injuries and maybe a slight lack of toughness at the right time, they were not able to win some of the matches that they could have. I have think one of the strengths that I will be able to provide is to develop some of that toughness."

On what fans can expect

"I think they will see a team that will play as hard as any team they see in this gym. They will play with great intensity and purpose and an understanding of what they need to do to be successful. It is difficult to describe the style of play we will have because I need to become more familiar with the talent that we have. I have always believed in designing your system around the athletes that you have. Until I get a better idea of who can do what and how strong each player is, it is difficult to design that system. We will play very hard and with a purpose, and it will be a fun team to watch."

On his volleyball heritage

"My father, Don, started the program at Ball State University for men and it has been one of the most prominent volleyball programs for men or women in the country. He started it back in the 1960s and continued to coach until about three years ago. He retired when he was 71 years old. One of the things he is most well known for, besides the fact that he is the second-winningest coach in the history of men's volleyball, is the coaches that he developed. Mick Haley, who was the Olympic coach and is the coach at USC, played at Ball State. Jim Stone, who is the Ohio State head coach, went to Ball State. Pete Wait, who is the coach at Wisconsin, was a teammate of mine at Ball State. You can go all the way across the country and find people who played for him. He is the person who really got things started in Midwest, to where we now are as well known as any area in the country for volleyball.

"My older brother, Steve, is a coach at Muncie Burris High School, where I think they have won 14 state championships. He is the winningest coach in the state of Indiana, I think in any sport, with almost 900 wins in his career. I think he has been there 26 or 27 years. My younger brother, John, is at New Castle, also coaching volleyball, and he has done an unbelievable job there. In fact, that is the team that beat us last year when we were undefeated. They beat us in the sectional tournament. He is someone that we are hoping to bring on staff as our second assistant. I have a sister in Fort Wayne and her daughter plays volleyball at the University of Tennessee. Then in my own family, I have one daughter, Karli, who is a junior at Ball State. My second daughter, Lindsay, is a junior at Cal State Fullerton, where she plays volleyball in the Big West. I have another daughter, Ashlee, who is a junior at Muncie Central High School, and she also plays volleyball. Then, my son, Kyle, is an eighth grader at Northside Middle School in Muncie."

Purdue defensive specialist Kim Cappa

"We were able to talk to each of the candidates for about an hour to see what they were like. When coach Shondell came in, it was the most excited that the team has been to get back out there and start playing and practicing since probably halfway through the season. Just sitting down and talking to him made everyone so excited and so ready to play. That is the type of atmosphere that we wanted to have.

"In the first meeting with him, he was mostly telling us about his background, and we asked him specific questions about how he runs practices, etc. He didn't specifically say that we needed to work hard in the weight room or anything like that because he realizes that we want to win and that we don't need someone tell us to work hard; we are anyway. He gave us a general idea of what practices would be like and how he likes having more short, intense practices, which we all agreed is one of the best approaches to have."

Printer-friendly format	Email this article

Purdue Boilermakers