Nebraska Volleyball Coach Dani Busboom Kelly Speaks at LOVB Celebration: A Question Asked by a Sport Journalist named Journalist: Jordan Larson, I know you were just talking up there about it. What’s your reaction to that? Her coming back, coming out of retirement?
Dani Busboom Kelly: Well, Jordan and I are really good friends and, you know, I’ve talked a long time about, you know, getting her back involved with Nebraska, if that would ever happen. And so I knew this was coming. So obviously I wasn’t surprised, but I wanted to encourage her. If she feels great, why wouldn’t you keep playing? I think it’s awesome. And like I said up there, just a great role model for volleyball players that you take care of yourself, you can have a really long career, and you can use volleyball for so many amazing things in your life.
Journalist: You weren’t surprised when she told you she was coming back? Jordan coming back?
Dani Busboom Kelly: Honestly, I was not surprised with just knowing Jordan. And also, I’d watched her play this year, and I was like, she’s so good. Like, she still has got it. It’s not like she was out there looking like she didn’t belong. So it was not surprising to me that she decided to keep playing.
Journalist: Just talking about the sport growing continuously every single year. What does that mean to you as the volleyball coach of Nebraska?
Dani Busboom Kelly: You know, obviously we want Nebraska to be at the forefront of all these events and to be the catalyst for volleyball, but volleyball is almost to a point where it doesn’t need Nebraska in every event to be amazing. And that’s, I think, huge for our sport, and that it’s not just growing here and popular here, it’s all over the country and the world.
Journalist: When you have top recruits, you talk to them about playing Nebraska. I mean, a lot of times it’s a dream to play for the Olympic team. Are they talking about playing professionally now?
Dani Busboom Kelly: You know, every recruit talks about they want to play pro and go for the Olympics. And, you know, because they know playing pro is probably the first step to trying to make the national team. So again, the Olympic roster is so small, and the national team even is so small. And before, that was the only thing you really could do after college. And now you have two leagues. I think there’s, what, 28 total teams this year or close to that?
Journalist: 22.
Dani Busboom Kelly: I thought there was even more than that. Yes, but I’m like, you know, that’s a lot of roster spots. So, it’s just pretty amazing. They all dream of playing pro, and I still think there are awesome opportunities to play overseas, but now you can do it here, and going overseas isn’t for everybody.
Journalist: You mentioned that teams are growing a bit here. I mean, no matter how long to see the pro leagues grow after being around a couple years too, that is an encouraging sign to you.
Dani Busboom Kelly: I think so. You know, obviously investors and, you know, TV deals, they want to see more volleyball. So, if those weren’t the conversations, you wouldn’t see teams being added to each league. And, yeah, I think it’s a good sign.
Journalist: How much do you hope to see playing basketball in Nebraska at a game in Lincoln at some point in the future?
Dani Busboom Kelly: I think it’d be awesome. You know, and I thought it was pretty great that they changed their name to LOVB Nebraska instead of Omaha. And, you know, this state just embraces all the programs in the state. So, I thought being able to speak to the people out west and the north, you know, and get them involved and feel a part of it is awesome.
Journalist: Are there any cities you hope to see expansion one day? You know, we want to see the league grow with certain cities now. Are there any areas that you think, you know, just from your travels in college, you see that you think could definitely, you know, have pro teams? You know, any bets to put down?
Dani Busboom Kelly: I don’t have any bets necessarily, but I would say, you know, Nashville and Louisville would be good spots because they both have good fan bases and really big cities, with Louisville in particular doesn’t have many pro teams. So, we’ll see.
Journalist: Just seeing people come through the block party, come in and out. How cool is that to just bring you to tears?
Dani Busboom Kelly: Yeah, I had no idea what to expect tonight or what the turnout would be, but I love that the word got out, and there was a really good turnout, and families and people came to support Jordan, but just to check out and learn more about pro volleyball.
