Zachary Shaver takes reins of LCCC volleyball
Jun. 29—CHEYENNE — Zachary Shaver was waiting for Laramie County Community College to post its volleyball coaching job after Keri Coats announced she was leaving to go into teaching last December.
Shaver wasn't sure he wanted to leave Yavapai College in Prescott, Arizona, but had heard enough good things about LCCC he thought the job would be worth checking out.
LCCC held off on hiring Coats' permanent replacement until it had a full-time athletics director in place. The school opened the position after hiring Mark Puev as AD in early April. By that time, Shaver had gotten enough information about the school from people he trusted that he knew he wanted to apply.
Shaver was announced as the Golden Eagles' coach Monday afternoon.
"(Region IX) is strong in volleyball, LCCC has been a stronger contender just a couple years ago and the resources are there to be successful, they just need someone to point them in that direction again," Shaver said. "On top of that, Cheyenne itself was an attractive location to us as a family. Those were all big parts of why I applied for the job."
Shaver spent nine seasons at Yavapai, coaching the Roughriders to a 154-93 record and two trips to the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament.
"The committee really liked what he did at Yavapai with his longevity there and building the program up," Puev said Tuesday morning. "They improved a lot over his time there and became really consistent. We talked about him with a lot of people during the hiring process, and they said he expects a lot from people, but that he also cares a lot about his players. That really resonated with me.
"He's also gotten teams to the NJCAA tournament, which is something (former LCCC coach Austin Albers) did while he was here. I would really like to see our volleyball team excel like that again."
Albers spent five seasons at LCCC, coaching the Eagles to 145 wins and NJCAA tournament berths in 2017 and '18, before moving on to NCAA Division II Colorado State-Pueblo. Albers was one of the people Shaver talked to about the LCCC job.
"He thought LCCC would be a really great fit for me," Shaver said. "I'm farther along in my career than he is, and I've already coached at the Division I and Division II levels. He thought this might be a place I wanted to settle down and finish my career as opposed to being a younger coach looking to take that next step up the ladder.
"I think coaching at the junior college really fits me."
In particular, Shaver said two-year schools are a fit because he loves recruiting. Rosters at four-year schools might turnover 25-30% each year, but junior college rosters often turn over at 50% or more annually.
"I don't see recruiting as a chore that comes along with the job," he said. "I love recruiting, bringing players and their families to campus and showing them that this is a great place to be. A lot of coaches find that tedious, but I don't.
"I also like being able to help get kids on to four-year schools regardless of whether they're going to keep playing or they're just going to school and keep pursuing their degree."
Rhianna Gelhart — who spent two seasons as an assistant for Coats — served as LCCC's interim coach, putting the team through spring practices and recruiting for this coming season. Shaver expects to have to fill three roster spots.
This has traditionally been a time in the recruiting calendar with few high-caliber players looking for places to play. However, the NCAA transfer portal and the additional season of eligibility the organization extended to athletes at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic have left many talented players seeking homes.
That could be advantageous for the Eagles, Shaver said.
"The transfer portal has really clogged things up for international players," he said. "I don't plan on recruiting a lot of international players in the future. We'll have a few here and there, but there are a lot more available than usual because of the transfer portal. There are a lot of quality players available right now that could really help us."
While recruiting quality players is an integral part of building a winner, it's not the foundation for a consistently good program, Shaver said.
"The difference in winning volleyball isn't just the skill level or athleticism, it's the culture of the program that makes the biggest difference," he said. "We might not be the most talented team on the court all the time, but that doesn't mean we're not going to win matches. We'll win by being mentally tougher in everything we do.
"Those factors make it really enjoyable when you see a team outshine its abilities and beat a team it's not supposed to on paper. That continues to snowball and build, and that's when you win consistently."
Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on Twitter at @jjohnke.
