Although details have not been finalized, Hawaii head coach Charlie Wade expects this year’s four seniors — including All-America opposite Rado Parapunov — to return for the 2021 men’s volleyball season.
“That’s the intention,” Wade said. “And I think at this point, everybody is hopeful it can happen.”
In March, the NCAA’s Division I Council approved a measure for spring-sport athletes to extend their eligibility and ease the scholarship limits to allow current seniors to return for the 2020-21 academic year. Men’s volleyball teams are limited to spreading the financial equivalent of 4.5 scholarships among their players. The new rule allows seniors getting up to the amount they currently receive without it counting against next season’s 4.5 cap.
“We’re in the process of moving everything from theoretical — I think we now know more about what the operating procedure is going to be — and move into the actual, get it all inked. I would say, at this point, we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to work it out.”
Wade indicated the lockdown of professional volleyball leagues, especially in Europe, has made returning to school a more practical option.
Wade said: “They look at it as, ‘I’m already going to school. If I’m ever going to get a master’s or another minor or more education, let’s do it now.’ It makes sense. It’s not like this (lockdown) happened independently of what professional sports all over the world are doing. The revenue piece for professional leagues all over the world is real. They’re not rolling in cash. Do (recent graduates) have opportunities? Yeah. But everything is on hold for everybody.”
Returning seniors also will have to adjust their academic situations.
“There’s the academic progress,” Wade said. “Are you going to get a master’s? Then you have to work on getting into grad school. If you’re going to come back and work on classes to get a minor, then how many units is that going to take? Is there a Title IX piece we have to work on? I think most of the information to those questions have been revealed. Now it’s getting down to each specific person. Here’s what your situation is.”
Parapunov, who is in UH’s Shidler College of Business, is set to earn a bachelor’s degree in marketing in May. Shidler offers a one-year graduate program.
As a junior in 2019, Parapunov was named to the AVCA All-America first team. Last week, Parapunov was named the Big West Conference’s Player of the Year. The Rainbow Warriors were 15-1 when the rest of the 2020 season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Outside hitter Colton Cowell, middle blocker Patrick Gasman and serving specialist James Anastassiades also are seniors. Cowell and Gasman are expected to return as starters while Anastassiades is a possibility to rejoin as a player or manager.
If things go according to plan, Wade said, “I look at it as the incoming guys having a chance to play with one of the best players ever. And just the overall. If you were able to bring all those guys back, that’s an impressive group of athletes to have in the gym. The sheer numbers, we’ve never operated like that. You’ll have two courts of six-on-six of a very high level going on every day.”
