Famous Athletes as Volleyball Players

Often times when I look at the world’s greatest athletes, two things come to mind. The first is something along the lines of, “Holy fireworks, Batman! That guy is a BEAST.” Then, I wonder how their skills could be used in another sport. Guys like Bo Jackson (NFL/MLB), Deion Sanders (NFL, MLB), and Michael Jordan (NBA, Minor League Baseball) made this hypothetical a reality by crossing over into a second sport at the pro level. And recently, we got to see Kevin Love trying out beach volleyball. And even though his team was easily defeated at Manhattan Beach, Love was far from terrible.

That got me thinking about this article. What if we could take 15 current athletes and turn them into full time volleyballers? How would they stack up against each other? What positions would they play? And would they be best suited for indoors or beach? So I picked my top 15, analyzed their respective skill sets, and ranked them in order of who I felt would make the most exciting volleyball player.

Keep in mind that the order of these rankings is completely subjective, so take them with as many grains of salt as you can find. In total, it’s a 3 part series with 5 athletes covered on each article. So without further ado, here’s part 1 of 3.

Photo by AP

Photo by Rebecca Naden/PA

Peter Crouch is an English striker in the most competitive English Premier League (EPL). Within the past decade, Crouch has bounced around the league playing on several teams. He’s been a contributing member of the English National Team for several years and currently plays for Stoke City.Some of Crouch’s best moments came during Tottenham’s glorious run to the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals last year. Through Crouch’s leadership, the club shocked the world before coming up short against Real Madrid. Crouch hasn’t played any matches this season due to injury, but when he does, he’ll go back to being the goal scoring threat the EPL has come to know.

With his frame, Crouch will be best as a middle blocker. Obviously, he isn’t going to stand out the same way he does on the football pitch. A 6’7” middle isn’t anything to celebrate, but that doesn’t mean Crouch can’t be successful. His ability to make plays in the air and score with his head is extremely useful. When going for a header, you process a lot of information in a minuscule amount of time. Not only do you redirect the ball’s angle, but you also have to be aware of the defenders’ and goalkeeper’s positions and avoid getting your shot blocked. Thus, Crouch should do a good job analyzing the defense when getting set in the middle. With his quick thinking and movement, he’ll rack up a bunch of kills. He might be a defensive liability though at 156 lbs. He’s likely to be overpowered by opposing middles if the set’s off, or in a joust unless he bulks up a little more.

 

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Serge Ibaka is a rising talent in the NBA, with the potential to become an all-star PF for the Thunders. He was born and raised in Congo but was recently nationalized by Spain (where he played pro-basketball for a couple years before the NBA) so he could play in the European Championships. Ibaka is an extremely athletic and led the entire league in blocks per game last season. The dude is a highlight reel just waiting to happen. Ibaka is also a workhorse in improving his game.

To say that Ibaka was a liability on offense when first coming to OKC would be a compliment. In the past 2 seasons, he’s developed the proper fundamentals to complement his incredible physique. He’s still fairly limited offensively (not much post game, almost no passing or ball-handling skills), but compared to 3 years ago, the difference is night and day. Ibaka’s mid-range shot has vastly improved to a point where opponents think twice before leaving him open. For sure, he’s got the drive to constantly become a better player and is very coachable.

Assuming Ibaka’s development in volleyball follows his basketball development, ball control and passing are things that won’t come easy (he’s never had the delicate touch needed in volleyball) so you won’t play him as a setter or an outside. And with his size and vertical, he can’t get stuck in the back row. Ibaka is best as a middle blocker or an opposite, depending on what his team needs. He’s fast enough to be up in the air for quick sets and once he learns to snap, he’ll put everything away. His hits would be hard enough to pick up plenty of points by tooling off the block or going high off the top. His size and strength will be useful when it’s his turn to block, and if his timing on alley-oops can translate into blocking timing, he’d really make opposing attackers think twice before bombing away at the ball.

Ibaka would do much better with indoor than beach, only because I’m not convinced he’d make a great passer. Of course, he’s still very young, and with the way he works on his game, a transition to the beach later on wouldn’t be all that surprising.

 

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Our next athlete is one many fantasy football owners have been drooling over for quite some time now – none other than wide receiver, Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald has been in the NFL since 2004 with the Arizona Cardinals. He recently signed a new 8-year contract worth around $120 million. So it doesn’t look like the Cardinals are interested in getting rid of him anytime soon. He is a proven, bona-fide star in the NFL. What separates Fitzgerald from other WR’s is his ability to get up in the air and make ridiculous catches over the nearest defender(s). It’s really spectacular to watch, especially the aerial clinic that he put on during the 2nd-half of the Superbowl 3 seasons ago.

I considered listing Fitzgerald as a middle blocker, but then I glanced at his height again. The last time I can remember seeing a 6’3″ middle was in high school, so putting him there would be unfair. No matter how high he can get up, he won’t do any significant damage as a middle.An alternative would be to use him as a defensive specialist. Just because he can get up doesn’t mean that it’s the only thing he can do well on the volleyball court. He’s got blazing speed and  the coordination to handle any ball. It won’t matter if he played right or left. Cool thing about DS is that he’d still have a chance to attack, and if he’s gifted an open net, opposing defense should protect their women and children. Downside to DS would be that we’d only see Fitzgerald for half the match. If he’s good, he can be a libero but he’d sacrifice attacking out of the back row.

Another alternative would be a setter. NFL wide receivers have really good hands that catch bullets while on the run and protect the ball while getting more yardage. And Fitzgerald is there with the best of them. Setters must have good hands to react to passes and feed the ball to attackers without double contacts. I’m not saying wide receivers and setters do the exact same things with their hands (you’ll never see a receiver jump and back-set the ball in a play). But I’d argue that Fitzgerald’s soft hands will give him an advantage over average athletes as a setter.

There are plenty of options for Fitzgerald. It’d really come down to what he can do best and also what his team would need from him the most.

 

Photo by JustJared

Next in our list is the fastest man alive, and appropriately named, Usain Bolt. We only see him perform every couple years making headlines at the Olympics or World Championships but when we do, Bolt certainly makes those moments count.

Watching him run the 100m is quite possibly the most electrifying 10 seconds in all of sports. The 100m sprint is athleticism at its rawest and purest form, and in its history, no one has done it better than Usain Bolt. And the craziest thing is that we haven’t seen him give his best effort. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Bolt clearly slowed down near the finish, and still set a world record (9.69). He set a new world record a year later at the World Championships with a 9.58, but even there, you got the feeling that he was capable of giving more. It’s what makes him one of the most intriguing athletes of our generation.

There are theories as to why Bolt hasn’t ran his hardest, but that’s not what we’re here to explain so let’s keep moving.Bolt’d make a solid outside hitter. He has the right build and quickness to get up and convert on quick “shoots” on the outside. On defense, he’d put up a strong block and is flexible enough to stay low without losing agility. He’d be the first to track down a shanked pass or cover hitters. He won’t dominate the sport the way that he’s dominated sprinting, but once he masters the techniques, he’ll be darn good.

And the best part of it would be seeing Bolt strike his legendary “lightning bolt” pose after a clutch kill or a monster block. Opponents may get annoyed, but fans’d go wild, so long as he doesn’t overdo the celebrations.Crossing over to another sport is a concept that Bolt’s actually familiar with. He’s discussed his desire to play European football in the EPL after he retires from racing. He thinks he’s good enough to play for Man U, but it’ll be more than a few years before we find out if that’s true. Perhaps we can convince him to give volleyball a crack if his EPL tryout fails to impress.