When the transfer portal meets ‘real life’: Ally Batenhorst trains with Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. — In her three seasons at Nebraska, Ally Batenhorst played on two volleyball teams that came within one victory of the ultimate prize. In December, she started at outside hitter for the Huskers as Texas rolled to a three-set win for the national championship.

Then in early January, Batenhorst took a deep breath and called her coach John Cook.

“I was nervous,” she said. “The situation was unique. But you never know.”

Batenhorst decided to leave the Huskers. The conversation with Cook came immediately before she submitted forms to enter the transfer portal with one semester left before she would graduate from Nebraska. 

“I went into this phone call fully expecting that I might need to figure out training on my own,” Batenhorst said.

What she got from Cook, the four-time national championship coach, was an invitation to play with the Huskers during their winter beach volleyball season and train indoors alongside most of the 2024 team this spring. Batenhorst accepted. She will graduate next month in Lincoln and head to USC in the summer to prepare for the fall season.

Imagine a top wide receiver or running back announcing his transfer to a conference rival after a football season, then sticking around for spring practice with his old team.

It likely wouldn’t happen. But Cook opted to take the wide view of Batenhorst’s situation. The coach knew her teammates at Nebraska would appreciate his gesture, and he said he considered Batenhorst’s contributions over three years in Lincoln.

In the transfer portal age, a hard-line stance on roster management might backfire. Not only that, Cook wanted to do right by Batenhorst.

“We have a saying here,” he said. “Once a Husker, always a Husker. We try to live by that.

“I see a lot of other schools just completely cut their (outgoing) players off. These are people who are graduating. They’re in their last semester. To me, that’s different. She’s been here. She’s using her last year to try something new. There’s no ill feelings there. We’ve got great connections. We have great relationships. We’ve had a great run with her being here.”

Beyond excited to announce my commitment to continue my academic and volleyball career at the University of Southern California! Thank you to everyone for all of the endless support. Can’t wait for this new chapter of my life ♥️???? #fighton pic.twitter.com/a6hrVXxf7n

— Ally Batenhorst (@allybatenhorstt) January 27, 2024

Nebraska lost Batenhorst, the former No. 3 recruit in the 2021 class, and freshman Caroline Jurevicius to the portal this year. Jurevicius is headed to Penn State. Cook added transfers Leyla Blackwell from San Diego and Taylor Landfair, a first-team All-American and the 2022 Big Ten player of the year at Minnesota.

Blackwell and Landfair will join the Huskers in the summer.

They’ve both separated entirely from their former programs. Not Batenhorst. Her 2.25 kills per set ranked third among Huskers in…