Kelsey Brandl isn't the only former Ball State middle blocker getting into coaching.
Arkansas recently announced the hiring of Anders Nelson, a 2011 Ball State graduate and a star player for the men's volleyball team from 2009-11, to be an assistant coach for the school's women's volleyball team.
"I got the offer over break and decided this is what I wanted to do," Nelson said. "I came down for kind of a formal interview down here in Fayetteville and fell in love with the place and decided to accept."
Nelson's hiring comes one week after Brandl, who recently finished her senior season with the Ball State women's volleyball team, was hired to be the next head volleyball coach at Monroe Central High School.
For Nelson, his new position is more of a match between himself and a family friend rather than as co-workers. Arkansas head coach Robert Pulliza not only is a 1996 graduate of Ball State, but has known Nelson for at least a decade.
"I met Robby when I was I think 12 or 13, because he was recruiting my sister," Nelson said. "So Robby and my family go way back."
The connection paid off. While Nelson worked as a volunteer assistant with Kentucky in the fall, Pulliza went to work on recruiting him to come coach at Arkansas. They had the opportunity to speak twice in the two times Kentucky and Arkansas played each other throughout the season.
Pulliza's interest in Nelson grew from there. He later called Nelson a week before the NCAA Tournament to inform him about an open assistant spot and his interest in hiring Nelson to fill that role. From there, things fell into place for both men.
Nelson, who transferred to Ball State going into his sophomore year, said his time at Ball State and in Muncie's rich volleyball community helped drive his passion to become a coach after his playing career.
"That was actually one of the reasons I decided to transfer - because I knew the connections I would have at Ball State, and I knew the insane amount of coaches out there that played at Ball State," Nelson said. "There's a ton of people out there who will fight for you just because you went to Ball State."
Ball State coach Joel Walton, just one of the school's former players who went on to become a coach, said Nelson gained the skills necessary to coach through the experiences he had in the Muncie area.
"When he got to Muncie and was working in the Munciana volleyball club and when he was working at Muncie Burris and when he worked our camps in the summer time - all of those different opportunities, Anders embarked on very responsibly," Walton said.
With his job at Arkansas and in his time as a volunteer with Kentucky, Nelson has joined a class of former Ball State players such as Todd Chamberlain, Ethan Pheister and Billy Ebel to climb into the level of collegiate volleyball coaching.
In Walton's view, Nelson would succeed due to two of the main character attributes he displayed in his time at Ball State.
"His maturity [and] his leadership ability. He was willing to give leadership and do it in a way that the team would listen to." Walton said. "When he was getting into his last couple years, he worked his way into being the team captain. And again, as a guy that was only in our program for three years, that's saying quite a bit."
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