This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter features Dain Blanton, the head coach of the USC Beach Volleyball team and the man who has built the biggest dynasty in all of college sports right now. Despite losing 12 players from last year’s NCAA Championship-winning team, Blanton rebuilt in a hurry, winning a third straight NCAA title this past May. Indeed, life is good to be Blanton, and it’s good to be a USC Trojan. We chatted all about this year’s run, as well as:
– Blanton’s recruiting process, and how he has a unique challenge in navigating the equivalency nature of scholarships rather than head count
– Why he is such an advocate for single-elimination NCAA Championship, in spite of that format hurting dominant teams such as USC
– How he managed to rebuild his entire lineup in the span of a few months
– The constantly changing landscape of NCAA Beach Volleyball, and women’s sports in general
And so much more! Absolute blast, as always, hanging with Dain.
ENJOY!
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We have a new — but temporary — sponsor with the Saucedwear Tournament, a $17,000 open with $5k to the winners down in Navarre Beach, Fla., where Travis Mewhirter first learned to play. Registration ends on July 14, and players can sign up at saucedwear.com! https://saucedwear.com/
NEW BOOK ALERT!!! Travis Mewhirter and Kent Steffes just published a seminal work on the history of beach volleyball in their new book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Check it out on Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Summer-rise-beach-volleyball/dp/B0B3JHFKM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJFWHPBGPQ2&keywords=kings+of+summer+book&qid=1658922972&sprefix=kings+of+summer+book%2Caps%2C1328&sr=8-1
We are FIRED UP to announce that we’ve signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Stay healthy with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter and get your greens today! https://athleticgreens.com/partner/d35ctoffer-strength/en?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=influencer&utm_campaign=sandcast_d35ct__a3172__o27&utm_term=cac__a3172__o27&utm_content=sport__a3172__o27
We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/
If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We’d love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/
This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball
Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB
13 Comments
You guys should have Dain and Jose Loiola on the same episode. Have Dain go over his gold medal run in excruciating detail. Don't let Jose speak.
Dain 2 the revenge of the guy who has levered a gold better than most !
I totally agree that something has to be done on the structure of tournaments. Watching the third matches of pool play in Jurmala was a bit pointless as a fan, for example, which is unfortunate!
Hey. The nations cup is two teams, with a one-one draw, there is a fifteen point golden set to win ❤
The NCAA beach was the best beach event I have ever attended. Including Olympics. I loved the format in Gulf Shores and the atmosphere was fantastic! The tension is huge.
Totally off-topic, but I believe it looks like we'll be getting a SandCast matchup in Hermosa in Round 1!
Travis, could you enlighten me on what entry points count for the world champs?
The big question here is who was responsible for planning the AVP events? And could they have at all avoided the double clash with two elite 16 events. Accidental oversight or mission impossible to have on another date? Would love to know if in an Olympic QF year it was a discussion and they tried to avoid? Sad if it could have been avoided. ESP when limited events to earn money staying home 🧐
I would love to see a beach volleyball Olympic system that is kind of like Gymnastics and Figure Skating. First part of the Olympics is the individual 2s event played the same as existing but second half is a Country Team Event (probably best of 3 matchups) most likely separate genders but obviously a few countries would dominate at both gender combined.
Why not move Collegiate beach to a summer schedule so that Northern Schools can have their duals in better weather. Also it feeds like one of the richest conferences is the big ten, i doubt Michigan Wisconsin or Minnesota can add beach given their climate in February/March and April.
Amazing accomplishment to 3-Peat 🥇👏🏽 And great talk, as always 🤙🏽🏐
Hey Travis and Tri, great episode, you should try to get Karch back on in the future as another coach and legend. I am playing in my first tournament next weekend and was wondering what you guys do to prepare for a tournament? Keep up the great work love you guys
There he is – the only male player to win an Olympic gold medal, AVP crown, and an NCAA chip as a player AND coach. No one else holds that distinction. Just…put the guy in all the hall of fame categories, yah?