Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook retires a legend after 25 years, 4 national titles

Last updated: 2025/01/30 at 12:14 AM

BigP Published January 30, 2025

Nebraska women’s volleyball coach John Cook, who won four national championships and more than 700 matches in 25 seasons, announced his retirement Wednesday and Louisville coach Dani Busboom Kelly was named his successor.

Cook, 68, took over at Nebraska in 2000 after seven years at Wisconsin and finished with a career record of 883-176. His .834 winning percentage is fifth-best all-time in Division I. He was 722-103 at Nebraska for an .875 winning percentage that is best in the country over the last 25 years.

In addition to winning national titles in 2000, 2006, 2015 and 2017, Cook led the Cornhuskers to 12 NCAA semifinals, nine Big 12 titles and five Big Ten championships. He coached five Olympians, and in 2023 he helped organize an outdoor volleyball match at Memorial Stadium that drew 92,003 fans. He was national coach of the year in 2000, 2005 and 2023.

Busboom Kelly, a native of nearby Cortland, played at Nebraska from 2003-06 and was an assistant under Cook from 2012-16. She was hired as head coach at Louisville in 2017, and she won four Atlantic Coast Conference championships and led the Cardinals to two of the last three NCAA title matches. She was 203-44 in eight seasons. Louisville announced associate head coach Dan Meske would take over.

Busboom Kelly, 39, was the starting libero on Nebraska’s 2006 national championship team and was an assistant when the Huskers won the 2015 national championship.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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