How Tetairoa McMillan used volleyball to become a top WR prospect

WHEN MATT MARRUJO watches Tetairoa McMillan play football, helium tin inactive spot traces.

Marrujo, the boys' volleyball manager and diversion manager astatine Servite High School successful Anaheim, California, recognizes the superb hand-eye coordination successful his erstwhile prima athlete's prolific performances astatine Arizona. When the 6-foot-4, 219-pound wide receiver elevates for a catch, Marrujo notices however McMillan starts with a "step close," the almighty past 2 steps a volleyball subordinate takes portion attacking a ball.

McMillan chuckled upon proceeding that scouting observation.

"No doubt, I tin decidedly co-sign that one," helium told ESPN past year. "I deliberation it's a large crushed wherefore I'm businesslike astatine what I bash arsenic acold arsenic leap balls, 50/50 balls, going up to get it. Volleyball plays a immense relation successful that, for sure.

"I archer everybody -- and I astir apt shouldn't accidental it -- that volleyball is my favourite sport. I astir apt had the astir amusive playing it."

Before helium became Arizona's all-time person successful receiving yards, an All-America playmaker and a projected first-round prime successful the 2025 NFL draft, McMillan was a kid who said yes to immoderate crippled helium could play. He'd vie for fun, not for dominance, but was an exceptional jock successful each athletics helium attempted.

By eighth grade, it was evident shot would supply the aureate summons for McMillan's future. But the three-sport jock -- helium besides played hoops -- ever jumped from play to season, earning 9 varsity letters astatine Servite. Those who coached and played with him successful precocious schoolhouse inactive accidental helium had the imaginable to go a uncommon endowment successful different sport.

"If he'd taken the clip and said volleyball is his main passion," Marrujo said, "he for definite would've been 1 of the apical players successful Southern California and the country. He's conscionable different."

MIGUEL MONTEROLA WAS looking to bargain a go-kart.

It was summertime 2018. A relative from Spain was staying with him successful Southern California and needed thing to drive. He'd recovered a adjacent listing online and arranged a meetup to cheque it out. The seller? Shawny McMillan. Monterola, the proprietor and laminitis of Orange Coast Volleyball Club, introduced himself, and they rapidly deed it off. Shawny told him astir her 6-foot-3 son, a shot and hoops player, and pulled up a video of him dunking astatine 12 years old.

"She's like, 'You privation to conscionable him? I'll spell get him,'" Monterola recalled. "So helium comes down, and this feline is huge, he's ripped. I was like, 'Are you kidding me? This is your kid?'"

Monterola went close to enactment convincing Tetairoa to cheque retired an OCVC practice. Shawny had played volleyball successful assemblage astatine Hawai'i Pacific. Her brother, Paka Dutro, played astatine Santa Monica College and has been coaching volleyball successful Southern California for much than 25 years. Monterola knew him good and gave him a call.

"He's like, 'Yeah, man, this kid is precise athletic, but cipher has convinced him to play volleyball,'" Monterola said. "'If you can, bully for you.'"

Tetairoa had played immoderate successful mediate school. He ne'er felt pressured by his household to clasp volleyball, but the accidental was intriguing.

"The adjacent happening you know, astir apt a week later, I was practicing with the team," McMillan said. "I was like, man, whatever, let's play."

Growing up, helium initially believed his aboriginal was successful Major League Baseball. He started playing shortstop and 3rd basal astatine 5 portion increasing up successful Hawai'i and ever played up for his age. "If you inquire my family, they'd accidental shot is my champion sport," McMillan said. But helium gave that up astir 12 and started getting much superior astir shot astatine 14.

That's erstwhile helium teamed up with the Orange County Buckeyes, an eighth-grade shot squad led by Noah Fifita, present Arizona's starting quarterback, and featuring 19 aboriginal Division I players. The Buckeyes won a 14U nationalist rubric successful 2017 with McMillan playing wide receiver and safety. He recovered his unit there, with 10 of the teammates moving connected to play unneurotic astatine Servite High School.

After football, McMillan would determination close connected to basketball, wherever helium was a agelong defender and pass-first facilitator who'd capable up the stat expanse with rebounds, blocks and steals. He thrived successful thing helium tried. One of his erstwhile coaches swore helium has adjacent witnessed McMillan vessel a 240 game. "Everything is casual for him," OC Buckeyes manager Les Fifita said. "Everything."

OCVC already had the apical 14U squad successful Southern California earlier McMillan showed up for a tryout. They inactive speech astir however hard helium deed the shot connected his archetypal try. Monterola turned to Shawny and chuckled arsenic helium told her, "I've seen enough." Their starting mediate blocker was 5-foot-4. McMillan had a ton to learn, but helium could intelligibly help.

When helium joined the squad for its adjacent tourney successful Anaheim, the buzz successful the gathering was palpable: Who is No. 83? As Monterola enactment it, McMillan had muscles that astir of these kids had ne'er seen before.

"Every nine proprietor was like, 'Are you kidding me? Where bash you get this kid from?'" Monterola said. "He was truthful intimidating, truthful carnal and athletic, and helium would trash speech crossed the net. He had nary thought what helium was doing, but cipher wanted to spell done this guy."

Within a period of joining, McMillan helped OCVC triumph a 14U USA Volleyball boys' inferior nationalist title successful July 2018. The squad went connected a ascendant run, winning 9 matches implicit 4 days successful Phoenix. McMillan picked up the nickname "Flyin' Hawai'ian" from coaches for his uncommon leaping ability.

"He's 1 of the astir likable guys I've ever met," said UCLA setter Andrew Rowan, a erstwhile OCVC captain. "He was conscionable determination to ball, person a bully clip and effort thing new. We were stoked to person him. His cognition was, 'Help maine arsenic overmuch arsenic you can.' He was unfastened to everything and ace coachable. He conscionable wanted to get better."

McMILLAN WAS HOOKED from there, and helium went connected to play with OCVC for 2 years. He couldn't signifier with the squad often owed to his shot obligations, but helium didn't miss matches. When helium enrolled astatine Servite, helium had nary occupation earning a spot connected the varsity boys' volleyball squad and starting close distant arsenic a freshman.

The crippled gets faster and blocking becomes much challenging astatine the precocious schoolhouse level, but Marrujo, the Servite caput manager and AD, watched McMillan get better. He transitioned to other hitter arsenic a sophomore, playing six rotations alternatively of three, and learned to clasp his strengths. Marrujo insists helium didn't thatch the kid overmuch different than tweaks present and there.

"He was specified a natural," Marrujo said. "You conscionable fto him bash his thing." His footwork wasn't ever perfect, Dutro said, but helium could ever flooded it with athleticism and power.

"He conscionable had a heavy, earthy limb swing," said Dutro, who joined Servite's coaching unit successful 2019. "It's a heavy, heavy, dense earthy arm. You could perceive a thump alternatively than a hit."

And if you were successful the incorrect spot astatine the incorrect time, you could consciousness it. His uncle remembers a infinitesimal successful a lucifer erstwhile McMillan deed a shot truthful hard that it bent an opposing blocker's digit back. "I conscionable saw this kid go, 'F---!'" Dutro said. "You could archer helium was not blocking him again."

"You'd spell backmost and ticker film," Marrujo said, "and spot the opposing squad and coaches benignant of wide-eyed like, 'What conscionable happened?'"

Matt Martinez played with McMillan astatine Servite for 2 seasons earlier moving connected to play astatine Stanford. He appreciated the freshman's humble attack and deference to squad leaders. Even portion his estimation was rising arsenic a shot phenom, helium brought zero ego to their team. He'd bum rides from older teammates and articulation them for trips to In-N-Out aft matches.

"It was beauteous comical to beryllium connected his broadside of the net," Martinez said, "because sometimes it seemed similar helium was toying with the different squad a small bit. It came truthful casual to him, and helium was scoring astatine volition astatine times. We'd play each the apical teams wrong Orange County, and occasionally T-Mac would get this matchup wherever it's intelligibly precise unfair, and it's conscionable hilarious to watch."

Ask McMillan however unfair helium was connected the volleyball tribunal backmost then, though, and he'll chopped you off. He has excessively overmuch respect for the guys helium played with to spell that far.

"No, no, no. You whitethorn deliberation that, but I played astatine a beauteous precocious level successful volleyball successful precocious school," McMillan said. "It wasn't nary scrubs. A batch of the radical I played with oregon played against are each playing Division I close now. I would decidedly not accidental it was unfair. They tin jump, they tin play, and they tin play volleyball astir apt mode amended than me. I was conscionable connected a squad that allowed maine to succeed."

At Servite, helium was allowed to juggle arsenic galore sports arsenic helium wanted. He'd spell close from shot to hoops successful the wintertime and past instantly into volleyball play successful the spring. He'd alternate betwixt 7-on-7 shot and nine volleyball tournaments successful the summer. And by the extremity of his freshman year, helium already had 9 assistance offers.

When helium had to driblet 1 athletics during the COVID 2020-21 schoolhouse year, McMillan kept playing volleyball implicit basketball. He had ever planned to postgraduate aboriginal arsenic a senior, truthful helium knew that inferior volleyball play would beryllium his last 1 astatine Servite. He helped pb the Friars connected a postseason tally to the California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section semifinals against Huntington Beach. In the last lucifer of his precocious schoolhouse career, McMillan tied a Servite schoolhouse grounds with 36 kills.

"That's astir apt 1 crushed wherefore I was OK with hanging up my volleyball vocation -- due to the fact that I went retired similar that," helium said.

BUT WHAT IF McMillan had kept playing volleyball successful college? Years later, his erstwhile coaches and teammates inactive person nary uncertainty helium could've competed astatine the highest level.

McMillan yet followed Fifita and 2 much Servite teammates to Arizona aft his plans to be his imagination schoolhouse fell apart. He committed to Oregon earlier his elder play and was specified weeks distant from officially signing. Oregon shot manager Mario Cristobal flew down to Anaheim for an in-home sojourn with the McMillans amid rumors Cristobal was weighing an connection from Miami. The adjacent day, McMillan recovered retired connected TV that Cristobal was gone. Coaches weren't returning his calls.

"I had asked Cristobal himself and asked the receivers manager what was going on," McMillan said. "They said nothing's happening. So I was like, man, I'm gonna instrumentality y'all connection for it. But ... it happened."

He chose to instrumentality with his brothers and articulation the Wildcats, and helium ne'er regretted it. Arizona does person 2 men's volleyball nine teams but does not vie astatine the Division I level. In fact, lone six schools successful the Power 4 -- BYU, Ohio State, Penn State, Stanford, UCLA and USC -- presently person Division I men's volleyball programs.

For that reason, there's precise small past of dual-sport athletes playing shot and volleyball successful college. Former Arizona hoops subordinate Chase Budinger famously made the modulation from playing successful the NBA to competing successful Olympic formation volleyball. Tennessee backmost Nico Iamaleava, different apical enlistee from Southern California, besides played volleyball successful precocious school, but the football-basketball combo is acold much common. According to Tracking Football, astir 55% of wide receivers drafted into the NFL besides played precocious schoolhouse basketball.

Marrujo said McMillan did a associated football-volleyball sojourn to USC, including photograph shoots successful some uniforms, and remembers volleyball coaches astatine Ohio State and Stanford expressed akin involvement successful bringing him successful arsenic a two-way recruit. Rowan discussed the anticipation with his aboriginal UCLA coaches during his recruitment.

"I retrieve I brought it up to T-Mac like, 'Yo, if you wanted to marque this happen, you tin marque it happen,'" helium said.

Dutro thinks attempting the uncommon feat of a two-sport assemblage vocation would've yet taken a carnal and intelligence toll. Eventually, adjacent the greats person to prime one.

"It would've been unheard of and perfectly insane," Martinez said. "He was conscionable that bully astatine some sports. His athleticism was beauteous astonishing."

Had McMillan decided helium wanted to absorption connected playing extracurricular hitter and enactment successful the signifier time, Monterola believes helium would beryllium 1 of the champion successful the country. Martinez suspects he'd beryllium successful the U.S. Men's National Team improvement programme and someday vying for a spot connected the team.

Rowan is chasing greatness astatine UCLA, earning first-team All-America honors and winning nationalist championships successful each of his archetypal 2 assemblage seasons. The 6-foot-6 setter has already won aggregate golden medals with USA Volleyball. He would've loved to spot McMillan support going.

"T-Mac could travel close present into Division I assemblage volleyball, bid for a period and I stake you helium could commencement connected a apical 10-15 team," Rowan said. "I'm not adjacent joking."

McMillan can't hazard wounded during the NFL draught process and hasn't picked up a volleyball successful a while, but Dutro says his nephew inactive played coed games during his Arizona career.

"If helium continued to play volleyball, helium astir apt could've gone each the way," Dutro said.

Almost 7 years later, Tetairoa's aged go-kart is inactive sitting successful Monterola's garage. The nine manager hopes his erstwhile prima pupil volition travel prime it up someday, a souvenir from a accidental brushwood that turned into truthful overmuch more.

"If T-Mac asks if helium tin person his go-kart back, I'll accidental yes," Monterola said. "Take your go-kart and rise your children and archer them that story."