Daughter of ex-Penn State football player commits to Nittany Lions via transfer portal

Penn State volleyball picked up a massive transfer portal commitment from a Big Ten Rival this past week. The Nittany Lions will be adding former Nebraska volleyball player Caroline Jurevicius for the 2024 season. If that name sounds familiar, it’s probably because you watched her father streak down the Beaver Stadium sideline nearly 30 years ago. In addition to being one of the top players in the transfer portal, the newest Nittany Lion is also the daughter of former Penn State football player Joe Jurevicius.

Penn State volleyball adds top 20 transfer portal prospect Caroline Jurevicius from Nebraska

Caroline Jurevicius redshirted this past season at Nebraska after being a part of the No. 1 recruiting class for the 2023 cycle. Jurevicius was the No. 17 player overall for the 2023 class and was thought to be a key player going forward for the Cornhuskers. Many Nebraska volleyball fans were shocked on social media at the departure, as they thought she would be a contributor next season.

Jurevicius was the only player out of the five true freshmen in 2023 who redshirted. According to Mitch Sherman of The Athletic, head coach John Cook planned to play Jurevicius this season in the anticipated Memorial Stadium match, but was convinced by an assistant coach to redshirt her since she was a double major and would require five years to graduate. The thought was she would be more productive as a redshirt senior than as a true freshman.

The issue was that the coaching staff didn’t tell Jurevicius that she was being redshirted until after the match. It appears Jurevicius may have been unhappy with the decision, which may have been a contributing factor to her decision to transfer.

The transfer is a massive get for a program that is trying to reestablish itself as one of the elites in college volleyball. Penn State volleyball has the No. 1 recruit in the country, Izzy Starck, coming in next season and has slowly been building talent under second-year head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley. Jurevicius should be an instant contributor for the Nittany Lions as they continue to build their roster with talent.

𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿

✏️: Caroline Jurevicius
🏐: Opposite
🎓: RS Freshman
⬅️: Nebraska
➡️: Penn State#CollegeVBTransfers | #NCAAWVB pic.twitter.com/gwFmmOjLl3

— College VBall Transfers (@CVBTransfers) December 22, 2023

Daughter of former Penn State football player is coming home

If the last name Jurevicius rings a bell, it means you probably know your stuff about 1990s Penn State football.

Caroline’s father, Joe Jurevicius, played at Penn State from 1994-1997 for head coach Joe Paterno. Jurevicius hauled in 94 receptions for 1,894 yards and 15 touchdowns during his career with the Nittany Lions. After being drafted in the second round of the 1998 Draft, Jurevicius played for over a decade in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003.

While the shock of Caroline Jurevicius leaving Nebraska after just one year caught Nebraska volleyball fans by surprise on social media, the connection the family has to Penn State made the transfer destination unsurprising at the same time.

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