Dave Shondell Signs 6-year Extension

There is definitely a new sheriff in town with athletic director Mike Bobinski. After it was a long standing policy to not give multi-year contracts to coaches of “Olympic” sports Bobinski has gone away from that. Loni Greene was signed for several years for track, Mike Wasikowski signed a multi-year contract for baseball, and now Dave Shondell, one of Purdue’s longest-tenured coaches, has signed a six year deal:

"Over the course of the last 14 years, Dave and his staff have done an exceptional of recruiting some of the finest volleyball student-athletes in the country and positioning them for success on the court, in the classroom and in life following graduation," Purdue athletics director Mike Bobinski said. "We believe that we have the opportunity at Purdue to ascend into the upper tier of volleyball programs in the nation, and we look forward to supporting Dave in that effort."

No volleyball staff in the nation has been together 15 years at the same university, and few have enjoyed more success than the Boilermakers over that time. Dave Shondell, John Shondell and Kathy Jewell have led Purdue to a 301-165 overall record, including a 181-127 mark against Big Ten Conference opponents.

That’s impressive that the crew has been together that long, especially in the highly competitive Big Ten. Shondell has yet to break through with a Big Ten title, but he has taken Purdue to the Elite 8 twice, the Sweet 16 7 times, and has generally had Purdue as a solid top 25 team each year. Last year included a home win over No. 4 ranked Kansas and a road win at No. 5 Stanford, who eventually won the national title.

Of course, his job is never easy. This year Purdue starts ranked 25th in the nation, but it is behind No. 4 Minnesota, No. 5 Nebraska, No. 6 Penn State, No. 7 Wisconsin, No. 16 Michigan, No. 17 Michigan State, and No. 21 Ohio State in the Big Ten alone. Purdue also has a match at No. 8 Kansas.