Taylor Stanley's path to Kansas

On Tuesday, Kansas volleyball freshman Taylor Stanley was named the Big 12 Conference’s Preseason Freshman of the Year, but that is not where her KU story begins. 

Not even close, in fact. 

See, Stanley, a 6-foot-4 (and growing?) opposite hitter from Blue Valley Southwest High School in Overland Park, Kansas, has been coming to KU camps for nearly half of her life. 

At age 11, she got her first taste of the KU volleyball culture and began to look up to some of her favorite players, led then by longtime coach Ray Bechard. By age 15, she was fully immersed in the recruiting scene, with Bechard and the Jayhawks right there every step of the way. 

It wasn’t always a given that she would wind up at KU. In fact, there were a couple of years in there that she wanted to go anywhere but Kansas, somewhere else where she could find her own home instead of following in the footsteps of her parents, who both attended KU. Her mom, Kim, even played volleyball for the Jayhawks for 2 seasons, the second coming under Bechard.

“I wanted maybe a different story for myself,” Stanley recently told R1S1 Sports during a sit-down interview after her second practice of the day. “But, as I got older, I knew that my story would be different no matter where I went.” 

That allowed her to embrace her love — and her family’s passion — of all things Jayhawks and map out her own path anyway. 

One of the first mile markers on that new trail came at 12:01 a.m. on June 15, 2024 before her junior year of high school.

That was the first day that coaches could contact athletes in her recruiting class and that’s exactly when Bechard first reached out to her, with a simple text that said he’d be calling later that day.

“I was Coach B’s first call and he was mine,” Stanley said proudly. “At 8 a.m. that morning. That was the best feeling ever. I had other schools I was looking at, but hopping on that call with Coach B, I could really feel his vision for me and everything he wanted for me in the program.” 

After that call and the countless camp visits that preceded it, Stanley told her parents at dinner later that night that she was ready to commit to KU. 

Her dad’s response, on the day before Father’s Day no less, was priceless and something Stanley will always remember.

“OK, here’s my (credit) card, go buy more shirts, you can take your commitment pictures tomorrow, do whatever you want,” she recalled her father saying as soon as he heard the news. “It was perfect.” 

“Coach Bechard and the old staff showed me such an immense amount of love and I really felt that," she added. "And then when I saw all the facilities and resources and staff here, it’s just insane and I’m so glad I get to experience that and be a part of it. I called other schools and coaches and I honestly felt like nothing could compare. KU was always at the top of my mind and I was always trying to compare other schools to that.” 

“From a volleyball standpoint, she’s really fun to coach. I mean, she has major talent, major gifts and definitely (fills) a need that we have on the team.” 

— KU volleyball coach Matt Ulmer on freshman Taylor Stanley

Bechard elected to retire before Stanley ever made it to campus, but, much like the ultra-smooth transition from the Bechard era to his replacement’s beginning, Stanley’s initial conversations with current KU coach Matt Ulmer merely made her fall in love with KU even more. 

One of the biggest reasons was the fact that Ulmer demonstrated right away that family would still be a big part of the program’s culture. 

“That was really comforting, knowing how big of a family person he was,” said Stanley, noting that she unofficially met Ulmer’s wife and kids on her first FaceTime call with him. “I could just immediately tell what defined the culture of his teams and, obviously, he had an amazing track record.” 

“Even with the coaching switch, I knew I chose the school for a reason,” she added. “It was scary because I knew the vision the old staff had for me, but my commitment never wavered after the minute I hopped on a call with Matt.” 

Ulmer felt the love coming right back and appreciated that all he had to do from there was close the deal and keep her committed by being genuine about himself, his program and his plans for the talented player from Kansas City. 

It’s a Jayhawk family, so I love the legacy piece,” Ulmer said this week, while previewing the upcoming season which begins on Aug. 28 at the Opening Spike Classic in Pittsburgh, Pa. “Taylor really wants to be here and she wants to be great for Kansas and KU and I just think that’s really special.”

“From a volleyball standpoint, she’s really fun to coach,” he added. “I mean, she has major talent, major gifts and definitely (fills) a need that we have on the team.” 

Stanley graduated high school early and was able to get to KU’s campus in January for the second semester and a spring’s worth of volleyball action. That head start helped tremendously — especially when it comes to the adjustment to college life and living away from home — and has her feeling more confident than ever as the start of the season draws near. 

“I’m so grateful I came when I did,” Stanley said. “I feel so calm and composed because I’ve already experienced school and working out that balance and had the whole spring to connect with the team and coaches.” 

Now, it’s about competition and the game and honing her skills and making sure she’s as ready as possible for the show to begin. 

Ulmer knows that. He also knows he could use her right away. So, he and his coaching staff have done everything they can think of to push the 6-4 hitter who can touch 10 feet, 7 inches with her jump, the highest mark on the team. 

“I’m not backing down with her,” Ulmer said. “I keep pushing her and she’s cried very little, which I’m really impressed by.”

He added: “Every freshman in the world wants to play right away until they have to play. And then it’s really scary and you have to perform. I’ve been really impressed that she hasn’t backed down. She really puts in the work (and) the time.” 

Stanley may have come in with U-19 National Team experience and as the 2025 AVCA High School Region Player of the Year and she may have added to her impressive list of accolades with this most recent Big 12 honor, as well.

But none of it has changed her at her core. And while there’s an awfully big core in that 6-4 frame, it’s made up of the type of stuff that coaches and teammates simply can’t get enough of. 

“They adore her,” Ulmer said of Stanley’s KU teammates, five of which are freshmen like her. “And she’ll do anything for them. She’s one of those types of people.” 

Added KU junior Reese Ptacek, who joined transfer setter Reese Messer, of USC, on the preseason all-Big 12 squad: “She’s an amazing person. She’s just a really happy person. She’s someone you want to go do things with and that’s the kind of teammate you want, not just on the court but also off the court.”

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