Wrather Selected to Lead Wildcats Volleyball Teams

FORT VALLEY, Ga. – Even with an unusual upcoming fall semester, it has not dampened the excitement and anticipation of the newest Wildcats athletic coaching member. The Fort Valley State athletic department welcomes Larry Wrather as the new head coach for both the women’s volleyball and new men’s volleyball programs.

The new Wildcats volleyball head coach will have the unique opportunity to continue the gradual women’s volleyball program improvement and begin the new men’s volleyball program at the same time.

“I’m excited to have Coach Larry Wrather join the Fort Valley State University Family,” said Dr. Anthony Holloman, FVSU Director of Athletics. “He is a dynamic young coach who has the experience needed to build a championship level program.”

“I am excited to take over the Fort Valley State volleyball programs for the men’s and women’s teams,” said Wrather sharing Dr. Holloman’s excitement. “I want to show the volleyball world the hidden gem on the women’s side and (completely) build on the men’s side where the team could be the UCLA or the Penn State of the region and Conference.”

The Chicago, Ill., native, who claims to live, breathe and sleep volleyball, comes to The Valley after spending the past two seasons as the men’s volleyball assistant coach at the University of Charleston (W.Va.). He helped the Golden Eagles stabilize its still young program and left it in a good place.

With the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s postponement of its fall sports season until the 2021 spring semester, Wrather’s recent arrival to the Middle Georgia area will not have as much urgency if not for the unique next few months’ circumstances.

“I plan on doing a lot of training and getting to know the girls. They will need to put in the work and I am excited to get started in getting them started (in-person) as we have talked with them a few times,” explained the new FVSU head coach.

He continued, “I want the team to be better, while we play to win and be competitive. Our goal will be to get more competitive wise and volleyball IQ wise. The program foundation is built and I want to go off from there.”

Regarding his second team, Coach Wrather will have now have more time for the inaugural FVSU men’s volleyball squad. The Wildcats newest program will take the court for the first time in the 2022 spring semester when the SIAC’s six-team league begins.

“We are recruiting and bringing in the team. We are building the men’s volleyball team from scratch and will have a whole year to do it,” explained Wrather.

Coach Wrather will also another unique coaching situation as he takes over the reins of the women’s and men’s volleyball programs. The new FVSU head coach will have his father, Edward, a long-time volleyball coach himself, serve as the program’s assistant coach to make a father-son coaching staff team.

“It will be awesome coaching with my dad,” stressed Wrather. “We (my dad and I) are very fortunate for this to happen as not many get to do it as a father-son (coaching team). He is the one who passed the love of the game and mentoring players. It has been a dream (of mine) to become a college coach and to have my idol, in my dad, be next to me and guide me along and take any knowledge from him at any time and get to do what I love.”

As a player, Wrather played collegiality for Ball State University from 2010-14. He helped the Cardinals to a four-year record of 74-42 (.638) and powered over 747 kills in 357 sets from his outside hitter position. Wrather led Ball State in kills and kills per game both his sophomore (250 kills/2.63 k/gm) and junior (226 kills/2.51 k/gm).

Wrather started his career in the Muncie, Ind., area, while he was still in college. He served on local high school, Burris Laboratory School’s boys’ volleyball varsity team staff, where the team posted a 39-0 record, won a state championship and finished as national runner-ups. Wrather led the School’s junior varsity team the following year, before he headed to the University of Charleston the past two seasons.

The volleyball bloodlines run deep in the family as Wrather’s wife, Hannah, was a four-year member of fellow Mid-American Conference Ohio University’s women’s volleyball team.