JJ Van Niel Extended to 2029

TEMPE – Following two of the most successful seasons in Sun Devil Volleyball history and arguably the best two-year start for any Sun Devil coach across all sports, head coach JJ Van Niel signed a contract extension, keeping him as the head of the program through 2029.

"We are incredibly excited to have JJ Van Niel as our head coach, both now and for the future," said Sun Devil Athletics Director Graham Rossini. "Not only has JJ proven himself to be one of the best in the nation with his remarkable on-court success, but his commitment to excellence extends beyond athletics. His team's achievements in the classroom and their visible dedication to giving back to the community further exemplify the values we strive for in this department and at ASU. JJ's leadership, goals, and winning record perfectly align with our mission, and while his program has achieved incredible success over the past two seasons, we are confident that the best is yet to come."

In two seasons as the head coach for Arizona State, and his first two seasons as a head coach, Van Niel amassed a 58-10 record, led the team to two NCAA Tournament appearances (and three wins), won the program's first conference championship (Big 12 in 2024) and coached players to seven All-America honors. He was the fastest head coach in team history to 50 wins. He has earned numerous awards for his efforts: 2023 and 2024 AVCA Region Coach of the Year, 2024 Big 12 Coach of the Year and 2023 Pac-12 Coach of the Year. His two seasons are the top two for winning percentage, with the 30-3 (.909) record in 2024 being the best and 28-7 (.800) in 2024 the second best. 

"First of all, I would like to thank Graham Rossini for his support from day one of my time here," said Van Niel. "His genuine passion for this department and program is unparalleled, and having someone so invested in our success at the helm made my decision to sign this contract a very easy one. In addition, the way Dr. Crow and the university is supporting not only volleyball, but athletics as a whole makes it such an exciting time to be a part of Sun Devil Athletics. The energy around here is palpable!

"I love what I do and who I get to do it with every day. It's a real blessing to not only put a quality product on the floor, but to have the opportunity to build relationships with so many amazing people - from our student-athletes to leadership to my immediate staff to our broader support staff to our community, I feel very fortunate to be where I am."

 

His first season in Tempe was 2023, when he led the team to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015. Not only did he get them to the postseason, but the team won two matches in the tournament for the first time in program history. To start the season, the Sun Devils went 14-0, the third-best start in team history and the best start by a new head coach. The team was ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll for the last 10 weeks of the regular season, reaching as high as No. 15. Van Niel was the second first-year Sun Devil head coach to be ranked 10 or more weeks, joining Debbie Brown in 1983. The Sun Devils finished the year at No. 16 in the rankings, the first time finishing a season ranked since 2014 and the highest final ranking since 1995. The Sun Devils finished the Pac-12 in a tie for third with a 14-6 record, the most conference wins in a single season in program history. That was the best finish since tying for second in 1993 in the Pac-10. The team picked up a pair of monumental wins, sweeping both No. 5 Oregon on the road and No. 3 Stanford at home. This was the first time beating two top-10 teams in the same season since 2010, but it was the first time with two top-10 sweeps in the same year. Van Niel coached three All-Americans in Marta Levinska (first team), Claire Jeter (honorable mention) and Shannon Shields (honorable mention). There were also four AVCA All-District honors and five Pac-12 nods.

The 2024 season saw Arizona State win its first conference championship in team history in the first season in the Big 12. Arizona State finished the season with a 30-3 record, going 17-1 in Big 12 play. The Sun Devils, who earned a No. 3 seed and hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, advanced to the second round, the second-straight year doing so. The 30 wins on the year are the most this century and one from the most all-time (31 in 1982). In the rankings, ASU was in the top 20 for the entirety of the season, ending at No. 13, second year in a row finishing in the top 20. The highest ranking was No. 8 for the last two weeks of the season. Before falling in the final match, Arizona State had an 18-match winning streak, the second-longest in program history. In addition to their monumental win total, they went 5-2 against ranked opponents, including a top-10 win over then-No. 8 Kansas. Arizona State never lost a match to an unranked team during the regular season. There were four AVCA All-Americans, four AVCA All-Region players, two major coaching honors, five Big 12 honorees, and five Big 12 Player of the Week nods. Four is the most All-Americans in a single season in program history for ASU. 

Building the community and growing the crowd size is a large part of Van Niel's vision. In 2024, the Sun Devils set new attendance records and went undefeated at home in the regular season for the first time since becoming an NCAA sport. Split between Desert Financial Arena and Mullett Arena, 10 of the 15 home matches in 2024 had over 3,000 in attendance, with six over 4,000. All six of those 4,000-plus attended matches are ranked in the top 10 for highest-attended matches since 2013. The highest was 4,630 against Arizona on October 9. ASU set program records for total attendance (50,685) and average attendance (3,379). The total attendance was No. 14 in the NCAA and the average attendance was ranked No. 15 in the nation.

It was a record-setting attendance season in 2024??

We set program records for total attendance AND average attendance in the 2024 season! THANK YOU for the endless support, Sun Devil Nation! ??#ForksUp pic.twitter.com/OW8WIv1IDo

— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) January 13, 2025

JJ In the News
--JJ Van Niel was announced as the ninth head coach in program history on December 29, 2022.
--JJ Van Niel's journey from finance to volleyball (by Alexa Taylor, Cronkite PR Lab/May 9, 2023)
--"A bolt out of the blue': First-year coach leads ASU volleyball to Sweet 16" (ASU News/Dec. 5, 2023)
--Sun Devil Extra (Sept. 13, 2024)