In the News:
--JJ Van Niel was announced as the ninth head coach in program history on December 29, 2022.
--JJ Van Niel extended through 2029 (Apr. 2, 2025).
-- Sun Devil Extra (Apr. 2, 2025).
--"A bolt out of the blue': First-year coach leads ASU volleyball to Sweet 16" (ASU News/Dec. 5, 2023).
--JJ Van Niel: From Hedge Funds to Head Coach (Go PHNX/Oct. 15, 2023).
Awards:
--2024 AVCA Pacific Region Coach of the Year
--2024 Big 12 Coach of the Year
--2023 AVCA Pacific South Region Coach of the Year
--2023 Pac-12 Coach of the Year
JJ Van Niel's All-Time Head Coaching Record:
| Year | Record | Conference Record | Non-Conference Record | Postseason |
| 2023 | 28-7 | 14-6 | 12-0 | 2-1 |
| 2024 | 30-3 | 17-1 | 12-1 | 1-1 |
| Total | 58-10 | 31-7 | 24-1 | 3-2 |
In two seasons at Arizona State, JJ Van Niel has made history in his fist two years as a head coach. He is the fastest coach in team history to 50 wins and has the top two seasons in team history for winning percentage.
The 2024 season was one for the record books as Arizona State won its first conference championship in team history in the first season in the Big 12. Van Niel was named the AVCA Pacific Region Coach of the Year and Big 12 Coach of the Year. 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). The winning percentage of .909 is the best in team history. The Sun Devils went undefeated at home in the regular season for the first time since becoming an NCAA sport. Before falling in the final match, Arizona State had an 18-match winning streak, the second-longest in program history. With winning comes awards and the Sun Devils bought in many honors in 2024. 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.
In a historic 2023 season, Arizona State went 28-7 under first-year head coach Van Niel. He was named the AVCA Pacific South Region and Pac-12 Coach of the Year for his efforts. The Sun Devils reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015, winning two matches for the first time in program history. Arizona State had its then-second-highest win total in a season in program history with 28, which was the most wins in a season this century at that point. 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.
Van Niel came to Tempe after five seasons at USC, most recently as the associate head coach. While with the Trojans, he helped the team to three NCAA Tournament appearances (2018, 2019, 2022), advancing to the second round in each of those. In addition to tournament appearances, Van Niel helped coach five AVCA All-Americans, most recently Skylar Fields (first team). There have also been 10 all-region nods and 18 All-Pac-12 honorees during his tenure. Van Niel helped coach two USC teams to 22-win seasons (2018 and 2022).
Previously, Van Niel served as an assistant coach at Utah for two seasons (2015-16) before he was promoted to associate head coach for the 2017 season. He helped the Utes to a 20-12 season in 2016 and a 24-10 record in 2017 as Utah advanced to the NCAA regional semifinal for just the third time in program history.
Prior to his time at Utah, Van Niel was a consultant coach and scout for the U.S. Women's National Team, where he also served as a team leader and assisted group training since 2013. While with the USWNT under the direction of volleyball legend Karch Kiraly, Van Niel was responsible for coordinating and performing data analysis, game planning, and assistance during on-court practices. Van Niel helped lead Team USA to a fourth-place finish at the 2013 U23 World Championships, a silver-medal finish at the 2014 VolleyMasters and a gold medal at the 2014 World Championships. In 2016, he served as a scout coach for the U.S. Women's National Team at the Rio Olympic Games.
Van Niel worked with Coast Volleyball Club in San Diego, where he served as head coach for the club's elite travel teams. His 17-1 squad won the Pacific Northwest National Qualifier and earned a bid to the USA Junior Nationals Open Division. In addition to his coaching duties, Van Niel also served as the club's Chief Financial Officer. In 2012, VolleyballNow.net named him Coach of the Year.
While in San Diego, Van Niel was also an assistant coach for the UC San Diego men's program from 2011-14 and was also head coach at La Costa Canyon High School in 2014. Prior to his stint as head coach, he had served in various capacities at LCCHS since 2010.
Van Niel's coaching education includes being a USA Volleyball CAP Level III coach, working at the USA Volleyball High Performance Coaching Clinic, and the completion of both Gold Medal Square Level I and II programs.
Van Niel, a native of Southern California, earned a bachelor's degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance, Cum Laude, from the USC Marshall School of Business in 1998. He also played for USC's club ice hockey team. He then spent 12 years in the financial world (two in investment banking in San Francisco, four at a distressed debt hedge fund in Los Angeles, and six at an activist hedge fund in San Diego) before entering the volleyball-coaching field.
Originally from Rolling Hills, California, Van Niel and his wife Maria have three children: Kaleb, Olivia, and Nathaniel.