By Wyatt Davis
Staff Writer
Senior outside hitter Thatcher Fahlbusch, who was set to continue his volleyball career at Grand Canyon University, was left without a team when on Apr. 28, the university cut its top-ten ranked men’s volleyball, which is just weeks before Costa graduation.
Fahlbusch signed his National Letter of Intent on Feb. 13 planning to join GCU in the fall. However, the GCU Athletics department abruptly decided to cut the men’s volleyball program, shifting it to a club sport, removing it from NCAA competition.
“I have been looking forward to playing at GCU since I committed,” Thatcher Fahlbusch said. “To find out this way, this late in the year is devastating.”
Instead of a phone call from the school, Thatcher and his family learned of the program’s cancellation through an Instagram post made by the team’s social media account. This news was released 24 hours before Costa’s spring signing day.
“It was a real shock to hear as GCU did not even call Thatcher,” said Chad Fahlbusch, Thatcher’s father. “They simply posted it on social media that the program was cut effective immediately. So it was a total shock given the fact he committed in 2024 and is 3 weeks from graduating. All of a sudden we have had to go back to the drawing board, however, many schools already have roster spots for 2025 filled.”
With only 27 NCAA Division I men’s volleyball programs nationwide, options for a late transfer or a new scholarship are very limited. Fahlbusch turned down other offers in favor of GCU and now he has only a couple weeks left to decide his future.
“Thatcher has been super resilient and has had a great attitude since he has faced this new reality,” his father said. “The message is this, men’s college volleyball is in need of help. With the lack of programs, the NCAA does very little to promote and protect the men’s game. It feels like athletic departments are wanting to get out of supporting non-revenue ‘Olympic sport’ programs.”
During a brief summer meeting, the current GCU players found out the news their program was going to be cut. Many of the players pressed administrators for answers. One player asked why a nationally ranked program was chose to be cut, and according to the team, the response was, “There is no good reason.”
“Everything I planned for just disappeared overnight,” Thatcher Fahlbusch said. “Now I’m hoping for another chance somewhere else.”
Leave a Reply