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The next two head coaches who will attempt to lead the United States to the U19 and U21 FIVB World Championship were already on the U.S. sidelines.
USA Volleyball announced earlier this week that Jonah Carson was named the head coach of the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team and Brad Keller was selected as the head coach for the U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team.
Both Carson and Keller were promoted after serving on the U.S. coaching staffs during the recently completed two-year cycle.
Carson helped guide the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team to a gold medal at the 2016 NORCECA U21 Continental Championship and a berth in the 2017 FIVB U21 World Championship. The United States finished that World Championship in 14th place with victories against the Czech Republic and Morocco.
Besides his U.S. Men’s Junior National Team experience, Carson has been involved in the USA Volleyball High Performance Program since 2007 and is the club director for the Mountain View Volleyball Club in California.
“Being head coach of the men’s junior team is an exciting honor,” Carson said in a statement. “It’s just an honor to continue to be involved developing athletes and developing volleyball in the U.S.”
Keller has been on the coaching staff of the U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team for the last four years, including serving as the associate head coach during the last two years. With Keller in that role, the United States qualified for 2017 FIVB World Championship and advanced to the Round of 16 at the international tournament.
Keller also has spent the last six seasons as an assistant coach at UCLA and has been responsible for overseeing the Bruins’ recruiting under head coach John Speraw.
In his time with the school, the Bruins advanced to the 2015 NCAA Tournament semifinals. UCLA begins the 2018 season ranked No. 4 in the preseason national coaches poll.
“I am grateful to be representing our country as head coach of the youth national team this summer,” Keller said in a statement. “I am eager to work with this incredible group of young men who have been trained very well by USA Select coaching staff the past two summers.”
The United States in the FIVB World Rankings is ranked No. 9 at the U21 level and No. 7 at the U19 level.
Both U.S. teams will compete at their NORCECA Continental Championship in 2018. These tournaments also are qualifiers for their World Championship in 2019.