What was that middle school volleyball coach in Indianapolis thinking? You know, the one who cut Purdue's Danielle Cuttino, back in eighth grade.
The junior outside hitter, the espnW player of the week, posted a .333 hitting percentage in the Boilermakers' victories at Stanford and against Cal Poly last weekend in the Stanford Invitational. That includes 18 kills and four blocks in the upset against then-No. 9 Stanford.
Cuttino followed that up with a career-best 21 kills and four blocks against Cal Poly. Purdue (7-1) left the West Coast with a pair of wins good enough to move up six spots in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association poll to No. 14.
"There just can't be many people in the country who are playing at the level she's playing right now," Purdue coach Dave Shondell said.
Cuttino holds no grudges about those early days when she was all about playing center for the basketball team.
"I was totally out of my comfort zone trying out for volleyball," said Cuttino, whose older sister, India, played volleyball for Vincennes University and younger sister, Shavona, is a redshirt freshman for the Boilermakers. "I didn't even know the rules."
But the following year, she wasn't terribly motivated about the work needed to get in top shape for basketball at Ben Davis High School.
"The reason I actually tried out again is because I wanted to get out of the conditioning for basketball season," she said.
It didn't take so long before her new sport came naturally, and by sophomore year, Cuttino was MVP and joined a club team. By her senior season, Cuttino was a member of the U.S. junior national volleyball team and courted by many of the top college programs in the nation.
Shondell considered the 6-foot-4 Cuttino a game-changer when she signed, and this year, thanks to a position change, that's proven to be the case.
Shondell has only lost four players to transfer in his 14 years in West Lafayette, Indiana, two after the 2015 season when Lydia Dimke switched to Creighton and Alexa Smith to Colorado. Needing to boost Purdue's outside hitting, he thought Cuttino, a middle blocker since high school, could make the transition best.
Cuttino struggled against Kentucky on opening weekend, hitting .027 with 10 attack errors contributing to a 3-2 loss.
"After that Kentucky game, it made me sick," she said. "I watched the film over and over again. I don't know why I was torturing myself, but I was, just to see how I could improve as a player. Once I watched the film, I saw so many things I was doing."
Cuttino recognized her tendency to be overeager caused her to go for the ball too early instead of waiting for the set. A series of practices corrected her form.
She's been splendid since, hitting .354 during the past five matches and averaging 4.58 kills per set.
"Stay aggressive," Shondell often reminds. "No one can stop you."
Certainly the Cardinal couldn't, even after pulling out that first set 33-31 and coasting in the second, 25-12.
"When we went into the locker room, it was like we hadn't even played yet," Cuttino said. "Once we started the third set, no one was tired. We took it one ball at a time. We knew it was doable to come away with the win."
Purdue overcame a Stanford match point in the fourth set before surviving 28-26. Six kills from Cuttino in the fifth propelled the Boilermakers to a 15-11 victory.
The following night against Cal Poly, Cuttino hit a team-best .447; her 21 kills put her over 500 for her career. More than the numbers, Shondell appreciated the leadership Cuttino showed on the bench.
Purdue dropped the third game of the set against the Mustangs and a sluggish start in the fourth caused him to call a timeout. "Danielle was out of the game at that time, but she delivered a lip sandwich to our team," Shondell said. "She got into those players about competing and the importance of communicating. A year ago she wouldn't have done that.
"The maturity she's shown in the last six months is unlike anything I've seen."
A year ago, Cuttino, also this week's Big Ten player of the week, said she would have deferred to Purdue's six upperclassmen. The mass communications major has grown increasingly comfortable being outspoken with help from Purdue's John Wooden Leadership Institute, which utilizes the legendary coach's Pyramid of Success to foster the personal growth of its student-athletes.
"I've learned when it's appropriate to say certain things and when it's not," she said.
Now Cuttino is hyped about how high the Boilermakers, picked ninth in the Big Ten, can climb in the sport's toughest conference. Seven Big Ten teams are represented in the top 25 and three are in the top 10.
She likes their chances, noting, "I try not to get in my own head too much, but Coach has told me, 'Be fearless. No one can stop you.'"