IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Deep roots
Mountain View Volleyball Club’s James Shaw, one of the nation’s most heralded recruits, is focused on winning a national junior title before he begins his collegiate career at Stanford
By Jon Hastings Photo: Peter Brouillet
M
ountain View Volleyball Club’s James Shaw fi gures he could be blindfolded and placed anywhere on the 13-square miles of the Stanford Uni- versity campus and he would know exactly where he was. The 17-year-old setter from St. Fran- cis High School in Mountain View, Calif., who has developed into a 6-7, 215-pound athlete, spent countless hours on the Stanford campus while his dad, Don Shaw, served different tenures coaching both genders of the school’s intercollegiate volleyball teams. Don led the Cardinal to four NCAA Divi- sion I women’s titles in 16 seasons and also coached the men’s team from 2002 to 2006. When James exhibited special volleyball tal-
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ents and Ivy League worthy test scores, his path to Palo Alto was a mixture of destiny and practicality. So choosing Stanford was an easy decision. “I signed the fi rst day I could,” James said. “There was really very little doubt in my mind.”
Many consider Shaw to be the top boys’ volleyball prospect in the class of 2012, and he says he wants to continue the family leg- acy at Stanford in terms of NCAA titles. But fi rst, he is on a mission for his 18 Open club team from Mountain View. The 2012 USA Volleyball Boys’ Junior National Champion- ships in Dallas this summer is the ultimate destination, and gold is his color of choice. “I’m focused on winning a national
championship with these guys,” he said. “It’s a huge challenge. We want to try to go undefeated, and I think we have a pretty incredible opportunity. And I don’t know if it’s ever been done before.”
The lofty goals stem from pragmatism more than bravado. The Mountain View 17 Open team took bronze last year at the USAV Junior Nationals in Minneapolis and have added several key players to a roster that expects to send seven players to NCAA Division I schools. Shaw, who touches 8-11 standing in his size-15 shoes and enjoys the benefi ts of a personal trainer, is big even for today’s behemoth setters. Yet he was inspired by smaller versions of the position who played at Stanford.
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