Busboom Kelly Named Head Coach at Louisville

LINCOLN, Neb. - Nebraska volleyball assistant coach Dani Busboom Kelly was introduced as the new head coach at the University of Louisville on Sunday afternoon. She will finish the season with the Huskers before beginning her stint at Louisville. Nebraska head coach John Cook will conduct a national search to fill the open position after the season.

Busboom Kelly replaces Anne Kordes, who resigned last week for personal reasons after six seasons as Louisville's head coach. Busboom Kelly was an assistant on Kordes' staff in 2011 before joining Cook's Nebraska staff in 2012. In her one season at Louisville, Busboom Kelly helped the Cardinals to a 24-9 record and a trip to the semifinals of the Big East Tournament. She'll take over a program that finished the 2016 regular season 12-18.

"When Dani told me she wanted to be a coach after she was finished playing for the Huskers, I suggested that she go away from Nebraska to see how the real world of coaching was different from Nebraska. Louisville was one of her stops," Cook said. "I know from many conversations she loved Louisville, Tom Jurich the AD, and of course Muhammad Ali said it is the greatest city in the world. One of the proudest days of my coaching career was hiring Dani back to Nebraska to be a coach. Although I still can’t believe it, I am very proud of the coach she has become. She is ready for this job. She has been a captain of a national championship team, coached a national championship team, changed our recruiting, and has made me a better coach. We are so happy and proud of the work that she has done to get to this point in her coaching career. Louisville is getting a young rising star coach in Dani. We will miss her and Lane, and we thank her for all that she has done for Nebraska volleyball."

In the last five years, Busboom Kelly has played a vital role in the Husker program, assisting with Nebraska's setters, liberos, outside hitters and recruiting. Regarded as one of the best recruiters in the nation, Busboom Kelly helped Nebraska's resurgence to the forefront of college volleyball in her five seasons, as the Huskers captured the 2015 NCAA Championship at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, the same place Busboom Kelly won the national title as a player for the Huskers in 2006.

Behind Busboom Kelly’s recruiting efforts, the Huskers' 2015 signing class ranked fifth in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com, and from that group Mikaela Foecke went on to become the third freshman to be named most outstanding player of the NCAA Championship.

"I am so thankful for the last five years I spent with Nebraska volleyball,” Busboom Kelly said. “Being a part of Nebraska as a player and a coach has been incredibly rewarding and no doubt has greatly influenced my career and myself as a person. I can’t thank John Cook enough for being a mentor and a friend. He has prepared me for this next step and I’ve appreciated his support throughout the process. He has always taught us to set goals and dream big. There are still goals to be accomplished in the next three weeks, and I will cherish the time remaining with the 2016 team.”

In her five seasons at Nebraska, Busboom Kelly has helped the Huskers to a 134-30 record and NCAA regional final appearances every season. She has spent eight total seasons as an assistant coach, as she was part of the Tennessee staff from 2009 to 2011.

As a captain at Nebraska, Busboom moved from setter to libero in 2006 to help Nebraska’s defense and finished her career as one of only two players to rank among NU’s all-time leaders in both digs (1,281) and assists (2,873). She was a four-year starter for Cook, guiding NU to a 124-10 record, the best four-year mark in school history, three Big 12 titles, two NCAA finals appearances and a national title in 2006.

Busboom was considered the Big 12’s best libero in 2006, as she helped NU limit opponents to a Big 12-low .144 hitting percentage. She set Nebraska’s single-season digs record (580) in her first year as a libero, breaking the previous mark of 480 by Amanda McCormick in 2004. As a senior she reached double figures in digs in 32 of 34 matches, including 21 straight matches with at least 10 digs. She notched her best defensive performance at the NCAA semifinals against UCLA, totaling a career-high 29 digs, which ranks as the second-best postseason performance in school history.

In addition to her accomplishments on the court, Busboom excelled off the court for the Huskers. She was a 2006 second-team academic All-District VII selection, while earning six Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll accolades and becoming a three-time first-team academic All-Big 12 honoree. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Nebraska in 2007.

Following her graduation, Busboom spent time with the U.S. Women’s National Training Team before working as a sales representative for an Omaha insurance company. She also worked as a sideline reporter for radio broadcasts of Nebraska volleyball matches on the Husker Sports Network and was an assistant coach with USA Volleyball’s Select A2 Program.

Dani and her husband, former Nebraska football player Lane Kelly, were married in the summer of 2010.