Taylor Landfair, Gophers volleyball standout, enters the transfer portal

Taylor Landfair, the former No. 1 recruit in the country who has been the offensive focal point of the Gophers volleyball team for the last two seasons, has entered the transfer portal, a source confirmed Friday night.

Landfair is one of the top talents in the game, winning Big Ten Player of the Year in 2022 under former Gophers coach Hugh McCutcheon and being named first team All-Big Ten this season under coach Keegan Cook.

Her potential departure leaves a mammoth hole for a team that finally found its rhythm at the end of the 2023 season and had planned to return the bulk of its roster outside of graduating players Kylie Murr and Phoebe Awoleye.

Landfair's stats dipped this season offensively as the 6-5 outside from Plainfield, Ill., played six rotations and was asked to develop a more well-rounded game, especially on the back row defensively. She averaged 3.19 kills per set this season compared to 4.35 last season and her hitting percentage dropped from .257 to .222.

She did set career highs in digs and aces while helping settle the roster in an up-and-down season that saw the Gophers drop out of the American Volleyball Coaches Association rankings before finishing fifth in the Big Ten and losing in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Cook said during the season that Landfair was vital in keeping the team together after McCutcheon's resignation. She has two years of eligibility left. Next year she will be a redshirt senior after missing her sophomore year due to an abdominal injury, and she also can use an extra year because of COVID-19.

The Gophers were already looking to the portal for a libero and middle blocker. How they replace Landfair is suddenly the biggest question the program has faced since McCutcheon's departure.