While John Cook may have moved to Wyoming, his relevance has brought him back to Nebraska repeatedly. Despite retiring as the head coach, Cook hasn’t missed a single big event involving Nebraska volleyball this year. Cook was there, whether it was for their spring exhibitions or the AVCA First Serve in Pinnacle Bank Arena. What’s more? Almost every time, he’s turned heads.

Whether it was the standing ovation from the crowd during Coach Cook’s first Omaha Supernovas game or his debut announcing gig during one of Nebraska’s spring games, the retired coach hasn’t run out of surprises. And this time it was no different, as the 69-year-old made a major confession while discussing his success in recruiting former Creighton volleyball star Norah Sis.

In another absolute bombshell revelation, John Cook joined the Omaha Supernovas as part-owner and GM in early August. Since then, he’s helped recruit multiple talents, including former Husker Merritt Beason. However, while discussing his experience watching the Huskers’ season opener against Pitt Volleyball, Cook confessed, “I wish she would have been a Husker,” while discussing Norah Sis joining the Supernovas.

That’s shocking because, as rival NCAA teams, Sis disliked the Huskers in college. Last year, after Nebraska handed the Bluejays one of their only two defeats during a record-setting regular season, Sis had nothing good to say about Nebraska. “I have always grown up being a Nebraska (Cornhuskers) hater,” she said after the disappointing loss, as per NPR. Then again, it’s not that surprising.

After that 2024 regular-season match, John Cook had nothing but good things to say about Sis. “Creighton’s a great team, and they got two special players in Kendra (Wait) and Norah Sis,” the 4x national champion said. “Those guys are really, really good and doing a great job of leading that team,” he added.

So it’s not surprising that Coach Cook dialed Sis’s number when he got another chance to recruit her, this time for a pro Nebraska volleyball team. And talking about recruiting athletes, the Supernovas’ new GM has been busy lately.

John Cook has set the bar high

Cook taking on such a crucial role for the Omaha Supernovas was a pleasant surprise for the fans. However, the 3x AVCA Coach of the Year winner had set the bar high for himself and the team. With the historic PVF and MVL merger and the future influx of more teams in the 8-team pro league, Cook envisioned the Supernovas at the top.

“We want the Supernovas to continue to lead the charge. Our goal is to make the best professional women’s volleyball team in the world,” John Cook said shortly after the announcement. And since then, the coach has been busy trying to bring the best professional talent to Nebraska. While he has already recruited some big names, the process has resulted in some interesting stories.

For former Huskers captain Merritt Beason, it was like déjà vu. “I felt like two years ago when I was in the portal, it was very similar to that,” Beason recalled the time when Cook convinced her to join the Huskers after she entered the transfer portal in December 2022. Meanwhile, another phone call almost resulted in a far more hilarious outcome.

Vegas Thrill star Morgan Stout, who joined the Supernovas on August 9, almost thought of rejecting John Cook’s call. “I get a random phone call from Lincoln, Nebraska, and I was like, ‘This is probably spam, like I don’t know who this is,'” said Stout. Little did she know that Coach Cook was on the other end of the line.

Thankfully, she picked up the phone only to be pleasantly surprised. Yet this is just the beginning as Cook plans to recruit even more talent during the MLV Draft in November.