Merritt Beason thought Coach John Cook and she wouldn’t cross paths again after graduating from UNL last year. Nebraska bowed out of the 2024 NCAA National Championship after Penn State’s epic semifinal comeback, ending Beason’s NCAA title dreams. That belief perhaps became even stronger when Cook retired from coaching. Yet life has a funny way of proving people wrong.

The historic $325 million Pro Volleyball Federation and Major League Volleyball set in motion a chain reaction. The newly merged league announced it would start a free agency period last week, and suddenly, a relatively quiet offseason turned into a frenzy. The Omaha Supernovas announced John Cook as their general manager and part-owner, and soon after that, signed Merritt Beason.

And just like that, the former Huskers were part of the same team again. Now, the former Atlanta Vibe star has opened up that it was John Cook who helped bring her back to Nebraska. “This time around, it was more like, ‘You know where you want to be.’ A little more like, ‘I know you want to come back to Nebraska.'” Merritt Beason said, as per Lincoln Arneal’s Substack article.

The 6’4 opposite hitter felt she got teleported back two years ago, when John Cook was sitting across the table trying to convince her to become a Husker. “I felt like two years ago when I was in the portal, it was very similar to that,” said Beason, recalling her December 2022 decision to enter the transfer portal from Florida. Cook succeeded back then and was confident this time around as well.

“He was definitely a little bit more confident in knowing that I’ve had the experience of what Nebraska has to offer this go-around,” Merritt Beason explained. The fact that the 4x national championship winner succeeded in recruiting the opposite hitter once again should justify his confidence. However, John Cook wasn’t the only reason why the former Husker signed with Nebraska.

The other reason why Merritt Beason joined the Supernovas

The 22-year-old revealed that she was “super excited” that John Cook is the Supernovas GM, and that played a big role in her choosing Omaha. Yet, the former Nebraska Huskers head coach’s involvement with the PFV team wasn’t the only reason. Having experienced the volleyball culture in Nebraska, the sophomore volleyball pro wanted to return to the state.

“It’s so cliche, but there is no place like Nebraska, and playing here is such a unique experience,” Merritt Beason admitted. “No matter if you’re on their team or the opposing team, Nebraska takes care of its own,” she added. And Beason wasn’t exaggerating. Last year, the Huskers drove Ally Batenhorst to tears with their grand welcome when she returned to the Bob Devaney Center.

Despite transferring to USC for her senior year and arriving at her former team’s home turf as their opponent, Nebraska Volleyball rolled out the red carpet. It was a similar story when Batenhorst joined the Omaha Supernovas last season. The PVF team welcomed the outside hitter as their own from the day she landed in Nebraska.

However, the 22-year-old never expected that her path to the Supernovas would go through Cook. “They were kind of weird because I felt like I was getting recruited again, which I never thought was going to happen, but it was really cool,” Merritt Beason said about the experience. Although John Cook is technically no longer her coach, to Beason, he’s still Coach Cook.