But in the years since, Poole has looked up at Pittsburgh, Louisville and Georgia Tech.
And Pitt won the ACC again this season – its fifth title in the past seven seasons – but surprisingly, the Panthers had to share the trophy with another team that went 16-2: Florida State, which was picked tied for fourth in the preseason ACC poll.
Forget coachspeak or any technical explanations.
Poole, who has more than 900 career wins on his resume, described it with terms like “miracle” and “smoke and mirrors.”
That’s not to disparage any of his players. To be sure, the Seminoles have plenty of talent, starting with with junior outside hitter Audrey Koenig — co-ACC player of the year — and junior middle blockers Khori Louis, who leads the ACC with a .441 hitting percentage and Kiari Robey, who is third in the league in blocks (144, 13 solo) and seventh in hitting percentage (.394).
They open NCAA Tournament play Friday in what is a homecoming for Poole at Arkanas when the Seminoles (23-8), who won their last eight ACC matches, play TCU of the Big 12 (16-14) before ninth-seeded Arkansas of the SEC (25-5) plays Stephen F. Austin of the WAC (29-4).
Florida State lost in four at TCU on September 15, but that was a different time for the Seminoles.
Poole thought the…
