One-on-one with John Cook: A recruiting visit with pigs, how Nebraska volleyball’s sellout streak started and more

By Lauren Michelson

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    LINCOLN, Nebraska (KETV) — While wearing a black cowboy hat, John Cook recounted a recruiting visit with Dani Busboom Kelly that spurred a great relationship between the two.

“I remember doing a home visit with Dani when we were recruiting her, and she took me down in a room in the basement, a brick wall, and she had all these quotes up there, and then she took me down to show the pigs that she was raising for 4-H,” Cook said in a one-on-one interview with KETV. “So that was a new type of visit for me.”

Cook added that Busboom Kelly, who is from Cortland, Nebraska, has “earned” being the next coach of the Huskers.

“Ever since then we’ve had a great relationship,” Cook said. “She was a great player. I told her she had to go away to coach before she could ever come back. She did that, came back. We won a national championship, and then she did one of the greatest turnarounds in the history of college volleyball at Louisville. … This is going to be a big deal for her and her family, and for the state.”

Busboom Kelly is prepared to continue the motto of dreaming big for Nebraska volleyball, Cook said.

“Coaching with her and playing here, she knows what can happen and what needs to happen, and she won’t be afraid to get it done,” Cook said “And that’s why we all got to support her in everything she wants to do.”

Cook said the timing is right for Busboom Kelly with the Huskers opening the 2025 season at Pinnacle Bank Arena and “a lot of changes going on.”

He said he’s been overwhelmed by the response to his retirement announcement.

“We always say we have the best fans. They prove it all over and over and over,” Cook said. “And what’s really blown me away is I had no idea how many people were impacted by Nebraska volleyball because I haven’t even come close to getting through the number of texts and emails that have been sent. …. We have touched so many lives with Nebraska volleyball, and to me, that is the ultimate compliment.”

Cook also shared how Nebraska volleyball’s sellout streak started with him being a “smartass in a beef club meeting,” what’s next for him in retirement — including training horses — and more.

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