It wouldn’t be a stretch to consider South Warren senior Drew Hudson a born fan of volleyball.

Right from the beginning of his life, Hudson was more and more a regular presence at E.A. Diddle Arena to watch and root for the team coached by his father, Travis, for the past 29 years – the same program where his mother, Cindy Wiseman Hudson, once starred on the court for the Hilltoppers.

Little wonder then that on Drew Hudson’s big night, WKU’s volleyball program returned the favor as the entire Hilltopper team made a slight detour to South Warren High School on their way to a Thursday matchup in Murfreesboro, Tenn., to attend his national letter of intent signing ceremony Wednesday to announce his plan to play men’s volleyball at Ohio State.

“I grew up around volleyball obviously, with my dad coaching and everything,” Hudson said. “So I always kind of knew that was something I wanted to pursue if possible and it’s just really cool that it’s come true.”

Hudson said he first got interested in potentially playing for the Buckeyes while participating in a camp Ohio State, with an official visit coming a few months later. A perennial presence in the NCAA tournament, Ohio State’s men’s volleyball plays its home matches in the Covelli Center – a 3,700-seat facility it shares with women’s volleyball, fencing, gymnastics and wrestling.

“Ohio State is an incredible volleyball program as well as academic institution,” Hudson said. “It checked a lot of boxes for me and it was relatively close to home, where I knew my friends and family could come watch me play. So yeah, it was just a perfect fit for me.”

Hudson, who is getting ready to start his final season playing basketball at South Warren, has had to develop his volleyball skills outside school since it isn’t a boys’ sport offered in the area. Playing for Nashville-based C2 Attack at the club level has helped Hudson elevate his game, he said.

“It’s insane, how much it’s helped me develop,” Hudson said. “I’m so blessed that my team is able to compete at such a high level and that’s given me so many opportunities to go play on huge stages in front of a lot of people and it’s really awesome.”

Hudson plays outside hitter for his club team, but he knows the plan at Ohio State is for a position change to libero.

“I played libero a little bit when I was younger, so I have a little bit of prior experience with it,” Hudson said. “But I’m excited for the new challenge and get to learn something new, have a new experience.

“ … It’s kind of like the quarterback of the team. You have to be the floor general and control the defense and everything. You have to be able to live with sometimes it’s frustrating when you want to go up there and be able to swing, so you’ve just kind of got to do what you can for your team.”

Hudson knows he has a valuable coaching resource under the same roof for now, and always just a phone call away when he gets to Columbus, Ohio.

“I’m sure that he’ll be up to watch plenty of matches and all that, but I think he’ll be pretty hands-off with it,” Hudson said of his dad. “He’ll be just like a normal parent, gives him the opportunity to be that.”{&end}