Sean O’Malley is an intellectual.
He is quiet, introverted, and has a passion for philosophy.
He also happens to be the star freshman on the UCLA men’s
volleyball team.
O’Malley certainly is not the stereotypical athlete, and
he is at UCLA to increase his knowledge just as much as his
volleyball ability.
“The beauty of the situation at UCLA is that I have access
to an outstanding education and the top volleyball program in the
country,” O’Malley said. “To go to UCLA, you have
to be very focused on athletics, and that is why I’m here,
but I never let that take anything away from academics.”
O’Malley’s focus on school does not take away from
his ability to perform on the court. The 6-foot-9 freshman from
Illinois has made an immediate impact for the Bruins, starting the
first five matches of the season while averaging 2.8 kills and 0.4
blocks per game.
Instead of being hindered on the court by his analytical
approach to volleyball, O’Malley views it as an advantage
because he can adjust to new situations as they come up.
“I always think of the most strategic way of doing
things,” O’Malley said. “There is a whole lot of
technique emphasis on this team so that we can see what an opponent
is doing and adjust.”
Despite always having an introspective nature, O’Malley is
unique in that he has also enjoyed incredible success in
athletics.
Playing many sports growing up, O’Malley distinguished
himself in baseball, but when he watched his older brother play
volleyball, he knew it was something he wanted to try.
In fifth grade, O’Malley got his first introduction to
competitive volleyball when he joined a park district team in his
community. The team was made up of all girls, but O’Malley
had no problem playing with girls; he was instantly hooked on the
sport.
He stopped playing baseball and basketball and began doing
whatever he could to gain volleyball experience.
O’Malley’s natural talent for the game was evident
early on ““ he served 15 straight points in his first game to
win 15-0.
In junior high, O’Malley had his first chance to play on a
school team, and knew that he wanted to make volleyball an integral
part of his life.
“I became very passionate about volleyball in junior high,
and I thought it would be amazing to play in college,”
O’Malley said. “When I saw that there was a possibility
that I could play in college, I got really involved.”
During the summer before eighth grade, O’Malley
participated in a summer camp run by the local high school coach,
who noticed O’Malley’s talent and invited him to work
out with the high school team.
In eighth grade, O’Malley began practicing with the high
school junior varsity team in the mornings and with the frosh team
in the afternoons.
“He was totally consumed by volleyball from the
start,” said Kim O’Malley, Sean’s mother.
“It was his reason for living. He would hit the ball of the
wall in his room for hours each day.”
In his freshman year of high school, O’Malley joined
Sports Performance, one of the most elite volleyball clubs in the
nation. His team placed fifth at nationals his freshman year and
second in his sophomore year.
O’Malley excelled on his high school team as well, and set
the Illinois state record for career kills. In his senior season,
he was named Player of the Year by both the Chicago Sun-Times and
the Chicago Tribune.
Despite his talent, however, O’Malley has never been the
outspoken leader of the teams he’s been on. Instead, he
prefers to lead by example.
“He is not really an emotional person, and never has
been,” Kim O’Malley said. “He is a very private
person, and would always want to be alone if the team lost. He is
very analytical and strategic, but he leads by the way he plays. He
has a very sophisticated awareness of the game.”
While O’Malley had a passion for volleyball in high
school, he was also focused on academics and became interested in
philosophy after taking a general course on the subject.
His first choice for college was Stanford because of its elite
academic reputation, but the Stanford volleyball team chose another
player as its top recruit.
After not qualifying academically for Stanford, O’Malley
began looking at other colleges and UCLA immediately became one of
the prime candidates. While on the junior national team in high
school, he had played with Bruin sophomore libero Tony Ker and had
been coached by UCLA assistant coach Mike Sealy.
As soon as he came to UCLA on a recruiting trip, O’Malley
knew it was the place for him.
“I was aware of the incredibly successful volleyball
program here, and I loved the guys and the coaches,”
O’Malley said. “(UCLA coach Al) Scates is the most
famous person I know, and I knew after a couple days that I wanted
to be a part of his winning tradition.”
Scates also knew right away that O’Malley, who is the
Bruins’ first major recruit out of Illinois and one of only
two players from outside of California, would be the perfect fit
for UCLA.
“We needed an outside hitter and knew that he was going to
be a potential starter his freshman year,” Scates said.
“He has a tremendous upside, and by the end of the year, he
will be hitting for a much higher average and blocking a lot more
balls. He can be an integral part of the team.”
O’Malley did not come to UCLA solely for the volleyball
program, though.
He also wanted to be at a school where he could accomplish his
academic goals at the same time, and UCLA’s philosophy
department was a major draw.
“I would definitely say that I am academically focused,
and I have a strong personal interest in philosophy,”
O’Malley said. “There is nothing else that I’m
academically as passionate about.”
According to Scates, having a very academically oriented athlete
is a good thing because the student has definite goals.
“Some students come here to play volleyball and they
struggle academically, but Sean came here to study philosophy and
play volleyball, and I like that,” Scates said. “My
first impression of him was that he was going to be a serious
student, and he is definitely an academic person. I don’t
recall ever having a philosophy major in our program.”
O’Malley does not know what the future holds for him. He
might play professional volleyball in Europe or maybe get a
doctorate in philosophy.
For now, he’s going to keep all his options open by
focusing on both athletics and academics.