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STATE OF THE PROGRAM: VOLLEYBALL Waite has some very talented young players on his roster. "That makes everyone a better coach,'' he said with a smile. How do coaches like Waite deal with the cyclical nature of their sport? "When it's going well,'' he said, "you're looking at other teams that have injuries -- even if they're not major injuries, they're affecting the team -- and you feel like you're lucky. "But when it starts happening to you, it's out of your control and that's what you don't like. Coaches want to control things and have an influence on the team and the game. "There are times when you just can't do that.'' Waite has dealt with some hard times before when he was coaching at Northern Illinois. "It's not the first time I've gone through it,'' said Waite, who guided the Huskies to three straight NCAA appearances be- fore taking the UW job in 1999. "We had some up years and down years.'' Almost every program experi- ences the same cycles to what- ever degree. What's the temptation to make changes when things aren't going well? "You don't want to change too much,'' Waite said. "You want to be who you are. But, at times, you also feel like you're putting your finger in the holes of a dike; just trying to maintain things. That can lead to some soul- searching, which Waite agreed can be healthy for a coach. "I'm always reading different books to help me,'' he said. Exhibit A is Pat Riley's book, "The Winner Within: A Life Plan for Team Players.'' Waite has earmarked the book for closer examination. "We've just talked to our team,'' he said, "Sometimes the battles are within the program — whether injuries or personalities — where you're actually battling yourself instead of your opponents.'' "about the climb that we're try- ing to make from where we were to somewhere greater.'' Riley developed such themes as "How does any team over- come the thunderbolts that strike out of the blue? How does a struggling team form a cove- nant to work together instead of separately?'' In referencing Riley, the cur- rent president of the Miami Heat, Waite said, "Sometimes my generation knows differ- ent coaches or athletes that the young generation doesn't know. "So we try to make those con- nections as well.'' Riley, of course, was one of the most successful coaches in NBA history. So what has Waite seen in this team that leads him to believe the Badgers will have success? "It's what I'm seeing on the Janelle Gabrielsen is one of just two seniors on the Badgers' young roster for 2011. court,'' he said. "A huge thing in college sports is recruit- ing. Some years you get them, some years you don't. Some years you're very close but No. 2 means nothing. "If you're No. 2, you're prob- ably going to get No. 30 be- cause the other ones are gone in-between. We've had a strong recruiting class in 2010 and es- pecially now in 2011. "We're seeing more of the ba- sics of the game being done eas- ily and we're seeing the mental- ity of the group – which is very strong – on the court. "Our returners have matured