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Ideal target emerges for Wisconsin Badgers volleyball as star hitter with local ties enters transfer portal

Two-time All-American Florida Gators hitter Kennedy Martin played two years of high school volleyball in Wisconsin and now entered the transfer portal.
Lorin Cox|
Florida Gators outside hitter Kennedy Martin (18) hits the ball during the first set against the FGCU Eagles in the first round of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, November 30, 2023.
Florida Gators outside hitter Kennedy Martin (18) hits the ball during the first set against the FGCU Eagles in the first round of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, November 30, 2023. | Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

It's not every day that a top-tier player who enters the transfer portal looks like a perfect fit for the Wisconsin Badgers, but the stars algned for Kelly Sheffield on Thursday.

Two-time All-American hitter Kennedy Martin from the Florida Gators announced on Instagram that she is leaving the school and entering her name into the transfer portal.

Anytime a player of her caliber enters the portal, the Badgers should be interested. But Martin has enough ties to Wisconsin that could make this a perfect match.

Her father, Ruvell Martin, was a wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers from 2005 to 2008. The team later hired him as an assistant coach for 2020 and 2021.

During that time, his daughter Kennedy attended and played volleyball at De Pere High School and Appleton North High School.

She moved to South Carolina for her senior year after already committing to Florida as a junior.

Now, Sheffield has a second chance to bring her back to the state and fill a major hole in his lineup left by the ACL injury suffered by transfer Grace Lopez last month.

Every major program in the country will be interested in Martin's services, though, so it won't be easy for Wisconsin to lure her back.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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