JAMESTOWN, N.D. (BVM) — When Riley Salmon, 2008 Olympic gold medal winner on the U.S. men’s volleyball team, took over as head coach at the University of Jamestown in North Dakota, he had a recruiting strategy — focus on Wisconsin.

He was aware that when potential recruits thought about North Dakota, they didn’t think of it as a place where you go to play volleyball. However, he knew that UJ has one of the 10 best facilities in North America for playing the sport.

So, when his assistant coach, Luke Pope, walked into a Wisconsin gym on a recruiting trip and Adam Lopata caught his eye — Salmon knew he needed to talk to him.

Lopata was a senior at the time, playing for Germantown High School in Germantown, Wis., and UJ was not on his radar. He had several other schools he was considering when he heard from Salmon. Eventually, though, Salmon got his attention.

“I started talking to people about this Olympic-level guy and hearing great things,” Lopata said. “A coach I respected said Salmon was one of the best technical coaches he had ever seen. I started thinking, ‘maybe he could do that with me.’”

In February of his senior year, Lopata and his father, Al, made the 10-hour drive to Jamestown to check out the university and see the team play a match. The only problem was that with the windchill hovering around 30-below, the other team — that was driving from six-hours away — canceled the match. Salmon had Lopata join a practice instead.

Salmon was immediately impressed.

“He wasn’t afraid to communicate and tell people where to go,” Salmon said.

But what really caught Salmon’s eye was his effect on his future teammates.

“I could see that he makes people around him better,” Salmon said.

From Lopata’s perspective, the first meeting also went extremely well.

“When you meet Salmon for the first time it’s a bit intimidating,” Lopata said. “He’s 6-foot-5 and bulky. But when he looks you in the eye and shakes your hand, you feel at ease right away.”

Lopata was also impressed with the campus and the athletic facility — Harold Newman Arena — a $15 million, 61,000-square-foot facility that seats around 2,000.

In his second year as head coach, Salmon is looking to Lopata to add depth to his roster.

“He’s a sturdy, solid, great teammate,” Salmon said. “The kind of player I was looking for.”

He also plays at the libero position — a defensive specialist role that can make a huge impact on a team.

Salmon believes the better teammate you are, the better you can help the people around you, something he thinks is very important. He feels it is one of the reasons he landed at UJ.

“God puts you in places where you can help other people,” Salmon said.

He’s also receiving a little something in return. When Salmon decided to coach at the university, he was looking for an opportunity to coach at the highest level possible and it was always a goal for him to go back to school and earn his academic degree.

“When I went to college, I was an OK student,” Salmon said. “But I didn’t like school, so at 19, I left to start playing professional volleyball. I always regretted not getting my degree.”

His opportunity to coach the Jimmies is helping him right that decision, as he is attending school right along with his players.

When asked about COVID-19 and how it will affect their season, Salmon isn’t interested in talking about it.

“The fall semester will be tricky for everybody,” Salmon said. “I want to have a good season, of course, but kids will need to take the time to focus on their academic path.”

As far as his coaching philosophy, Salmon wants his players to be the best and most prepared team in his conference.

It’s that competitive spirit that drew Lopata to volleyball as a child. When he started competing in fifth grade, his coach at St. Mary Parish School, in Menomonee Falls, Wis., had a goal — for them to be the first Seton championship team for their school. The Seton tournament is the largest in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Lopata then went on to Germantown High School where the goal was to win the first WIAA state championship for the school. The team did that Lopata’s junior year.

And now his goal is to win an NAIA national championship.

“The competitiveness of that — and the cohesiveness of the sport — is something I haven’t found in other sports,” Lopata said.

Lopata hopes to follow in his coach’s footprints and play overseas someday. He plans to get his degree in exercise science, take a break from school to play professional volleyball, and then get his masters in kinesiology so he can work with amputees someday.

He knows his relationship with Salmon can help him with finding good clubs and agents overseas.

At the end of the day, though, Lopata wants to make sure that wherever he is, he’s got an opportunity to play.

“I’ll play wherever I can, because I just want to play,” Lopata said.

Thankfully for Lopata, a former gold medal-winning Olympic athlete, saw something special in this player from Wisconsin and he’s on the path to achieve his dreams.

“I hope to coach someday,” Lopata said. “And be involved with volleyball the rest of my life.”

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