Kyle Russell (U.S., 206cm) will continue his V-League career next season.
OK Savings Bank used the first overall pick to select Russell in the 2026-2027 Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) men's foreign player draft held Wednesday (local time) at the Clarion Congress Hotel in Prague, Czech Republic.
OK Savings Bank, which received the second-highest probability (30 marbles) after Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (35 marbles) based on the reverse order of last season's standings, got lucky and secured the first overall pick.
Russell first joined the V-League when he signed with Korea Electric Power Corp. in the 2020-2021 season. He played for Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance in the 2021-2022 season and then for Korean Air in the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 seasons.
Korean Air parted ways with Russell, one of the key players behind its regular-season title, ahead of the championship finals and brought in Jose Masso (registered name: Masso) to capture the championship. After that setback, Russell will now return to the V-League stage to continue his career.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, entering the new season under new head coach Tommi Tiilikainen, selected 212cm tall attacker Felipe Rocky of Brazil. Rocky can play both outside hitter and opposite spiker positions.
Korean Air, last season's integrated champion that landed the third overall pick with only five marbles, called the name of Xander Ketrzynski of Canada. Ketrzynski is a 207cm outside hitter and opposite spiker.
KB Insurance used its sixth overall pick on Linus Weber of Germany, a 203cm opposite spiker.
Korea Electric Power Corp., Woori Card and Hyundai Capital re-signed with their previous season's players: Sharone Vernon-Evans (registered name: Vernon), Rafael Araujo (registered name: Araujo), and Leonardo Leyva Martinez (registered name: Leo), respectively.
