[quote=“CalPolo1987”]
Jeff, since you are so knowledgeable on the subject, how might you characterize the 2024 recruiting classes for the other big four powers, Cal, UCLA (now with Brinkema) and USC? I agree Stanford’s class is top flight but wondering how the others measure up in your opinion.[/quote]
I’m starting a new thread to respond to CalPolo1987’s question.
If we are just considering incoming American freshmen, I would rank the 2024 recruiting classes as follows:
UCLA. I think there are at least five “elite” players in the Class of 2024. The top two, JSerra’s Ryder Dodd and Newport Harbor’s Peter Castillo (a center), are going to UCLA. For his age, Dodd (already an Olympian) is the most talented American attacker since Tony Azevedo. If Castillo stays healthy, he will probably be on the 2028 Olympic team. JSerra’s Bode Brinkema, a great swimmer, is among the top 7 or 8 players in the Class of 2024
Stanford. Stanford’s freshmen class has three Americans who are potential senior national team players: JSerra’s Will Schneider (a center), Brunswick’s Ryan Ohl (a great swimmer), and Northgate’s Ben Forer (after Dodd, probably the best American shooter in the Class of 2024).
Cal. Cal has a solid class but it’s not at the level of UCLA or Stanford.
USC. Dodd and Brinkema initially committed to USC. However, they subsequently decided to attend UCLA. It’s obvious that Marko Pintaric has not been able to recruit as well as Jovan Vavic. This would make a good topic for further discussion.
U.C. Irvine. Irvine has a solid class, with one top 10 Class of 2024 player (Los Alamitos’s Cole Francisco).
It’s difficult to judge college recruiting classes before the season starts because some schools don’t announce their international recruits until very late in the process. For example, I heard that Cal might recruit a “Cutino-finalist” caliber international player but I haven’t been able to confirm the report. I also heard that USC is still trying to recruit several international players.
We also have to consider transfer players when judging incoming classes. Therefore, considering the international players and transfers that have been publicly announced, I would rank the incoming classes as follows:
Stanford. Stanford’s incoming class includes one international player, Hungary’s Botond Balogh, and two transfers, center Dash McFarland (a tranfer from UCSB) and goalie West Temkin (a transfer from Princeton). I haven’t seen Balogh play in person but he was one of the best players on the Hungarian team that won the Youth World Championships in July. McFarland was a 2nd team college All-American for UCSB last year. Temkin shared time with Hungary’s Kristof Kovacs during Princeton’s 2023 season. If they stay healthy, I predict that Temkin or Griffen Price will join Adrian Weinberg as the goalies on the 2028 Olympic team.
UCLA. With Ryder Dodd, it’s hard not to rank UCLA’s incoming class first but that’s how strong Stanford’s class appears to be. I haven’t heard that UCLA has any incoming international players, but they have one very good transfer (center defender Nico Tierney from Pepperdine).
Cal. I’m waiting to hear whether Cal has any incoming international players.
USC. I’m waiting to hear whether USC has any incoming international players.
USC will be all internationals soon, once the scholarship limits are raised! Sorry Cali kids, dark days ahead! Clubs better consolidate and concentrate on development of players and coaches if they want to compete for roster spots let alone scholarship money. SC may struggle this year losing two top recruits so late in the game but it is much better to bring in 20 year old freshmen from Europe.
Cal made their commitments too early with this class, UCLA got a strong class, Stanford stole some good ones and picked up expected ones. Not sure I agree with Irvine being 5 but maybe? Cant wait to see all of the 2024 rosters and see what commits could make an impact this year.
International net tuition is very high, with limited need-based financial aid available, and the players hail from less wealthy eastern and southern European countries. So SC being to offer 24 rather than 4.5 full rides will allow them to go from a half dozen internationals to 2x-4x that amount.
I would love everyone’s insight on how they think freshman at big 4 schools will play this season? For example usc only has 3 freshman and I wonder if any will get play time?
UCLA is the obvious one with Ryder Dodd and Peter Castillo being big parts of the squad. I also think Bode Brinkema will feature for Adam Wright. I see playing time being very difficult for most of the other freshman with so many returners, leading to more typical Adam Wright redshirts.
Stanford has a stellar class as well with six incoming freshman. I expect three to be big contributors in Will Schneider, the Hungarian Botond Balogh and Ryan Ohl. Playing time for the other three will be scarce.
I’m not as familiar with Cal’s incoming class, but Croatia’s Patrick Kolak is seen as the second best player in the Class of 2028 after Ryder Dodd. If he plays well, Cal will be an extremely tough out yet again. Maddox Arlett should also make an impact this season.
Lastly, Nemo will definitely redshirt as a goalie behind Herzer. As for Ben Mirisch, I can see him contributing this season. I’m not super familiar with Taj Whitehead, but I’m sure it won’t be easy cracking the rotation of a squad that only really lost Massimo Di Martire and replaced him with Serbian Stefan Brankovic. Will be interesting for sure to see how SC puts all their pieces together.
To add to this, I think Ben Forer will see playing time at Stanford. He was by far the best player for the US at Youth Worlds. He nearly set the tournament record for goals. Someone who scores 6 goals against Montenegro and 5 goals against Croatia can likely step into a college pool right away.
I also could see Alex Oprea getting some time at Cal. He was capped for the US Senior National Team for their series against Montenegro in the lead up to Paris. He has a college-ready frame and was the best lefty shooter at JOs this summer.
Does anyone know whether theNCAA amateurism rules apply to international water polo athletes who come from professional clubs?
How do these players get their amateurism certification? Do they need to sit out a season?
+1
The idea that 20+ year old freshmen who have played with professional clubs year round for 4+ years are somehow amateurs is sort of a farce. I’ve never heard a straight answer how they get around NCAA rules.
Under the NCAA rules, athletes who have played on “professional” teams retain their “amateur” status if they are paid no more than their “actual and necessary expenses.”
Professional clubs in Europe sign a player on for one year at the age of 14 (sometimes earlier) and the contract renews every year. The player can’t switch club unless the other club pays a fee. Once the player plays in pro league (18 +) they also get paid.
Looking at the questions that are currently part of the NCAA amateurism questionnaire the following questions would be challenging to answer for an international athlete playing for a pro club.
“Did you sign any type of agreement to participate on any of your teams? Did any of the teams call themselves professional? Did any of your team members receive money beyond expenses? Have you ever been involved in an advertisement or promotion?“
But then again, the House vs NCAA settlement will distribute roughly $2.8 billion in NIL backpay, and establishes a framework for future athlete revenue-sharing. So the question between pro vs amateur athletes is becoming mute.
There is a lot to unpack here for sure. Keep in mind just because scholarships can increase from 4.5 to 24 for those D1 schools opting into the settlement doesn’t mean the Athletic departments are going to prioritize water polo scholarships over maximizing scholarships in revenue generating sports. In addition, football going from 85 to 105 and men’s and women’s basketball will go from 13 to 15. It’s hard to see a world where water polo scholarships will increase by more than 8 or so. Now some private donors may come in and endow money so the team can increase scholarships. That’s probably more likely than an AD deciding to allocate more scholarships to water polo.
I believe you will see some D1 programs opt out of the settlement going forward. Your big football schools have already gone on record that they will maximize pay up to the $23.1 million cap for 2025-2026 so the Big 4 will be opting in but why would UCSD, UCI or UCSB opt into a system that would add up to 22% in expenses on the bottom line with no increases in revenue only to then be subjected to a roster size of 24. It doesn’t make sense to me.
When the dust settles the programs that will benefit the most will be any team in the Big 10 (USC, UCLA for men and Michigan and Indiana also for women) and programs that have donors with deep pockets like Stanford, Cal, Pepperdine, etc.
Also, as of now I don’t think international players will be able to be paid as it would violate their student visa status. This could get changed though.
Abdou on Off the Deck podcast seemed to be saying that D1 schools cannot opt out, only D2/3 can opt out. Service academies and Ivies will likely seek exceptions.
I think what he meant was that all D1 schools including the 22 non-football conference schools will all have to pay their share in back pay as part of the $2.8 billion settlement. However, going forward outside of the power 4 conferences, D1 teams and/or conferences can make the decision to opt in or not. D2/D3 schools are not a part of the settlement.
That’s what I thought before listening to the podcast. But then why didn’t he discuss UCs opting out going forward? Everything was focused on the downside for schools who seemed to be obvious candidates for opting out if it were possible.
Maybe they haven’t decided yet or he doesn’t want to play their hand. It’s all rumor at this point but I’m hearing UC Davis and UCSD will opt out and Pepperdine is opting in because of donor funds I’m hearing they go to 8 scholarships.