It’s time for our annual men’s college draft. Each participant must select a coach, a goalie, a center, a center defender, and four other field-position players. The coach must be an active head coach of a men’s college, junior college, or high school team. To be eligible as a player, an individual must be on the roster of a four-year American college team. For our participants, when you make your final selection, please note which school you think will win the NCAA championship, which school will do better than expected, which players will be Cutino Award finalists, which player will win the Cutino Award, which player will be named the MPSF newcomer of the year, and which coach will be named the ACWPC coach of the year.
Here is the draft order for the odd rounds of the draft:
H20polo10
Oldschoolpolofan
sbwp
Rb
retiredguy
Jeff
The order will be reversed in the even rounds of the draft.
Note: Although Pacific hasn’t posted its 2024 roster, I heard from a reliable source that Mihailo Vukazic, Oliver Fodor, Jeremie Cote, and Reuel D’Souza will play for Pacific this season, and therefore they are eligible for our draft.
H20polo10 is on the clock with the first pick of the 2024 draft, followed by Oldschoolpolofan and sbwp.
Feels wide open here at #2 pick as well. Feeling patriotic so I will also take an elite attacker.
Ryder Dodd, Freshman, UCLA, RH attacker
I know the UCLA lineup gets crowded but his growth trajectory seems to have no limit. He won’t make it back around to me here in second round so picking him now.
Using the third pick to take the position that has the least depth.
Dash McFarland, Senior, Center, Stanford
Coming off a season where he was the Big West Player of the Year, he’s primed for a big season at Stanford. They will be in contention all year, and their national championship chances hinge on McFarland being the most productive center in the country.
Jackson Painter, LH attacker, Stanford. A well-balanced team needs a LH attacker and there aren’t enough good ones in the United States. A very tough choice between Painter and Ben Liechty. Both of them have a chance to make the 2028 Olympic team. I chose Painter, a 5th-year college player, because he has more college experience than Liechty and will be featured more prominently in Stanford’s offense than Liechty will be in UCLA’s. Painter, an underrated defensive player, is also faster.
Max Miller, center, USC. As sbwp notes above, there aren’t a lot of good centers to choose from and I don’t pick again until the last pick in the third round. Miller, another 5th-year player, has improved every year he’s been at USC. He waa a 1st team All-American last year. Miller and Painter will work well together.
retiredguy is on the clock, followed by Rb and sbwp.
It has been a long time since we have seen Cote in a college pool. But he was dominant in play for Pacific. He will rack up crazy stats this season in a year where Pacific seems to be going all in.
Going with another upside pick, Brankovic will finally make his NCAA debut this year and he brings sterling Serbian Junior and Senior team experience to the Trojans.
Let’s go with another player who has yet to play a single minute of NCAA polo but with huge club and international experience and with the potential to be a Cutino award finalist.
Pick 15: Albert Ponferrada, Senior, LH Attacker, Cal
The patriot in me wanted to take Liechty here, as I agree with Jeff that he is the likely lefty on the 2028 Olympic team. But with how UCLA rotated their lefties last year, I can’t pass on Ponferrada’s production. I have a good inside out game going right now, that would make it tough to drop on McFarland with two deadly shooters on the perimeter.
Jackson Painter, LH attacker, Stanford. A well-balanced team needs a LH attacker and there aren’t enough good ones in the United States. A very tough choice between Painter and Ben Liechty. They both have a chance to make the 2028 Olympic team. I chose Painter, a 5th-year college player, because he has more college experience than Liechty and will be featured more prominently in Stanford’s offense than Liechty will be in UCLA’s. Painter, an underrated defensive player, is also faster.
Max Miller, center, USC. As sbwp notes above, there aren’t a lot of good centers to choose from and I don’t pick again until the last pick in the third round. Miller, another 5th-year player, has improved every year he’s been at USC. He waa a 1st team All-American last year. Miller and Painter will work well together.
(18.) Ben Liechty, LH attacker, UCLA. That’s a pretty good 4/5 side with Painter and Liechty. Liechty was UCLA’s second-leading scorer last year as a freshman. He has excellent size and post-up skills. He is a 2x CIF Southern Section player of the year and a potential 2028 Olympian.
(19.) Riley Pittman, attacker, Stanford. Pittman, another 5th-year college player, joins his Stanford teammate, Jackson Painter, on my team. Pittman was a 2nd team All-American in 2023 and led Stanford in goals and assists.
retiredguy is on the clock, followed by Rb and sbwp.