For the 2026 Class, maybe WPW can invite Jeff or Joel or both on their show to talk about the incoming domestic players and who to watch for. They are the ones who do the high school rankings every year and seem to be unbiased imo.
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I love what Wes and Clay are doing with WPW. Just two guys who love the sport and want to see it grow.
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Interesting to see how our domestic players perform against top international competition, especially for Worlds (not PanAm games vs weaker opponents). Can you also pull stats for 2024 U16 Worlds and the recent U20 Worlds?
Knock yourself out.
UCLA - 0 foreigners , 5 Americans
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There’s good data in there but not easy to pull. If someone wants to pull U20 Worlds, have at it.
2024 U16 World Championships
| Player | Goals | Shots | % | Birth Year | Grad Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KANEKO, K. | 23 | 40 | 58% | 2008 | 2026 |
| RUANO, L. | 13 | 18 | 72% | 2008 | 2026 |
| TUCKER, T. | 12 | 14 | 86% | 2008 | 2026 |
| AXLINE, B. | 11 | 26 | 42% | 2008 | 2027 |
| WILLIAMSON, W. | 8 | 21 | 38% | 2008 | 2026 |
| COLEMAN, C. | 8 | 20 | 40% | 2008 | 2026 |
| TAYLOR, J. | 3 | 10 | 30% | 2008 | 2027 |
| GREENBERG, N. | 2 | 7 | 29% | 2009 | 2027 |
| SHIN, S. | 2 | 4 | 50% | 2010 | 2028 |
| TAYLOR, G. | 2 | 3 | 67% | 2010 | 2028 |
| WU, E. | 1 | 9 | 11% | 2008 | 2026 |
| SHAW, J. | 0 | 7 | 0% | 2009 | 2028 |
| TOTAL | 85 | 179 | 47% |
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Hey all,
Time to start reining it in.
Y’all are welcome to spirited debate on opinions here but we’re seeing personal attacks that have required moderator action.
Let’s get this discussion back on the topic.
Thanks!
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I agree with most of what you said, Pao Gasol was a Top 15 player in the NBA–highly underrated.
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I would argue that most posters on this board are indeed biased. It’s a lot of parents promoting their kids and their teams. At least with WPW they give reasons as to why they like certain players .
As a relative novice, I really felt like I learned some things listening to or reading about their reasoning for choosing players. I never really thought about what it meant to be productive in the water- it’s all about what you do with the time you are given. Wes and Clay seem to value that a lot. For attackers it means you better score, drive, assist to justify your minutes. For centers, I get the impression that they value guys who draw attention who are real threats for shooting- not just those who work for the exclusion.
I do think, however, that because WPW spent time at the U20 Worlds, that they focused too much of their attention on the younger players, especially when there are Junior/Seniors who are far more exciting and more impactful. I just don’t find freshman and sophomore’s all that interesting nor do they have a great impact on any teams, with the exception of Ryder. It’s weird that they focus on Schneider when Stanford has the huge Romanian center.
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I understand their choices, which have a heavy dose of international flavor. I know they mentioned a few of the players that were in the 20u Worlds that appear to be age-appropriate for an incoming freshman (18-19 years old), but if we want to continue to grow the sport, there needs to be more American-born players in the limelight. Most of the money goes to Europeans, which is unfortunate for American players. There are Europeans on some teams who are getting financial help over American players who are better, which is absurd. That being said, two players that should have been on that All-Freshman Teams list are Gavin Conant (USC) and Taylor Bell (Princeton)–I’ll be shocked if both of them don’t make a significant impact on their respective teams.
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Great point and agree, those two are special players.
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UC Davis Season Preview & Recruiting Breakdown (Monday)
Weekend Preview & Upcoming Games (Tuesday)
Dusan Mandic EXCLUSIVE (Wednesday)
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Thank you guys for what you do. I am loving the episodes.
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Great interview with Mandic thanks !
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Great interview fellas! We’re fired up to see FTC and Recco in person here in NYC.
This is a fantastic interview with great insights into what it took for him to become a great player. I highly encourage young players to listen to it.
These full length interviews have been a great aspect of the WPW offering. Amazing to be able to hear the depth of perspective from the class leading programs and international elite. Safe travels to NYC for the Showdown at Asphalt Green.
Guys what do we need to do to get more of these games streamed? You put so much energy into growing the game only to have unwatchable games on opening weekend! Why cant UCI stream the games from their own tournament come schools! If you want support for your programs you have to start streaming the games so people can start watching them! You are not going to get the support first, you need to invest!
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Thanks for the compliment and noticing the effort side. We love this sport and could never give back to it more than its given us, which is why we dont mind volunteering our time for all the wopo initiatives we take on 
Your point around universities not streaming is a valid one, we think they should too!
Here is what we’ve had success in doing:
- Engage alumni base to put pressure on coach and athletic department
- Get in touch with a streaming company like GOLS, Overnght or ESPN+ (or others) and see if they’ll BUY THE RIGHTS to the tournament.
Streaming games should be a REVENUE GENERATING opportunity for these programs which in turn helps the programs with their funding, aligning with the alumni support to bring it full circle.
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