No one’s saying coaches shouldn’t aim to build competitive teams—but when the recruiting landscape systematically shuts out U.S. kids who’ve invested a decade in the sport, it’s more than just roster management—it’s about the future of the game here. If the college path disappears for American players, so does youth interest, high school depth, and ultimately the national pipeline. Coaches may be trying to win—but if winning kills development, what exactly are we winning.
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The idea there is not enough spots is not true if you analyze rosters. For example, if you look at the rosters of Brown (18 players), Bucknell (17 players) and George Washington (18 players) you can see that you have at least nineteen spots at three excellent academic schools sitting unused. I am pretty sure those coaches would love to get to a full 24.
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Yeah but those spots also come with a $100k per year bill. Combine that with academic admission and those spots are very difficult to fill.
Sprinkle in that if you are player 19-24 you most likely aren’t traveling or playing much and you have a recipe for not an option for most.
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Correct. At least for the Ivies, coaches can typically support about three players, which explains a 12-player roster. The remaining players are walk-ons.
The three supported players generally need a 1460+ SAT and an A– or better GPA, with at least eight APs and the rest honors-level courses.
Walk-ons compete with the general applicant pool, and gaining admission that way is extremely rare, a real unicorn scenario.
That’s how they end up with a 16–18 player roster. There are many elite players with those credentials who would love to attend these schools, but they don’t have a 1600 SAT or a Nobel Prize.
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Brown just announced their Class of ’25:
- 2 Americans: Griffin Tunney and Brody Paine
- 2 international players: Filip Josipovic (Croatia) and Hugo Molnar (Hungary)
Hugo was born in 2005, meaning he is 20 years old.
I’m sure there were many high-level American recruits competing for a spot at Brown.
To put this in context:
2019: No international players
2026: Roster size 16 with 7 international players, i.e., 44% at an Ivy League
Dramatic change.
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I agree actually, just responded to the same assumption often brought on the board that 4 years should promote US waterpolo over thier own interests to field the best team.
If only Trump was on this message board, he would pull their funding instantly. Ha
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I have thought many times that with all the wealthy people involved in Water Polo, surely there is someone who has sent a few million to the RNC or a Trump Super PAC and can get an invite to a 1v1 with Trump. One dinner at Mar-a-lago or a sit down with Senior staff and the “internationals problem” would likely disappear.
That’s a strange fantasy.
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Hey folks, let’s keep this thread focused on the topic of 2025 commit updates.
There are other places in this board to discuss impact of college recruiting on USAWP.
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Brian Barnuevo switched from UCSB to Pepperdine
I am not sure when this happened but I believe this makes Charlie Johnson their only ‘25 commit that is known.
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Interesting, I see this also in the Pepperdine announcement today. This after Jackson Harlan recently switched to UCLA.