Class of 2025 Commits

Yes he is on their roster for National League. Or was until it disappeared .

ED2 has now passed at some schools. Any new commits?

Ed2? Sorry what is ed2?

Early Decision 2 ended 2/15 for many schools

gTN good to know thanks, have not seen much maybe Joel has some insight from the futures games this week

Justin Topol (goalie), Mercer Island High School in Washington and Northwest Water Polo Club, Pomona-Pitzer

Baye Breene, Cate School and Del Mar, Pomona-Pitzer

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I’ve heard from several sources that Serbian center Strahinja Krstic, MVP of the 2024 Junior World Championships, has chosen USC. All of the top schools wanted him. It’s rare for the very best European age-group players to attend college in the United States. If the reports I’ve heard are accurate, we can add Krstic to the list.

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That’s 36 players on Pomona-Pitzer’s roster and we haven’t even got to regular decision :thinking:

Looking like USC is going all foreign in order to win. How does Pinta explain this to his son who wants to play in college? It’s to the point that any US kids that commit to USC know they will never play. Sad sad.

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Assume Pomona-Pitzer has some transfers allowing them room to sign 11.

Don’t think there are any transfers coming in yet there.

Sorry, I meant transfers out. That would allow room to sign 11.

If the federal district court judge approves the proposed settlement agreement in the “House” litigation at the hearing scheduled to be held in April, the 24-person roster limits for water polo won’t apply to Pomona-Pitzer, unless it opts in to the settlement agreement. That’s not likely to happen.

Interesting news, Jeff. As of right now (pre regular decision) they’re currently at a roster size of 38 for next year. This excludes all graduating seniors. It’ll be interesting to see if there are cuts, or, like mentioned above, transfers.

Pomona is DIII so House is not applicable; DI only.

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Pomona-Pitzer could choose to establish a 24-person roster limit for water polo, as could any other school not bound by the House litigation, but it seems clear they don’t intend to do so.

Yeah would be surprised if there are few, if any, transfers out of Pomona or Pitzer. Those schools have powerful networks that provide incredible opportunities after they graduate.

Bottom line is HS American recruits can barely get an email back from D1 schools and they are seeing they have to jump on available spots anywhere they can especially if they are an outstanding student.

Nice to see some places still want to win by using college athletics the way it was designed to work. Might be a great spot for Pinta to send his son.

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Agree with this. It is nice to see the schools doing it this way.

NCAA water polo is quickly becoming the next ice hockey

75% international

Median age 23+

Majority of players play minor league professional errr amateur (with $30k of untaxed living expenses, which is as much as professional minor league baseball players make) for 3 years to try for NHL contract before settling for NCAA

Women’s isn’t quite there yet but give it a few years; count how overrrepresented that 21yo+ international students are in the Cutino watch list this year

USAWP and NCAA folks if you’re reading this, act fast or we parents will pull our kids out of a dead end sport

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Relax. College water polo is nowhere close to college hockey, and it’s tightened rosters, not interloping foreigners, that left some recruits out in the cold this year. The two teams in last year’s finals (UCLA & USC) had Americans comprise over 85% of their roster, and during the season, Americans scored 85% and two-thirds of the goals, respectively, for those teams. USC bringing in a stud Serbian center (congrats to them) is far from the end of the world. Yes, there are some teams that are foreign heavy, but there are plenty of great D1 and D3 water polo schools readily available for – indeed, dominated by – American players, including but not limited to best programs in the sport. Respectfully.

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