There has been some talk here around limiting internationals. Swimming seems to be in a sea-change here bigger than polo :(. So roster limits + internationals makes it tough for US kids. We will see, how this plays out in future Olympics…
This has to be a first. Winning NCAA team from Tenessee 100% international.
Jordan Crooks (Cayman Islands), Guilherme Caribe (Brazil), Nikoli Blackman (Trinidad and Tobago), and Lamar Taylor (Bahamas).
Why is this coming to the forefront now? Golf and Tennis have for years been 90+% internationals at the college level.
Per Newsweek:
Heading into the last day of competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics, NCAA athletes have collected 66 total medals for countries other than the U.S., including 22 gold medals. Both of those tallies would be good enough for third among all countries.
On its website, the NCAA boasts of more than 1,000 former, incoming or current NCAA student-athletes competed in Paris this summer. Of those, almost 400 compete for Team USA, leaving numerous athletes with the chance to reach the Olympic podium for other countries. This isn’t a new phenomenon. During the Tokyo Games, NCAA athletes won 71 medals for a country other than the U.S.
As Rational states, nothing new. It is what it is. Imagine Norwegians complaining as the overall historical Winter Olympics Medal winner. Why do we have so many foreign cross-country skiers, biathletes, ski jumpers, etc… here? They are taking mountain time away from my Jens and Marte 
I don’t get the Norwegian comparison. Its the opposite, they have athletes in the US at colleges not the inverse.
90% ? - I believe the number is 20%.
Either way, the thesis is that the US will decline in Water Polo participation as a sport as less college spots become available and other sports are a pre-cursor to that. We will see how the US men do in LA for Swimming, but one could bet a decline in success is a coming just like Paris.
Anyways, maybe this is has been discussed to the Nth degree, just wanted to share what I thought was interesting that an entire NCAA relay team of non-US swimmers won to those that worry about this occuring in polo.
What’s new is roster limits.
I think the bigger threat is the rise of other sports, particularly for girls – flag football, lax, field hockey. Also, collegiate sports as it currently exists was built on revenue from football and basketball, and that foundation is crumbling.
Yes, next year we get roster limits and anyone who used one year of eligibility at a JUCO and exhausted their 4 years this year gets one more year. I heard Soccer is getting hit hard by the JUCO part, water polo, probably a little bit. Most mid to low level D1 schools had a couple JUCO transfers as Seniors last season.
Or - is the issue that fast (but not elite) swimmers that have no business going to Cal or Texas can’t use swimming to get into a school they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to get into? They’re now seeing that door close on them?
Like everyone else, they’ll have to go to a school where their skill set matches what the school offers? <gasp! - but I’m not D2 material>
Plenty of sports have had roster limits for a long time - and the schools that want to use sports to put butts in chairs can opt out of the House settlement and carry as many kids as they want.
Texas has 5 guys this year that swim a sub-:43 100yd free - so where does the :44+ swimmer fit in? Yeah, you’re fast, but not NCAA Champ fast.
Adding to that Texas isn’t a sprint FR school. Their fastest swimmer is the record holder in the 2FR.
Right. So for all kids who are coming out of HS in the next few years, the deck is really stacked against them. More eligibility years for previously ineligible players and fewer overall spots. As a result, some people are reexamining who is in the competition pool (pun).
From another topic.
Coaches are going to do what they feel is best for their team and their success. As long as they are making the cuts/decisions within the rules and guidelines, then the real problem lies with the rules. The biggest issue is the timing of the cuts being allowed within the rules currently.
I think you’re saying that the coaches have no culpability here because what they did was legal.
That isn’t most people’s definition of integrity
Well, in a way. What I am really trying to say is that the rules need to change.
Exactly! This type of behavior is rampant lately and the more they ice out these players the less likely kids will want to play. I really feel for these poor kids that have worked so hard. All the people that claim that parents are salty because thier kids" just weren’t good enough" are either clueless or just gaslighting to protect thier friends. No one can argue that anyone recruited to USC is a good player and now several of them are not likley to play in any real capacity. 1 domestic recruit is actually laughable. I’m happy some of them were able to find spots elsewhere. This years roster limit debacle squeezed out players that would have really added to the sport. Pretty soon this sport won’t be worth watching.
I think it was noted in another thread that the people posted where those that received financial aid from the institution and not the entire USC class of 2025. As far as I know Colt Bradley, Reed Hanna, Luke Harris, and Breydon Congo are all still committed to USC therefore it’s not just 1 domestic recruit rather 5/8 are domestic recruits. Also saying American players won’t get playing opportunities is preemptive considering 5/7 players that started for USC in the final vs UCLA were American. I agree that the timing could be better but I just think it’s happened a lot before and we’re just now starting to discuss it.
it’s not always the athlete that’s on the wrong end of this situation. If I recall, USC had two committed recruits switch their decision to UCLA, one the day before the Nov signing day 2023 and another one very late during the summer of 2024 before the season started. Scholarship money and spots could have been used on other key recruits. Historically, coaches dropping commits in the spring of their senior year hasn’t happened that much. That said, the reality is with limited rosters and the portal, this is not only going to happen more to recruited athletes, but you will also see more enrolled athletes being cut their sophomore, junior or even senior year. I’m not sure all the blame should be on the college coach for some of these moves. They are just trying to field the best 24 athletes and win a chip.
A few things here. If you recruited 8 players, you announce 8 players IMHO. I wish the best for these other guys that were recruited and not formally announced but if you look at past years the outlook is bleak. Prehaps with fewer numbers over all they’ll be okay but if you look at the past few years not many of these recruits have gotten much time. We shall see…
That is a very negative take on many levels. I love watching NCAA polo and the international players often make it even more so. Cal’s greek center was amazing to watch, SC and Stanford have amazing international shooters, Georgi at Stanford in the end of the season was fun to watch IMHO. Parents are hard wired to pull for thier kid which is fine, but playing time is really hard to come by at this level regardless how good you are as is making a roster. Learing to deal with disappointment, failure, winning, competing for a spot, being a good teammate on the bench or starting are what the the athlete can control and should focus there. Dealing with a tough coach is good training for work/ life as well IMHO. Winning is hard, getting playing time is hard, persitence, resilience are as important as talent these days.
Pick the best players for your team international or otherwise. That’s fine. Don’t commit to a player and then change your mind after all deadlines have passed and all spots are taken. That’s not ok.
This year seems very slow for 2026 commits. Every kid probably has some concern that the school they commit to will drop them before school starts. There are too many examples to ignore. That’s a bad situation. Everyone is afraid of being dropped for an international, not another local kid. The NL teams are bringing in internationals to win that tournament. It’s happening to water polo at all levels (club teams are clearing kids for JOs at 14u, at least) and it is scaring kids and parents away from the game. Maybe it will lead to more kids choosing school over water polo. In some cases that means they will play for a less competitive team than they hoped because the school is the right fit. In other cases they will quit polo because the right school doesn’t have a varsity team. Roster limits mean coaches can’t develop an 18 year old freshman when that can get a 20 year old. Only the highest caliber HS seniors are relatively safe.
