Starting a new portal thread. ‘tis the season which is really silly as we have seen in other sports also. Portal opening as season still in play Dec 1 for mens Polo.
My gut tells me we will see more transfers this year than last.
This should be a fun thread. I’d be surprised if we don’t see at least a couple game changers in there this year.
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Is there still a spring transfer window as well, or is Dec 1-30 the only window (for water polo)? I get confused with all the transfer portal changes (alongside the football exceptions).
yes I believe May 1 → https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/eligibility/transfers/D1_Undergraduate_Transfer_Windows.pdf
I’ve heard from reliable sources that LBSU and former U.S. U20 NT center Corbin Stanley is likely to test the portal.
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interesting. USC seems to have the biggest need for Center depth. Dad played at UCLA, but that will be a log jam again next season. Center depth across the board is as deep as it has been in a long time.
Yeah. Looks like SC is losing (edited/corrected) Martin and Crenshaw, but being replaced by incoming freshman, Anderson and Simoncelli.
It’ll be interesting to see how teams handle their rosters with the 24-man limit. Do you carry 4 centers (SC had 3 this past year and at this point looks like they have 3 slotted for next year) or 4 goalies (they have 4 this year).
For comparison Cal has 3 Centers and 3 GKs. UCLA has 3 centers and 4 GKs.
I would think those are the two positions where coaches (at least the ones contending with 24-man limit) will flex on the roster.
You’re right about center depth across the board being very deep. USC will have Year 2 Krstic and Tyler Anderson coming in. I haven’t heard anything about this, but I do know that Jack Martin is currently playing his third season of college waterpolo. He redshirted in 2021 and 2023. If he could get a NCAA exemption for one of those years to not count towards his five year cycle, he could be eligible in 2026.
USC still does make the most sense to me. I could see Pinta using him as a utility.
One position of need for almost all the Big 4 teams is center defender. UCLA loses Gray Carson and has been using Max Matthew’s and Jackson Harlan. USC loses Vukazic and Connor Cohen. Even this year, looking at Stanford’s roster, the two glaring weaknesses are depth and center defender depth. Cal will have the best defender depth chart heading into next season, but time will tell if that’s the case on Day 1 after the transfers and freshman come in.
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I am not sure on what grounds the NCAA would grant him a 6th year of eligibility. Did he miss 2023 due to overloaded roster or was he injured?
Not everyone will be at 24 next year. If schools designated any incoming freshmen and also a couple now sophomores as “would be cut by roster limits” they dont count against the roster limit. Some schools had 28 in the 2025 year and most likely could run 28 for a few years if the designated actually develop into worthy players.
LMU 28, UCI 27, UOP 27, UCSD 27, PEP 26, UCLA 26, LBS 25, USC 25, CAL, UCSB, Stanford all had 24, Davis will be 24 next year. They could however transfer in a designated player and go above the 24 limit, though that would be highly unlikely unless a designated player shows a coach how wrong he was to consider cutting him and becomes elite..
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Centers Crenshaw and *Martin?
He had to sit out a year due to transferring. I assume he was past the window to not lose a year.
Ok, but how do you get around the 4 in 5 years rule? The only way to get around that, is for national team training for Olympics or a major injury, nothing about transferring and getting an extra year. At least this is how I read the rules but I could be wrong.
I agree, doesn’t seem likely
Thank you! Have to remember to post AFTER second cup of coffee. 
I always keep on eye on the senior day honorees. It isn’t always indicative of who is coming back or not but it can be. USC’s honorees this year: Herzer (1 year left), Brankovic (1 year left), Ausmus (0), Martin (likely 0), Vort (0), Grgurevic (0), Crenshaw (0), Vukazic (0). Cohen is listed as a senior but did not play in 2022, so he appears to be coming back. An interesting one with UCLA. Carsalade was honored at senior day and has a year left.
Yes, I noticed the same at Pepperdine and a few other schools. I think they just honor them if they have senior worthy credits, does not mean they are not coming back. Csapo was honored but he also reportedly took an injury redshirt to return next year.
I believe Cohen played in 2021 for Pepperdine, sat out 2022, then played at USC in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
That is correct. I read entering 3rd season at USC and totally disregarded the pepperdine year. Thanks for the correction
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It’s odd that they didn’t honor him on senior day, signaling that he may have an extra year remaining. Looks like he only played in 11/27 games in 2021, so that may be why…
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