I’m surprised there’s not any chatter on here about UCSB being ranked tied for #19. Which is a few votes from falling out of the top 20. What is going on in Isla Vista?!
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Unfortunately, it is no surprise. UCSB is a great school that does not care about it sports programs. Every once in a while, they make a run in one of their sports, but no one ever seems to care: the students, faculty, alumni nor locals. That is a big hurdle to get over.
The old competition pool was built for US Marine Corps during Second World War. It has been leaking for a long time and was permanently shut down in 2023. Sadly, UCSB student government has not permitted any games to be played at the university Rec Center. The plans for a new pool has been around for the last 15 years or so and the plans look beautiful (65 meters pool) but the project needs a big donor/major infusion of money if I am not mistaken.
UCSB is on a downward spiral. We watch the Concordia game vs UCSB and CUI dominated the game with little interaction by their coach. Coach spent more time complaining about the CUI player having a different number than coaching his own players.
At half he spent the time berating his players, being beat by a D2 team. There was fighting by the team with constant yelling among themselves in the game and timeouts
After the game, in which they barely pulled away from CUI, HC came and got into an argument with a few of the CUI players, at which point the CUI coach pulled him away. How can a 50-year-old, three-time Olympian behave in such a way that not only embarrasses UCSB, but also himself and the Sport? Maybe it is time to look for a New Direction.
Losing his top five players and his top recruit to UCLA likely did not help alleviate his frustrations this season.
What a Shame for a storied program.
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Hey folks,
This thread looks like it’s on the verge of getting out of hand.
I see we have a few new posters here, I’d invite you to refer to the community guidelines on personal attacks and adjust your posts accordingly.
-Clark
With all due respect, can you give an example of what is on the verge of being out of hand? This is a topic that needs to be discussed and nothing stood out to me as out of line. Criticism is deserved at times
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Wolf is an adult. He doesn’t have a great reputation. Many alums place a lot of blame on him for the bad relationship with the city and the university.
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Totally agree that legit criticism is valid on this board.
FWIW, I tried that messaging due to the previous feedback on moderator action not being transparent by providing context.
In any case, happy to provide more explanation:
Late last night, I flagged one of the replies due to criticism that crossed the line into personal attacks on a coach and feedback against a player’s performance that echoed a previous reply that we had to moderate.
Unless it’s totally unambiguous, we require another moderator to agree with the flag to remove a post.
My message probably made more sense when the flagged message was still publicly visible but the flag was “seconded” and removed.
I was aiming for two goals:
- Address the flagged (now removed) message
- Try to steer the conversation back to in bounds
If any of you would like to make a topic on questions/feedback you have about moderation, please feel welcome to.
For the purposes of this topic, what I see currently is within guidelines.
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I agree, criticizing a coach is one thing, and should be acceptable, but going on and on about a player’s performance, naming the player, and then posting his game stats, has no place here. Please remember that players also read these message boards
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Taking Pepperdine to sudden death 3X overtime has to shut down some of the commenters on this one… Now I do have to say Pepperdine is looking like a disappointment this season. With Csapo reportedly out for the season, and Ionescu wearing a sleeve on his shooting arm raises concern. Walsh has been dominant on the inside but the shooters are not converting at all. Howell is getting counter goals but they need to figure out how to get more production from the middle classmen and strong freshmen class. Barnuevo has been the only bright spot from that class so far. Thanks to Pepperdine for streaming their games….
I think, based purely on location and academics, that UCSB should be consistently in the next tier of programs after the big four, along with LB and UOP. Yet it founders, due to a disinterested administration and coach. My understanding is that the pool was always inadequate (too shallow at one end) yet continued to be used for decades with no plan for replacement. Wolf is pulled in a lot of directions, between KAP7, coaching his kid’s club team and coaching UCSB. I wonder where UCSB ranks in that list of priorities? Looks like they essentially tied Pepp yesterday, so that should help their ranking.
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Don’t forget about not hanging up his cap. NYAC also in the list of priorities
Not to take up for Wigo at all. I’m not sure I would be the last to do that, but I would be down there, but anyway!
Does that job pay enough to be the sole focus for a coach? UCSB is notoriously cheap as they sell the “you get to work and live in Santa Barbara” angle. That was fine 40 years ago, but I can’t imagine that place being very affordable for a water polo head coach. You would need many other gigs like he has.
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This is not a new subject but the issue is an overall UCSB problem. 10 years ago with Cathy Neushul and unequal funding. The attrition of woman’s players, verbal abuse. NCAA sanctions on Men’s polo 6 years ago, Track and Field as well. Yes the pool problem. Their baseball field fell into same category until a large anonymous donation came in this year.
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I would say it’s the worst D1 job currently amongst historically top 20 ranked schools. I thought Long Beach was underfunded, but even they pay more now. It’s a shame because it has so much potential but has a lot of hurdles that have been mentioned. They will stay relevant because it’s a popular destination for college and without sports it’s a lottery ticket to get in. But they need to find someone with the enthusiasm that James Graham has and have one coach for both programs to make the money palatable. While Santa Barbara is expensive, there are pockets that are feasible for a coach
Sounds like they would need more of an established local who understands the community.
Oh yeah, they had one…
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Wolf’s pay in 2023 was $96K but he is co-owner of Kap7.
At LBSU, Gavin Arroyo made $134K in 2024. He also has a side job as the national team asst coach. At Cal, Everist made $212K in 2023. Higher cost of living in the Bay Area.
The highest water polo coach(in my opinion) is Adam Wright. His pay at UCLA for CY 2022 is $300K!!! But he coaches both mens and womens programs. There is money in water polo.
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Maybe wolf will be interested in the St Mary’s College job so he will finally leave UCSB.