Feb. 24, 2016
By Michael RandazzoWhen sophomore goalie John Wilson came flying across his cage to bat away a last-gasp attempt by Brown, preserving an 8-7 win for his Johns Hopkins water polo team in the semifinals of the 2015 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Men’s Championships, it signaled a big pay-off for an innovative recruiting effort that has allowed the university, located in Baltimore to compete at the sport’s highest levels.
Blue Jays coach Ted Bresnahan took in the moment of one of the bigger upsets in Easterns history—but also felt the weight of expectations. “What went through my mind you can’t print,” cracked a laughing Bresnahan, “but I also thought: ‘How am I gonna beat Princeton?’”
For the 58-year old coach in his 25th year of coaching at Hopkins, the win over Brown, the East’s top team and defending champion, was both a testament to the continued success he has achieved at Hopkins and a sign of a shifting dynamic in Eastern water polo. Facing second-seed and CWPA Southern Division rival Princeton, Hopkins, despite losing a highly competitive 7-6 match, became the first Division III team to advance to the Eastern finals, and came within a missed five-meter penalty shot of becoming the first Eastern team to win both the D III and the varsity titles in the same season.
“It is amazing to think that we were a goal away from making NCAAs, and—although the loss stings a bit—I'm proud of the coaching staff and the players,” said Bresnahan, who last December was named Division III National Coach of the Year for the third time (2005, 2008, 2015). “Winning against Brown and making the CWPA championship game was a big step for the program.”
A West Coast Gold Rush Princeton and Hopkins, academic rivals that have been competing against each other in water polo for more than two decades, are now locked in a new competition: recruiting the best players from California, whose network of public and independent high schools are the nation’s best breeding ground for the sport.
Hopkins water polo—albeit overshadowed by the school’s Division 1 men’s lacrosse program that has captured nine NCAA titles—has built a reputation to be envied under the stewardship of Bresnahan, easily one of the most colorful and likable coaches in his sport. The Massachusetts native has created one of the East’s strongest programs by selling the academic excellence of Hopkins, considered one of the country’s finest universities.
Beginning in 2000, Hopkins Athletics undertook a concerted effort to recruit West Coast student athletes. According to John Birney, now the Director of Admissions at Wofford College, who from 2000 to 2013 was Senior Associate Director of Constituent Relations for Hopkins Admissions, “We really put our mark on the water polo scene by recruiting significantly strong water polo players from West Coast independent schools.” Bresnahan agrees. “That’s what opened the doors for our water polo program to become prominent,” he said.
Says Birney, “Ted [Bresnahan] and I worked closely together on the type of applicant we were looking for, the type of student who was successful, yet combined with the type of water polo player that would enhance this program.”
The efforts paid off handsomely in both the pool and the classroom. In 2010, Hopkins’ water polo squad—winners of 16 Division III Eastern Championships and nine of the last 12—was named the Division III Varsity Men's "Team of the Decade." The Blue Jays produced five straight Division III Players of the Year: Brian Mead (2004); Sean McCreey (2005-07); and Josh Kratz (2008).
The squad’s academic excellence is regularly cited by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches. The Blue Jays have captured the ACWPC Team Academic award seven of the last eight seasons and nine times since 1998.
And while skill in the pool is essential, it’s academics that determines athletics eligibility at Hopkins.
“The first thing I ask [prospective recruits] is, ‘How are your grades? What’s your GPA? What are your board scores?’ If they’re not within the circle we can work with, there’s no sense in continuing the conversation,” Bresnahan said.
For California-born players such as Wilson, senior co-captain Kevin Yee and freshman Giorgio Cico, it was a combination of superb academics and an exceptionally supportive culture around its water polo program that made Hopkins their first choice.
“First and foremost, to put myself in the best position academically, Hopkins seemed like the obvious fit,” said Wilson, who also had offers from UCLA and USC—the country’s two best water polo programs—as well as UC Davis and UC Santa Clara. While academics were paramount, water polo was a crucial consideration for the graduate of Menlo School in Hillsborough, Cal.
“The team has been the number one thing I’ve loved about coming to Hopkins. I can’t speak highly enough about that group of guys,” continued Wilson, named an All-American and San Mateo Daily Journal Boy’s Water Polo Player of the Year as a high school senior. “Outside of the pool…everyone is focused about school and very good friends.”
“Obviously Hopkins’ academic prestige speaks for itself,” said Yee, who this season scored 42 goals while being named an All-American by the ACWPC. “What really set me over the top was the team culture here.”
According to Giorgio Cico, whose brother is also at Hopkins, “The academics are just fantastic. That was a big pull.”
“Everyone will tell you: the polo team is super-close,” continued Cico, who, in addition to being named CWPA Southern Division Rookie of the Year, earned All-American honors along with Yee, Wilson and senior Langdon Froomer. “Coming to a place where right away I knew I had people around me that I felt very comfortable with—that made deciding on Hopkins very easy.”
Birney, who was the admissions liaison with Hopkins Athletics for athletic recruitment, verified that having a foothold in select schools is key to consistent recruiting. “What you typically find in admissions recruitment is when you receive one good student from a particular school who does well and makes an impact on a program, other students tend to follow,” he said.
Hopkins’ most consistent rival in the CWPA’s Southern Division is Princeton. In addition to beating the Blue Jays for the Eastern title and with it a berth in the NCAA Men’s Water Polo Tournament, the Tigers claimed three other 2015 meetings against Hopkins and overall sport a 48-5 edge in contests between the two schools.
But thanks to Bresnahan’s exceptional leadership and Hopkins’ rise in prominence as one of the country’s most desirable institutions of higher learning, the water polo gap between the Blue Jays and the Tigers may finally begin to narrow.
Princeton head coach Luis Nicolao, who competed against Bresnahan-coached teams while starring at the Naval Academy in the early 90s, was effusive in his praise for his coaching colleague.
“What makes Ted so special is he… never takes [the game] too seriously,” Nicolao said. “He doesn’t take anything personally and is always willing to sit and talk with you.”
Bresnahan’s placid demeanor masks a fierce competitive streak, which he’s transferred to his program. “When we’ve played in their pool, they had a great crowd and it’s been one of those games—whether I was a player or a coach—that’s always a battle,” Nicolao added.
Princeton, which like Hopkins does not offer athletic scholarships even though their water polo program is Division I, is recruiting the same players due to the excellence of their academics.
“I would say we’re almost identical,” said Nicolao, who has been coaching men’s and women’s water polo at Princeton for the past 18 years. “We’re recruiting the same kids. A lot of our kids look at the same group of schools.”
But according to Peter Latson, Assistant Director, Upper School and Co-director, College Counseling at Hackley School, one of the top prep schools in the New York metropolitan region, Hopkins as a choice for academics has become increasingly popular the past ten years.
“Johns Hopkins has always attracted strong students, but it has become especially selective over the past decade,” Latson said. “While the university may attract students for various academic, extracurricular and social opportunities, the one common theme is its very strong academic program for very serious students.”
Perhaps tellingly, current Hopkins players Cico, Wilson and Yee did not mention Princeton when discussing their school choices. It would seem that Hopkins has joined the Tigers and other Ivy powers Brown and Harvard as highly desirable destinations in the East for California players looking for good polo and great academics.
“I ended up choosing Hopkins because I really liked the feel I got from the team when I was visiting, and it seemed like a great opportunity to branch out and get some new experiences that I don’t think I would have gotten if I had stayed in California,” Wilson said. “I’m thankful that I did.”
What Bresnahan knows is that the combination of playing water polo and being challenged in the classroom was enough to sell Cico, one of the East’s bright young stars after a sensational rookie season.
”I told him: ‘Academically, you can’t beat us,’ and we have such a tight team he fell in love with the guys.” Bresnahan said.
Clearly, that was enough.
This article will appear in the Spring 2016 issue of SkipShot Magazine
