Roster turnover has been a challenge for athletics teams across the country in the era of the transfer portal, but the love and commitment from the student-athletes on University of the Pacific’s nationally ranked men’s water polo program has resulted in retention.

The core of Pacific’s 2024 roster has waited two years to play alongside each other again after reaching the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament in 2022. The Tigers return five starters from that squad, all of whom sat out last season.

“Winning a national championship this year has been on my mind since we lost in the semifinals in 2022, and I knew this would be the year for it,” said senior Jeremie Cote ’24. “These are my brothers here at Pacific, my best friends, and we are on a journey together to achieve our goal of winning a national championship together.”

Cote sat out last season to play with the Canadian National Team. He shares similar stories with Bae Fountain ’24, Reuel D’Souza ’24, Mihailo Vukazic ’25 and Matthew Hosmer ’24 who all made decisions to not play last season but return for this year.

All five were recognized on the 2022 All-Golden Coast Conference Teams, the conference Pacific’s water polo team played in until joining the West Coast Conference in 2023.

“At the end of the 2022 season, I gave a commitment that I would come back and play in 2024, and I felt several of us were all in this together,” said Fountain, who missed last season to train with the Australian National Team. “It’s about the loyalty of the program. I have never looked to play for any other schools, and I would never leave this group of guys. We’re excited for the season.”

Fountain was named to the 2022 All-Golden Coast First-Team along with D’Souza, another big re-addition to the squad. D’Souza led the Tigers in 2022 with 100 points and 54 goals after being named the 2021 Golden Coast Conference Newcomer of the Year.

“The school and the team mean a lot to us,” D’Souza said. “We come from many different countries and have made great sacrifices in our lives to continue playing together, but we are brothers, and we have the opportunity to chase a championship together. We want to do something special here at Pacific.”

Excitement builds toward the 2024 season as co-captains D’Souza and Cote were recognized on the seven-person West Coast Conference Preseason Team. The Tigers were predicted to win the league in the WCC Preseason Poll after earning five of six first-place votes.

Furthermore, Pacific was ranked No. 7 in the country in the national preseason Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 20. The Tigers were the highest ranked team from the West Coast Conference.

“I played in the national championship game here at Pacific in 2019 where we lost, and ever since then I’ve wanted to make it back and win it,” Hosmer said. “I’ve never had any desire to leave this school. Since I’m from Stockton, I came to games here when I was a little kid, including in 2013 when we played in the national championship, and I’ve always wanted to be a part of it. Everyone on this team has the same goal.”

Adding to the squad’s depth and retention, the Tigers brought back last year’s star Stefan Vavic ’24, who transferred from USC. Vavic was a 2023 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches All-America Honorable Mention and led the Tigers with 50 goals and 86 points.

“We have so many amazing, accomplished players on this team that could have turned pro, gotten big contracts or transferred to other schools, but their commitment to winning a national championship here and their loyalty to Pacific is so strong that it brought everyone back,” said head coach James Graham. “That means as much to me as anything we may accomplish this year. I’m super excited to have the chance to go into battle every day with this group of guys.”

The seventh-ranked Tigers will open the 2024 campaign with matches at No. 20 Brown and No. 15 Harvard Sept. 7-8. Of the 19 regular season games on Pacific’s schedule, 17 are against teams ranked in the Top 20. See the full water polo schedule.