Tuesday, November 24, 1998
Crosstown revival
PROFILE: After switching from USC to UCLA, Sam Grayeli has seen
his playing take off
By Steve Kim
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Deep dark secret? Not really.
Sam Grayeli’s past is neither too deep nor terribly dark, though
it includes a little bit of both. It’s certainly not a secret –
people who know him know his background all too well.
But it’s not like he’s going to go out and tell everyone he
meets, especially here at UCLA, that he used to go to USC.
Imagine, the best Bruin water polo attacker, team co-captain and
the second leading scorer used to be a rival team member just four
years ago.
The same rival team got this year’s Bruins so upset and worked
up in a 6-9 loss two weeks ago, but the Bruins got the last laugh
after their 6-3 win against the Trojans this past Saturday. This
same team gets everyone’s blood boiling to the point of downright
animosity and loss of temper.
And it doesn’t help that the team which he now plays against is
enjoying its best season as No. 1 in the nation while the Bruins
trail at No. 2. Grayeli has assimilated as a Bruin to the point
where others no longer see him as a foreigner or black sheep, but
he fully understands the awkwardness of the whole crosstown
transfer situation.
"It was kind of weird because I came from a rival school," he
said. "I think some guys were a little taken aback."
He didn’t care. Anything was better for him than staying at
USC.
Grayeli started, what seemed to him, a great college life. He
was recruited to USC’s highly-ranked water polo program, and his
future looked promising, with a full ride scholarship and four fun
years of college ahead. For some reason, however, things didn’t
materialize the way they should have.
There were aspects of his team and school that Grayeli disliked.
He didn’t feel comfortable with the water polo program and
disagreed with his coaches. There was a lot of pressure put on him
with little reward. In essence, he was unhappy.
"Before (attending USC), I was really excited and awed because
it was the first and only university I’d seen," Grayeli said. "But
once I got there, things kind of changed. I was supposed to get my
schooling paid for, but I didn’t. And I didn’t feel comfortable
with the school.
"I remember riding my bike back at two in the morning after
doing a paper and hearing gunshots. It wasn’t a place I wanted to
be."
That was it, no more, he couldn’t stand it. He dropped out of
school altogether after his first semester at USC. He didn’t care
about throwing in the towel on the sport he had spent years
playing. He wasn’t thinking of what opportunities he would lose in
both sports and academics. He just didn’t.
"It was tough for me because I was unsure where I was going
then," Grayeli said. "I questioned a lot of things about water
polo. I was out of it because I wasn’t working out. I just had a
bad taste of everything there. I was 17 years old, and it was a lot
for me to deal with."
It wasn’t until UCLA head coach Guy Baker offered to take him
into the Bruin team that Grayeli finally knew what direction he was
heading. Baker had seen him play in high school, and upon finding
out that he had stopped playing for the Trojans, the Bruin coach
gave him a call.
All that happened right after the water polo season and few days
before winter quarter. Grayeli had a day to decide.
"It was so rushed and I was totally freaked out," he said. But
the decision was clear, so he chose to convert.
Who would’ve thought? A Trojan switching to a UCLA team was like
an odd marriage that was never meant to be. Montague and Capulet,
fire and ice, Dennis Rodman and Carmen Electra — it just wasn’t
expected to blend.
All this transition was very hectic for the freshman, as Baker
remembers.
"When Sam just came here, the transfer was very difficult,"
Baker said. "He lost a lot of weight because of all the stress, and
there’s been a lot of things going on with the paperwork. I don’t
think he really got an opportunity to concentrate on water polo at
first."
When a new member arrives, he has to prove his competence and
worth to his team. Grayeli knew some Bruin players from the high
school water polo circuit, but it didn’t exclude him from
initiation.
UCLA assistant coach Adam Krikorian, who played as a Bruin at
the time Grayeli transferred, remembers that testing period.
"We didn’t like Sam at first," Krikorian jokes. "Whether you’re
a freshman or transfer, it’s very difficult. The rest of the team
takes it upon itself to make sure this guy is ready and legit to
play with that main team.
"And that’s what Sam went through," he said. "We made it
difficult, playing hard and physical with him. And after a couple
of months we realized he was a good, intense player who won’t back
down in certain situations. Then he got respect from other
players."
Trojan no longer, the transformation was complete. And what a
relief, he said. Grayeli since then has thrived as a Bruin in and
out of the pool.
"I really love this environment; it’s a lot better than ‘SC," he
said. "There’s more security here and it’s easier to meet new
people because at ‘SC, people are more uptight and cliquish."
UCLA and USC play again Saturday, and they may face off again in
following tournaments. In such clashes, there’s that oddity of a
former Trojan playing for the Bruins. He has to play against his
former teammates in the presence of his old coaches and familiar
spectators. But Grayeli puts all doubts about his Bruin loyalty to
rest by insisting he has no reservations playing against his former
team.
"It means a lot to me playing them," he said. "There’s like a
bitterness towards everything that’s happened. Yeah, every time I
go out there I want to do my best against those guys."
It’s been a bumpy start for this senior co-captain. One could
call it a character builder, and in a way, it’s true. That he began
college on the wrong foot and had to go through so much trouble
makes him that much stronger and more experienced.
It has been a while since the whole mess with USC and Grayeli
shoves it off as no big deal.
But in retrospect, the choice he made to transfer to UCLA has
been a life changing one.
"This is the best decision I’ve ever made," he said. "It’s one
of those things that you look back on and realize it’s the best
thing that could’ve happened."
PATIL ARMENIAN
Water polo co-captain Sam Grayeli has become an important member
of the Bruin team as an attacker.
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