No. 1 UCLA men’s water polo is days away from diving into its 2025 season, and after earning the school its 124th national championship last December, the Bruins enter the new season riding a wave of momentum. Before the first horn sounds, Daily Bruin Sports previews the team’s incoming and outgoing players ahead of the 2025 season.
2024 record: 26-2, 5-1 MPSF, NCAA champions
Coach: Adam Wright
Outgoing players:
When the squad hoisted its 13th NCAA title, it also said goodbye to two veterans who helped anchor that run.
Goalkeeper Garret Griggs wrapped up his Bruin career serving as the team’s last line of defense for the past two seasons. The 2023 ACWPC Second Team All-American tied a career-high 15 saves in the Bruins’ regular season finale against USC and finished his UCLA tenure with more than 400 career saves and a slew of MPSF honors.
Griggs also recorded double-digit saves in nine matches across his senior campaign, ranking third in the MPSF in save percentage his junior year, and eighth his senior year.
Jack Larsen also exhausted his eligibility after establishing himself as one of UCLA’s premier perimeter shooters. Larsen earned First Team All-American and All-MPSF honors in 2023 after being named to the NCAA All-Tournament First Team.
The former Bruin attacker tallied over 100 career goals, including a career-high eight-goal outburst against the University of Pacific in 2023, which ranks among the most prolific single-game scoring efforts in program history.
Since graduation, Larsen has taken his talents overseas, first joining powerhouse club Pro Recco in Italy, where he helped secure a Serie A1 championship in its 2024-2025 season, before signing with the Spanish club Sabadell in July.
With the departure of leaders on both ends of the pool, the reigning national champions will look to their incoming freshman class to fill in the gaps.
Incoming players:
To fill those gaps, UCLA introduces a new class of players who join an already decorated core.
In the cage, the Bruins add freshman Harper Gardner and redshirt freshman Joey Kent, both goalkeepers who will compete alongside returners for minutes in net. Their arrival gives coach Adam Wright flexibility and time as he looks to replace Griggs’ production.
Gardner earned All-Section honors in Northern California after posting 252 saves in his senior season at Rio Americano High School in Sacramento.
Kent, meanwhile, was a Junior Olympic finalist and brings national-level experience to the roster, having recently trained with USA Water Polo’s Olympic Development Program.
On the perimeter, UCLA welcomes attackers Jackson Harlan, Zac Miller and Hayden O’Hare. The trio offers a mix of speed and outside shooting, each bringing a decorated résumé to Westwood.
O’Hare turned heads at the FISU World University Games this summer, where UCLA represented the entirety of Team USA’s roster and won silver.
In the championship match, the freshman attacker notched three goals on a 75% scoring percentage, contributing to the scoreboard in five of the team’s six matches.
O’Hare totaled eight goals and three assists across the tournament, while also drawing four exclusions. He also ranked among the team’s top five scorers despite competing against older international teams.
Incoming center Santino Rossi could anchor the incoming classes’ two-meter position. At 6-foot-3, hailing from Newport Harbor High School, his size and defensive acumen add physicality to the center. Rossi won back-to-back Junior Olympics titles in 2024 and 2025.
The Bruins will turn to a fresh batch of talent – and after their recent silver medal victory at the FISU World University Games, they are already battle-tested.
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