Cal Water Polo: Adrian Weinberg Sets Sights on a Repeat NCAA Title & the 2024 Olympics

Bears open defense of their national crown as the nation's No. 1-ranked team.

It was just three years ago when Cal water polo coach Kirk Everist was waiting with his team for a flight at LAX when the topic turned to goalkeeper Adrian Weinberg’s age.

“You know I’m still only 17,” said Weinberg, who didn’t turn 18 until Thanksgiving week of his freshman year in college.

“I think I just officially realized that my starting goalie is 17,” Everist recalled.

“Is that a bad thing?” Weinberg asked.

“It’s good and bad,” his coach told him. “You’re a puppy.”

At 20, Weinberg is still not exactly an old dog, but he learned a few new tricks this summer while playing with the USA senior national team at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, then at the FINA World League Super Final in Strasbourg, France.

A year ago, Weinberg helped the U.S. team train for the Olympics, but was never a candidate to play in Tokyo. This year he made the senior team roster, fueling his increasingly realistic dream of making it to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“It would mean the world,” Weinberg says in the video atop this story. “The biggest thing is I want to make all the people who have helped get where I am now proud.

“I just need to keep working, for sure. Anything is possible. There’s nothing set in stone at all. I know I have a lot of competition. But it’s definitely a possibility.”

The U.S. finished just sixth place at the World Championships but Weinberg had a starring role in a big game. He started against host Hungary, and made 13 saves, including a critical one during the penalty shootout, helping spark a 16-15 victory. It was the Americans’ first win over Hungary in their home water since at least 2008.

Adrian Weinberg (front row, fourth from left) and teammates celebrate a win in France / Photo courtesy of USA Water Polo

Weinberg was the starter against Italy in the championship game of the World League Super Final in late July, allowing just four first-half goals in a tie game before the Italians pulled away for a 13-9 victory.

“It made me feel like my coach had a lot of confidence in me,” Weinberg said of getting the starting assignment. “It gave me the confidence to realize, `I can do this. I can play at this level. I can make an impact on this team.’ As opposed to a year ago: `I hope I can.’ “

Weinberg returned home with a silver medal just in time to rejoin his Golden Bears teammates as the quest begins to defend their 2021 NCAA crown.

Not surprisingly, Cal was voted No. 1 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association preseason national coaches poll on Wednesday, ahead of perennial rivals USC, UCLA and Stanford, rounding out the top four spots. The Bears also were a unanimous choice of the other seven coaches to win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

The Bears’ season begins Saturday in Annapolis, Maryland, where they will face Johns Hopkins in the Navy Open. They hope to end their season in their home facility at the Spieker Aquatics Complex, which will host the NCAA semifinals and finals on Dec. 3-4.

“We’re expecting to win. We know that’s our ceiling,” Weinberg says in the video above. “If we put in the work, we know we have the talent.”

The Bears return many of their key players from a year ago, when they were 22-4 and beat USC 13-12 in the national championship game for the program’s 15th NCAA crown in the sport, most of any school.

Back from that team is Nikolaos Papanikolaou, the reigning national player of the year, fellow first-team All-American Jack Deely and second-team honorees Roberto Valera, Max Casabello and Weinberg.

“I think we can be really good,” Everist said. “We have pieces everywhere. We don’t really have a glaring weakness.”

And they have a budding star in goal.

“It’s really hard to be successful at this level without a top-notch goalie,” Everist said. “It’s a little bit like hockey. If you have a goalie that’s really good, those teams win a lot. They solve a lot of your defensive issues, kind of quarterback your defense.

“Having that experience in the cage hopefully makes us a really good defensive team.”

Weinberg did not have that experience three years ago when he suggested to Everist that it might make sense for him to be red-shirted as a freshman since he probably wasn’t going to play much.

Everist told him he should hold off on that idea, which Weinberg took to mean he had a shot. It wasn’t long before he was named the starter.

“I’d never had a freshman come in and, `Bang, he’s the goalie,’ “ Everist said. “You have to have the ability to talk to older players and sometimes demand what you need.

“The thing that surprised me was just how confident he was. It’s a hard position to play. He was confident in there, believed in himself and didn’t question himself.”

Weinberg chuckles at the notion that he’s brimming with confidence.

“I don’t think I’m confident. Personally, I think I’m very timid. I don’t like to talk much,” he said. “At the pool I feel like I’m completely different, though. Maybe he’s talking about that.”

That’s now. As a freshman, barking orders at his older teammates drew some early static. “I got a lot of like, `Shut the hell up . . . what are you doing?’ Over time, my teammates gave me confidence because it was working."

Weinberg, who led the MPSF in fewest goals allowed (9.63 per game) last season, has the physical tools at 6-foot-5 necessary to play the position.

“He’s very long and moves to the ball relay well,” Everist said. “He attacks the ball — some goalies just take up space. He’s athletic and he puts his whole body into it, which makes him even longer.”

Weinberg’s experience with the national team tested him on a different plane. He was competing against grown men when the U.S. took on the likes of Serbia, France and Greece.

“Those were guys I grew up watching shoot,” he said. “The level is so much higher. Everyone is always a (scoring) threat. I had to be there mentally. I knew it was going to be a different deal, for sure.”

Weinberg’s focus the next few months is strictly on helping the Bears pursue their goals. Because of the COVID-19 allowance, he will be eligible to play for Cal again in 2023-24.

By the time that year is complete, Weinberg hopes his next stop will be Paris. 

Cover photo of Adrian Weinberg by Catharyn Hayne, KLC fotos

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo