BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) men’s water polo head coach Bret Lathrope will serve as an assistant coach for the United States men’s team at the 2019 World University Games.
Team USA will compete at the 30th Summer World University Games from July 2-14, 2019 in Naples, Italy with Harvard Westlake head coach Brian Flacks serving as the head coach for the men’s team. Flacks, who will be assisted by Matt Kubeck of the LA Premier Water Polo Club and Lathrope, takes the reins of the squad as previously announced head coach/2004 Olympian Brett Ormsby is unable to attend due to an injury suffered during the winter. Linda Wright of Ventura College will serve as team manager for both the men’s and women’s United States squads.
The 2018 USA Water Polo Monte Nitzkowski National Men’s Coach of the Year – becoming the second Division III head coach in the past ten years – Lathrope led the Engineers to the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Eastern Championship title in his inaugural season at the helm of the program. MIT concluded the season ranked No. 2 in the final 2018 Division III National Rankings.
He garnered a pair of awards as Lathrope claimed honors as both the CWPA Division III Eastern Championship Coach of the Tournament and the Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Coach of the Year. Further, he coached first-year Miller Geschke (Los Altos, Calif./Menlo School) and sophomore Evan Kim (Irvine, Calif./Arnold O. Beckman) to Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-America seasons and guided MIT to its first NWPC Tournament win in program history.
An assistant coach at MIT during the 2017 season following two years as an assistant coach with the Bucknell University men’s and women’s water polo teams, the former University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) standout was also previously an assistant coach at the University of California-Davis and played professionally in Spain.
A former member of the Junior National Team, National B Team, Polo National 20-and-Under Team, National Cadet Team and National Development Team, Lathrope was a four-year member of the UCLA squad that made three national championship game appearances during his tenure. Lathrope scored 56 goals in his career, including a career-high 19 as a junior in 2011.
A graduate of Miramonte High School in Moraga, California, Lathrope played professionally for Agrupacio Esportiva Santa Eulalia in Barcelona, Spain, in the Spring of 2015.
Lathrope, who graduated from UCLA in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in history, got his start in the coaching profession by serving as a coach of the Lamorinda Water Polo Club Boys 16-and-under team from December 2013 to August 2014. He then served as an assistant with the UC-Davis men’s program, helping the Aggies to a third-place finish in the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA).
2019 World University Games Men’s Roster (college affiliation)
1. Sam Krutonog (University of California-Los Angeles)
2. Tyler Abramson (Stanford University)
3. Felix Brozyna-Vilim (University of California-Los Angeles)
4. Jake Ehrhardt (University of Southern California)
5. AJ Rossman (Stanford University)
6. Evan Rosenfeld (University of California-Los Angeles)
7. Quinn Woodhead (Stanford University)
8. Jackson Seybold (Stanford University)
9. Jake Cavano (University of California-Los Angeles)
10. Sawyer Rhodes (University of Southern California)
11. Kacper Langiewicz (University of California-San Diego)
12. Bennett Williams (Stanford University)
13. Jack Turner (University of California-San Diego)
Alternate: Tommy Gruwell (University of California-Los Angeles)
Head Coach: Brian Flacks
Assistant Coach: Matt Kubeck and Bret Lathrope
Team Manager: Linda Wright
