BRONX, N.Y. — Head coach Brian Bacharach of defending Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Champion Fordham University announced the addition of transfer student James Oriskovich (Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos (University of California-Santa Barbara) for next season.
“We are very excited to add someone of James’ caliber to our 2024 roster,” said Bacharach. “He has been a key contributor at UC-Santa Barbara, one of the premier water polo programs in the country, for the last three seasons. He brings a wealth of high-level experience to our team. His impact has been felt in practice this spring immediately. His size and skill adds another important dimension to our attack as we look to defend our titles in our conference and continue to try and move up the rankings nationally.”
Oriskovich, who received his undergraduate degree in History from UC-Santa Barbara, is a 6-9 center, who played the last three seasons for the Gauchos. He totaled 68 goals in those seasons, recording a career-high 35 in 2023. Among his single season highlights from this past year, Oriskovich had a 10-goal game against Austin College, while having multi-goal games against national powers the University of Southern California and the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA).
He twice earned academic honors from the Big West Conference, after being an All-Academic performer at San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara. A multi-sport athlete at San Marcos, Oriskovich was a member of the water polo, swimming, rugby and wrestling teams, serving as team captain of the water polo team. Aside from San Marcos, he also played club water polo for Santa Barbara Premier.
Release courtesy Fordham University Athletics Communications
