Croatian Emigres Fuel USC in Water Polo

Marko Zagar left his homeland, Croatia, clutching a one-way ticket to a place he knew little about and trying desperately to stop thinking about all the things he was giving up.

One of them was a promising career with the Croatian national water polo team. Instead, Zagar was on his way to USC and a college career in water polo. He probably will never play for his native country again.

Before Zagar left, the national team coaches warned him that they would not invite him back. They figured Zagar would not gain the experience necessary to return to the national level in their country.

“They take their water polo very seriously in Croatia,” said John Williams, USC’s coach.

It was a difficult decision for Zagar. His father, Zdravko, was a member of the national water polo team in the late 1950s. But Zagar figured that his future held other things.

“In Europe, water polo is (full-time work),” he said. “You play for your club and the national team. Here, your first occupation is studying, you are a student-athlete, not an athlete-student.”

Zagar, a sophomore, believed that putting the student part of his life first would help him in the long run. He hopes to earn a degree in business or international relations.

“I think that when I graduate from here, I can help with my country,” he said.

Croatia is one of five independent republics that were formed after the collapse of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which has been ravaged by war since 1991.

The war put all aspects of normal life on hold in Croatia, including water polo. Zagar was 18 and had graduated from high school when the army called. He spent a brief stint in basic training in his hometown, Zagreb, before returning to the pool.

He was the top scorer for the junior national team in 1989 and was selected the most valuable player at the junior national championships in 1990.

Williams heard about Zagar through Jovan Vavic, a USC assistant coach. Vavic was a member of a club that was a four-time national champion of Yugoslavia in the 1970s. Vavic had heard about Zagar through his contacts in the area and persuaded Zagar to come to the United States. Hrvoje Cizmic of Split, Croatia, came along with Zagar.

Cizmic was not quite as heralded as Zagar, but had also played for the Croatian junior national team.

Zagar leads USC with 23 goals and 25 points and Cizmic is second with 22 goals and 24 points. The Trojans, with an 8-3 record, are ranked second in the nation and finished in second place behind Stanford at the Stanford invitational during the weekend.

“Now, I see that I didn’t make a mistake,” Zagar said.

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The Balkan pipeline also has benefited the Trojan women’s volleyball team.

Coach Lisa Love recruited Vesna Dragicevic before this season after hearing about her from the water polo assistant coach, Vavic. Dragicevic, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter from Ivanjica, Serbia, has earned a starting position and is second on the team in kills with 3.5 a game.

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Eric Peterson, UCLA women’s cross-country coach, was out of town last year when he got the message:

A runner from Arkansas was interested in transferring to UCLA.

What? Arkansas runners, among the best in the nation, simply don’t transfer to UCLA.

Until last season, the Bruins had never even had a conference champion, let alone a national champion.

The message didn’t say which Arkansas runner was thinking of transferring, but by process of elimination, Peterson guessed it might be Shelley Taylor, a two-time All-American.

Taylor had been the state cross-country champion at Huntington Beach Edison High in 1991 and, Peterson figured, she might be interested in going to college closer to her home.

Soon, the paperwork was done and, overnight, the Bruins’ program became respectable.

Taylor, a junior, finished ninth at the NCAA championships last season, three-tenths of a second ahead of Karen Hecox, the 1993 Pacific 10 Conference and NCAA District 8 champion who returns to UCLA for her senior season.

Hecox won the Stanford Invitational this weekend and Taylor finished fourth.

“Things are looking very good right now,” Peterson said.

Notes

Andy Banachowski, UCLA women’s volleyball coach, won the 750th game of his career on Sept. 23, a 5-15, 15-13, 11-15, 15-9, 15-7 victory at Arizona. But for Banachowski, who has more victories than any other NCAA women’s volleyball coach, No. 750 simply means that he is the oldest coach around. “It’s not really something that I use as any real measure of anything except, I guess, longevity,” he said. Banachowski, in his 28th season as UCLA coach, is 753-149 and has won three NCAA championships. The No. 3 Bruins are 13-1. . . . Brian Gimmillaro, Long Beach State women’s volleyball coach, won the 250th game of his career on Sept. 24, over New Mexico State at Long Beach. Gimmillaro, in his 10th season, is 252-75 and has won two NCAA championships. Long Beach is 9-3.

Since walking on at Long Beach last season, volleyball player Heather Hofmans has unexpectedly taken over the starting setter position this season. Last season, Hofmans played back-up to Joy McKienzie, an All-American. This season, highly-touted freshman Lori Price was expected to start, but Hofmans won the spot. She is playing in pain, though, this season. Her right ring finger is broken. . . . For the first time in four years, Long Beach is looking up to some of its Big West Conference opponents in the American Volleyball Coaches Assn. poll. No. 5 Pacific, No. 7 Hawaii and No. 9 UC Santa Barbara are all above No. 10 Long Beach.