In a stunning although not sudden choice handed down final Friday, Jovan Vavic, the winningest water polo coach in NCAA historical past, was convicted by U.S. District Choose Indira Talwani of accepting bribes along with the huge faculty admissions fraud case generally referred to as “Varsity Blues.”
Sentencing for Vavic, now 60 years outdated, will probably be delayed as he’s anticipated to attraction his conviction.
USC males’s and ladies’s coach for 25 years and whose groups captured an NCAA-record 16 titles—ten males’s and 6 ladies’s—Vavic was abruptly fired in March 2019 because of accusations of complicity in William “Rick” Singer’s scheme to falsify the athletic accomplishments of candidates to elite American universities.
[After a Quarter Century in Troy, Jovan Vavic Fired as USC Men’s & Women’s Head Water Polo Coach]
Amongst these colleges was Southern California. As soon as thought of a vacation spot for prosperous however academically detached candidates, in recent times USC has grow to be some of the nation’s most fascinating educational establishments. It was a major goal of Singer’s efforts to bypass admissions necessities by getting his purchasers’ youngsters in via the “facet door” by creating exaggerated or pretend athletic pedigrees—and utilizing bribes that typically totaled within the hundreds of thousands to entice college coaches and directors to help his efforts.
A maverick typically at odds with the American water polo neighborhood—a results of his much-debated recruiting practices and laser-focus on success—Vavic will now be sentenced to jail time, an incredible comedown for a coach who in 2015 was tabbed as Pac-12 Males’s Water Polo Coach of the Century.
[Commentary: The Rise and Scandalous Fall Of USC Water Polo Coach Jovan Vavic]
In reporting the story, Matthew Ormseth of the Los Angeles Occasions, pointed to demining proof in opposition to the Montenegrin native. Former USC soccer coach, Ali Khosroshahin, who himself pleaded responsible for his function within the scandal, testified that when he met with Vavic in his workplace, his Trojan colleague supplied pointed recommendation on mendacity about potential candidates. “Fuck ‘em. Simply do it. And inform them that they’re the most effective gamers you’ve seen.”
Vavic together with his Trojan males in happier occasions. Photograph: USC Athletics / John Mclaughlin
By hiring Stephen G. Larson—a extremely regarded lawyer who served as a U.S. district decide and in addition as an assistant U.S. lawyer in Los Angeles—and promoting his multi-million-dollar residence in tony Rancho Palos Verdes, Vavic signaled he was prepared for the combat of his life.
Not like in lots of NCAA finals appearances—a complete of 25 for the women and men’s applications, together with a exceptional 14 straight NCAA males’s title matches—the legendary coach misplaced this spherical. Decisively.
Because the final of the Varsity Blues circumstances to go to trial—in all 56 mother and father in addition to Singer, the operation’s mastermind, had been indicted by U.S. federal prosecutors—it potential that Vavic’s punishment would be the case’s harshest. The longest earlier convictions was to John B. Wilson, given a 15-month jail time period for paying greater than $1.2 million in order that his son and twin daughters, sporting embellished athletic credentials, had been admitted to USC, Stanford and Harvard.
Mockingly, Wilson’s son was admitted to Southern Cal to play polo for the Trojans however stop the staff after his first semester.
[Kennedy Family Friend Gets Longest Sentence In Varsity Blues Scandal]
Ghoulishly, nameless posters at Water Polo Planet have posted a ballot concerning what number of years of jail Vavic will serve. It needs to be famous that lots of the individuals of the WWP message board are mother and father of athletes whose youngsters had been crushed by Vavic-coached groups in NCAA competitors—which makes their glee at their antagonist’s downfall all of the extra repulsive.
Water Polo Planet commentators don’t have any disgrace.
It’s the game itself that suffers on the plight of 1 it’s most notable practitioners. Vavic could have been a controversial champion, however so have quite a lot of NCAA winners—not the least of whom is the Wizard of Westwood himself. John Picket, with ten NCAA males’s basketball titles whereas teaching UCLA, is taken into account a gold-standard for American collegiate success. Sports activities columnists have famous that Picket was supported in his efforts by Los Angeles businessman Sam Gilbert, who sought to steer prime gamers, together with Lew Alcindor—now referred to as Kareem Abdul Jabbar—to Bruins’ basketball.
[USC’s Jovan Vavic is One of the Winningest—and Most Colorful—Coaches in Collegiate History]
There’s little doubt that justice was served in Talwani’s Boston’ courtroom—however it’s additionally clear that the toppling of a towering determine in U.S. polo diminishes the game for all.
