Daily Pilot High School Male Athlete of the Week: Game is coming together for Newport Harbor’s Rankin

Since becoming head coach of his alma mater, Newport Harbor High boys’ water polo coach Ross Sinclair has been hard on John Rankin.

These are words that come from Sinclair’s mouth, not Rankin’s. It’s not so much of an admittance, just a recognition of the rocky relationship between player and coach.

“It’s something that we’ve worked on the last three years now, what I need to do and what he needs to do to make our relationship better,” Sinclair said. “Physically, he’s very gifted … The thing I’ve always been trying to stress is mentally being engaged.”

Rankin, a senior, has been on varsity since he was a sophomore in Sinclair’s first year in charge. He was used to his coach yelling at him in practice and during games. Rankin said he didn’t always know why.

Things got the toughest last spring, when the Sailors were having offseason practices on top of lots of swimming during swim season. Rankin said times were hard, but he never thought about quitting the team and lessening the now-senior core group of Rankin, Jackson Westerman, Ryan Brosnan, Jason Grew and goalie Max Sandberg. The five seniors have been playing together for several years now.

“I think [Sinclair] thought I was a good player, I had a bunch of potential, but I just wasn’t reaching that,” Rankin said. “I think he thought I would get there through that harsh, tough criticism. It’s constructive criticism. Yeah, he’s yelled some gnarly things, but in the long run it’s helped me a lot. It’s always been the mental side for me. That’s the hardest part.”

Rankin, the Daily Pilot Male Athlete of the Week, is now making it look easy. Two days before his 18th birthday, he had two goals, an assist and a steal as the Sailors won a surprisingly lopsided Battle of the Bay game 8-2 over rival Corona del Mar on Oct. 13.

On Tuesday, Rankin again delivered two goals in a 9-7 nonleague victory against Laguna Beach. And he also has developed into one of the team’s strongest perimeter defenders.

This is the best team that Sinclair has had since taking the helm. That senior group is leading the way, and it includes Rankin.

“I think he plays with more of a sense of urgency now that it’s his senior year,” said Sinclair, pointing the fact that Rankin took six shots in the game against Laguna Beach. “Last year, I couldn’t get him to shoot six times because he didn’t want to go out there and put himself on the line. He would miss a shot, and he would shut himself down. But I think now he trusts himself and he trusts me more. He can go out there and make a mistake, and life rolls on.”

Rankin has an athletic background, for sure. His dad Mike played water polo at University High and UC Santa Barbara, while mom Shelly ran cross country at Anaheim Canyon and UCSB. Both of Rankin’s younger siblings, Annie and Billy, also play water polo. Annie is a junior at Harbor, while Billy is an eighth grader at Carden Hall, a private school in Newport Beach.

For John, he grew up in the Newport club program, where he said he idolized players like Farrel South. Now South, the 2011 Daily Pilot Dream Team Player of the Year who went on to star at Cal, is back coaching at Newport Harbor.

Rankin might not have as hard a shot as South, but he’s a versatile player. And his play will be key for the Sailors, who finished fifth at the Memorial Cup in San Jose on Saturday after topping Loyola in overtime.

The team is headed into a busy last week of the regular season. The final two games are a doozy.

Newport Harbor, ranked No. 5 in CIF Southern Section Division 1 and 2, plays at top-ranked Mater Dei on Monday night at 7. Then, the Sailors play host to No. 3-ranked rival Huntington Beach on Wednesday at 5, a Sunset League finale that will decide the league title. The Oilers have won three straight league titles.

Sinclair may yell at Rankin during either of these games. But now, the senior has a better understanding of why.

“I guess that’s just how the sport goes, at least for me,” Rankin said. “I think he knows that I’m going to need guidance when I need it. If that’s the way he’s going to give it to me, that’s the way I need it. It’s not a personal conflict or anything bad, it’s just the type of relationship we have.”

John Rankin

Born: Oct. 15, 1999

Hometown: Newport Beach

Height: 6 feet

Weight: 170 pounds

Sport: Water polo

Year: Senior

Coach: Ross Sinclair

Favorite food: Cheeseburger

Favorite movie: “Unbroken”

Favorite athletic moment: Winning the Battle of the Bay game senior year.

Week in review: Rankin had two goals, an assist and a steal as Newport Harbor beat rival Corona del Mar 8-2 in the Battle of the Bay game Oct. 13.

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo