Harries Takes Walk Onto Water Polo Team

Aaron Harries wanted to play collegiate sports, but his academic ambitions went a bit beyond Cypress College, the only school to show any interest in his athletic abilities.

At least he wasn’t continually harassed by recruiters during his senior year at Canyon High. His “recruitment” consisted of one letter penned by a Cypress soccer coach who had seen him play goalkeeper for the Comanches.

No one seemed to notice he was a first-team All-Century League selection in water polo.

So Harries enrolled in premed classes at UCLA and--determined not to let his dream of being a college athlete sink before he even got in the water--found his way to water polo Coach Guy Baker’s office, where he announced his intentions of trying out as a walk-on.

Harries had a couple of things going for him--he was 6 feet 4 and left-handed--and a couple of things going against him--he had played for four coaches in high school and had never played club water polo.

Baker offered the time and dates of the tryouts, but not much encouragement. But then he didn’t laugh in Harries’ face, either.

Recollections of those tryouts elicit chuckles from both men now.

“Basically, the tryout was just that you got to practice with the team for [an academic] quarter,” Harries said. “These were guys I’d read about in high school, guys who were on their way to winning national titles the next two years. It was really intimidating.

“The swim sets were the worst. Everybody still kids me about that. I’d be dying and that was just trying to complete the warm-up.”

Baker was unimpressed, to say the least.

“He couldn’t swim a lick,” he said. “No speed, no endurance. And he’d had extremely limited coaching. He was far behind everybody else in the pool. In fact, he was far behind anybody we’ve ever had here.

“Let’s face it, if he was 5-8 and right-handed, he wouldn’t have been around long. But he was 6-4, 215 and was a good shooter with a really hard left-handed shot. Still, he was a long-, long-range project.”

Harries didn’t even make the Bruins’ full-time practice team that year. He got most of his work on the scout team, playing the part of an opponent when the upcoming team had a particularly effective left-handed player.

Harries took on his role with enthusiasm, though, and did everything in his power to reduce the amount of “longs” in front of the word “project” when Baker talked about his prospects.

He practiced with the UCLA women’s team, got Baker to open the pool at odd hours for extra conditioning and worked tirelessly at improving his skills as well as his swimming.

“If he didn’t put in the extra time from the get-go, if he didn’t do the work that was necessary, he would’ve been long gone,” Baker said.

As a sophomore, Harries became a full-time practice player and suited up for every home game, playing in a few against weaker opponents. He didn’t make the traveling team until his junior year.

“I think the experience is one of the best things that’s ever happened to me,” Harries said. “It has defined my character in a lot of ways and it’s given me an incredible amount of self confidence.”

Splash forward to the fall of 1998:

* Harries, a physiological science major with a 3.83 grade-point average, has medical-school interviews lined up at Harvard, Northwestern, Columbia and UC San Diego, to name a few.

* He’s a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and active in its philanthropic activities.

* He works as a lifeguard at the UCLA pool. (“Not so tough,” he said, “It’s mostly watching girls in bikinis.”)

* And he’s starting at the defensive two-meter position for the second-ranked Bruins, who are hoping to secure a spot in next week’s NCAA championships at Corona del Mar High by winning the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament, which runs today through Sunday at Newport Harbor High.

“I think you could say he’s got the college experience down,” Baker said. “He’ll be able to look back and say, ‘I took advantage of everything UCLA had to offer.’ ”

Harries, fifth on the team in scoring with 14 goals, has become a key player for UCLA, filling the unenviable role of trying to stop some of the best players in the game from finding the back of the Bruins’ net.

Saturday, he played a pivotal role in the Bruins’ 6-3 victory over No. 1-ranked USC, helping to hold a high-powered Trojan offense to its lowest point total of the season.

In a Nov. 8 victory over UC Irvine, Harries spent the afternoon harassing Ryan Bailey, holding him to two goals. Bailey, the conference’s leading scorer with 90 points--almost twice as many as any other player in the MPSF--is also a member of the U.S. National team.

“You don’t stop a player like Ryan Bailey with one player,” Baker said, “and we played well against him as a team. But we don’t point out much individually and after that game, we talked a lot about what a real good job Aaron did.”

Harries says it was his biggest game.

“It’s funny and I think about this a lot now,” he said. “I played against a lot of these guys in the high school days and I’m sure they didn’t even know who I was. I guess they’re forced to know who I am now.”

Harries’ name probably won’t ever be mentioned along with the greats of Bruin water polo, but his story will stay in Baker’s heart.

“So many times we deal with the problems, so you have to try not to take something like this for granted,” Baker said. “Everyone wants instant gratification these days. Guys want to play the first year, they want to start the first year.

“But here’s a guy who was willing to hang in there against the odds, bide his time, put in the effort and persevere.

“Now, he’s making a major contribution for a team that has a chance to win a national championship. And when you think about where he came from, where he was when he first showed up here, it’s a neat story.”

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Water Polo

* What: Mountain Pacific Sports Federation water polo championships

* When: Today, Saturday and Sunday

* Where: Newport Harbor High

* Schedule: Friday--USC vs. Long Beach State at 9 a.m., Stanford vs. California at 10:30, UC Irvine vs. Pacific at 1 p.m., UCLA vs. Pepperdine at 2:30. Saturday--Semifinals at 1 and 2:30. Sunday--Championship at 2:30.

* Last year’s results: USC defeated Stanford, 5-4, in the title game at Long Beach Belmont Plaza.

* At stake: Winner earns automatic berth into NCAA Final Four Championships, Dec. 4 and 6 at Corona del Mar High.

* Tickets: Adults: $10 each day, $15 for a two-day pass and $20 for a three-day pass. Students: $5 each day.

* Information: (949) 824-5814