San Jose State University Men's Water Polo

Watson Position: Head Coach Alma Mater: San Jose State, 1978 ( ; office ) Watson returns to San Jose State, his alma mater, after leading West Valley College to six California Community College state championships between 1998 and 2010 and 11 second-place finishes at the state tournament. His coaching record at West Valley was 638-184 covering the 1979 through 1984 and 1990 through 2014 seasons. "We are extremely pleased to introduce Bruce Watson as San José State's men's water polo head coach. He built West Valley College into one of the best programs in the state of California and maintained the program at a very high level throughout his entire career," says Bleymaier, who reinstated the Spartans' men's water polo program for the 2015 season after a 34-year hiatus. "As a San Jose State alum and one of the program's best players, we know how much he wants the Spartan men's water polo program to be one of the top programs in the country." A member of the San José State Sports Hall of Fame, Watson earned All-America honors playing for the 1971 and 1972 Spartan teams. San José State finished second and fourth, respectively, at the 1971 and 1972 NCAA Championships. "It's a real honor to be named the head coach and bring the program back. There is a tremendous history of men's water polo at San Jose State," says Watson. "Building the program from the ground up will be a real challenge. We're starting in the fall (2015) and we have a lot of interest in the program. "We are looking to play a pressing, fast-paced, counter-attack, motion-type of game. It will be a lot of fun." Watson's post-collegiate water polo playing career includes playing on the 1976 through 1979 USA Senior National Teams and earning All-American honors in AAU and master's water polo.

Sarusi was the head coach of the Trojan Water Polo Club of Los Angeles in 2007 and the West Valley Water Polo Club of Saratoga, Calif., boys and masters teams in 2011. "First, I am very thankful to Gene Bleymaier for the trust he has in me. I'm very excited. The goal is to have as good a program as possible," says Sarusi, who takes over a program that was 11th nationally in the final 2016 coaches' poll with an 18-15 win-loss record and sixth-place finish in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings. "Water polo IQ," being coachable, passion for the sport and being a good student so one can succeed at the Division I level are four of the characteristics he is seeking from future Spartans. The native of Csongrad, Hungary was a star player since his early teens. He played in his country's Division I Men's league starting at age 14. Sarusi came to the United States in 2005 and became a California Community College All-American player at West Valley College. He completed his college career at the University of Southern California (USC). With Sarusi, the Trojans reached the 2006 and 2007 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship final matches. In 2007, he was an honorable mention All-American, a second-team All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation honoree and a NCAA Championship all-tournament team selection. "We are delighted Gabor is taking over our nationally-ranked women's water polo program. In his one season with our men's program, he demonstrated a keen knowledge of the sport, passion and compassion for his players and understood the importance of the total student-athlete experience. We look forward to Gabor bringing these traits to our women's program," says Bleymaier. Following graduation, he accepted an assistant coaching position at Loyola High in Los Angeles. During the 2008 through 2010 seasons, Loyola's varsity teams had an 80-12 win-loss record, won three Mission League championships and the 2009 California Interscholastic Federation (C.I.F) Division I State Championship. He and his wife, LauraMae, are the parents of a newborn daughter AnnaBelle.