USA Water Polo named senior center Viktor Jovanovic to the Cutino Award Watch List, a list of the best individual players in 20 Division I water polo programs.
Jovanovic, who tallied 57 goals and 33 drawn exclusions during his last season playing for the Revolutionaries, was recognized as a top player in the country. Officials will select the winner of the Cutino Award at the end of the season.
“It’s a great honor to be nominated,” Jovanovic said. “Just thanks to my team and coaches. I could not do it without them. They’re the ones who push me every day. So even getting out of bed some days, it’s kind of tough in the morning. It’s getting cold outside and everything, and you wake up and you have your teammates there to round you up and bring you to the pool.”
College coaches nominate players to the Watch List, and the top 20 are named to the Watch List, but the Cutino Award winner can be selected from outside of the list. Starting in 2022, the Watch List was created by USA Water Polo and the Olympic Club in an effort to grow the game of college water polo.
The Cutino Award itself was first awarded in 1999 by the Trustees of the Olympic Club. Division I coaches vote for three nominees, none of which can be their own players. Coaches then rank and vote on players again, this time able to vote for their own players. The Olympic Club then compiles the votes and gives the Award to the individual with the highest amount.
Jovanovic stands at sixth-most goals and tenth most in points in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference. During his junior season, Jovanovic notched 41 goals and 22 assists.
As one of six departing upperclassmen, Jovanovic said he has worked hard to instill confidence in the underclassmen on the team in and out of the water.
“So I think that the most that I can do is try and make them comfortable and make them feel secure where they are and tell them that it’s tough but you’ll get through it and all these things so that they feel more comfortable and that they can show who they really are in the water and outside of the water,” Jovanovic said.
Jovanovic, who held the third-best shooting percentage on the team at .519 and currently holds 17 assists, said he works closely with junior utility Andrija Sekulic and graduate student utility player Mateus Stellet to turn offensive plays into goals.
“We have a little triangle formed with Andrija on the left and Mateus in the middle and me on the right,” Jovanovic said. “So playing with them just makes everything ten times easier.”
Last season, then-graduate student center Theodoros Pateros was nominated for the Watch List after leading the team with 120 goals throughout the season. Pateros joined the Revs’ coaching staff this season.
The Revs will take on Wagner in a game celebrating their departing seniors and graduate students at home Nov. 4.
