Milo Joseph excels in new position for junior season, with 33 scores so far for Pepperdine
Milo Joseph dove into the pool for only one game during his 27-game freshman campaign on the Pepperdine Waves men’s water polo team. The next year, the Malibuite had an impact in all of the Waves’ contests. In fact, he scored multiple goals in two matches as a utility.
Joseph said his first two college water polo seasons were humbling following standout years as a high school and club water polo player.
“I was always the go-to-guy, calling the shots, and getting the ball every play,” he remembered. “Then I came to Pepperdine, where everyone is as good as or better than me. Not hitting the water as a freshman was pivotal because I still went as hard as I could in practice, [and] showed the coaches that I deserved to be here.”
The Waves junior is having a winning impact for his home team this season. The 20-year-old has tallied 33 goals and scored more than one goal in 12 games this season heading into Pepperdine’s home match against San Jose State on Nov. 9.
Joseph is excited about the impact he has had for the Waves, a team in the top 10 of the college water polo rankings with a 19-6 overall record and a 4-0 record in the West Coast Conference.
“Being able to have the season I am having is a blessing and is testimony to the positions my coaches have put me in time and time again to be successful,” he stated. “It has been great.”
Joseph said being an elite college water polo player was a goal he had for this season.
However, within a month before Pepperdine began their 2024 schedule in September, the squad’s coaches told Joseph they were going to change his position because a player slated to play the position was injured and decided to redshirt.
Joseph went from utility, a role maintained by versatile players, to center, a role that puts the player close to the goal and has them direct their team’s offense.
In addition to the role switch being a change in positioning in the pool, playing center requires the player to bump and play more physical water polo against opponents. To do so, the 6-foot-3 Joseph increased his weight from 210 pounds to 220 pounds by diving into meal plates.
Two In-N-Out 4×4 burgers with animal fries and a chocolate milkshake was a common meal.
“Any weight is good weight in water polo because we swim so much,” Joseph noted. “Going from a role player to a key player and changing positions was out of the blue, but I worked really hard at it.”
The Malibu resident’s impact was immediate. He scored one goal each in Pepperdine’s first two matches. He tossed in two goals in their third game. Joseph went on to score at least one goal in 15 of the next 20 games.
He scored three goals in his team’s loss to Princeton on Oct. 15 and three more five days later in the Waves’ victory over Air Force.
Joseph counts his performance against Princeton — in which he also drew a kickout and a penalty shot — and play in Pepperdine’s loss to Stanford on Sept. 29 — he drew seven kickouts and had two goals — as his best outings of the season.
“Those are two top 10 teams.” he stated. “It makes me happy perform well against really good teams instead of someone we can just walk all over.”
Joseph grew up in Malibu. His sister Phoebe played girls water polo at Malibu High School, and he often watched her practices and attended her matches. Joseph jumped in the pool and played with a Malibu water polo club when he wasin the third grade.
He would go on to play for a club team with South Coast Aquatics and the Los Angeles Water Polo Club.
Joseph played football and basketball also, but decided water polo would be his main focus when he was a freshman at Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino.
“I took water polo seriously,” he said. “I started lifting weights, which got me excited about being stronger in the water.”
Joseph was a high school water polo standout. He was named the CIF Southern Section Division 6 Player of the Year as a sophomore and made the All-CIF first team as a sophomore and senior. He made the All-Mission League first team three times and the second team once. Joseph scored 386 goals in high school including a Crespi-record 163 his 10th-grade season.
Malibu High boy and girls water polo head coach Hayden Goldberg coached Joseph in club water polo from ages 10 to 12. The coach said Joseph had “the twitch” as soon as he hit the water.
“He just knew what to do,” Goldberg reminisced. “He had the ability to score. He was very physical at 12. Some kids kind of float around, he was sprinting at all times in the pool.”
Goldberg watched Joseph grow to be a Wave.
“I’ve been to a bunch of Pepperdine games,” Goldberg said. “He’s a monster of a kid. Standing next to him, I look like a shrimp.”
Joseph’s college water polo decision amounted to Pepperdine vs. UCLA. When he was an 11th grader, Joseph chose his hometown school.
“I love the city of Malibu,” he said. “I have my own vibe and sense of belonging in Malibu. It felt more normal than going to Westwood or trying somewhere on the East Coast.”
Joseph attended several Waves water polo matches as a youth and recalled how towering the players seemed to be.
“They were coolest guys on Earth,” Joseph remembered. “It was a thrill to see them play at such a high level. It’ssurreal how I’m living the situation now.”
Transitioning from a role player to an impact player takes time, Joseph noted.
“Allowing those years to make and break you toughens you,” he said. “It makes you want to be in the pool more and more. Ultimately, it’s up to you as a person to decide how much you want to play and put the work in. I haven’t taken any of it for granted.”
Joseph enjoys playing in front of a hometown crowd when he dives into Pepperdine’s Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.
“The whole vibe is amazing,” he said. “I dreamed of this as a kid. I’m so grateful.”
The Waves, ranked ninth in college water polo, beat 15th-ranked California Baptist 17-16 on Nov. 3 at Pepperdine.
Freshman attacker Erik Ionescu led Pepperdine with five goals and two assists, while junior attacker Adam Csapo recorded four goals and four assists. Redshirt freshman center Bronson Birdsall had two goals, one assist, one steal, and one drawn exclusion for Pepperdine. Joseph didn’t score in the contest, but he isn’t mainly a scorer.
“My position is to make the defense think about me,” he explained. “I want to make my presence known in the pool. When I get the ball, it better find the back of the net.”
The Waves play at Pacific in Stockton on Nov. 16. The team will play in the Nov. 22 to 24 WCC Championships in Stockton.
Joseph said Pepperdine is at their best when the team is passing the ball effectively.
“It’s great to see,” he said, “and for people to know when you come play Pepperdine, you know it’s going to be a tough game.”
The Waves’ 2023 season ended in the second round of the championships.
Joseph said he and his teammates hate to lose, are resilient, and have national title aspirations.
“That is when we are looking to really peak and play our best water polo,” he said. “My expectation is for us to play the best water polo we can play from now until the end of the season. Our best water polo is ahead.”