By Taylor Morris
Lifestyle Editor
Strutting onto campus as a 6-foot-10-inch freshman, Ian E. Fuller, undeclared major, caught the attention of his peers without a single word spoken.
Though one would expect such height to be useful on the basketball or volleyball court, Fuller uses his height to support the men’s water polo team at California Baptist University.
Fuller said he has played just about every sport he can think of for as long as he can remember.
“I played everything—soccer, baseball, basketball, lacrosse, a little bit of rugby, swimming and water polo,” Fuller said.
He said his interest in water polo sparked during his freshman year of high school, after he dislocated his knee playing soccer the year before.
After a brutal injury and intensive surgical procedures, Fuller attempted to get back into his routine of sports and found it impossible with his knee issue. After a year of recovery, his dad recommended water polo, which ensures low impact on the knee.
He said Fuller is red-shirting this season, saving his eligibility for one more year so that he can work on and refine skills. Robert Rowland, head coach of men’s water polo team, explained that when a player is red-shirted, he or she still has four years of eligibility to play.
Rowland said he sees a promising college water-polo career for Fuller once he gets his position “totally dialed in.”
“He is going to be hard to guard because he is quite large,” Rowland said. “Having size is definitely an advantage to be able to match up against other teams’ sizeable players.”
Having size and a love for the game on his side, Fuller’s water polo career is just the beginning to a potentially long and successful athletic career.
