Sam Abbott switches from pro baseball to college water polo with Long Beach State

Sam Abbott was drafted by the Chicago White Sox and played professional baseball in Canada, Nicaragua, Australia, the Dominican Republic and United Arab Emirates before he started playing college water polo.

It was a long and winding road to The Beach.

Abbott is a 27-year-old center defender on the men's water polo team at Long Beach State, reuniting with his former coach in the U.S. development program, Gavin Arroyo. The whole experience of being a freshman in college at his age — both in and out of the pool — well, even Abbott isn't quite sure what to make of the whole thing.

“The word I always kind of say is different,” Abbott said. “I don’t think it’s good or bad. I don’t think that’s a fair assessment. I think different is the way I describe it. You know I’m older than pretty much everybody. I have more experience than everybody. I’ve done different stuff. And I think that’s valuable to these guys.”

Abbott enrolled at Long Beach State in the spring, arriving just ahead of a new NCAA eligibility model for Division I athletes that allows for five seasons of competition over a five-year period that begins with their full-time enrollment or the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever occurs first. If he had waited until the fall, he would be ineligible.

The 6-foot-4 Abbott has six goals, three assists, 10 steals and five blocks for Long Beach State, which improved to 16-8 with a 12-10 victory over UC Irvine on Friday night. He is very much a work in progress in his return to the sport, but he has impressive strength and athleticism, and Arroyo said he also brings a level of professionalism to the program.

“There’s some long-term thinking just inherent in being older and not sweating the little stuff and not being so reactive to every little thing,” Arroyo said.

Abbott comes from an athletic family. His mother, Elena, was an Olympic swimmer, and his father, Jeff, played baseball before joining the Marines out of high school. His parents met in Kuwait, and he was born in Kuwait City.

Sam Abbott swam and played baseball growing up, but he didn't start playing water polo until he was a freshman at Curtis High School in University Place, Washington. He ended up leading Curtis to two state championships in the sport.

It looked as if Abbott was on his way to play for Arroyo and Long Beach State at that point. But the first baseman hit .438 during his senior season in baseball, and he was selected by the White Sox in the eighth round of the 2017 amateur draft.

“It was a hectic time, for sure,” Abbott said. “There was a lot of going back and forth. I remember calling (Arroyo) to figure out kind of where I was at, calling all the scouts, like, ‘Hey, what are you thinking?’ and then obviously talk with my parents.”

Abbott decided to sign with the White Sox. He played in the minor leagues for four years, but never made it to the majors. After he was released following the 2021 season, he continued to play abroad.

“The grind and everything that you hear, the stories, it’s true, but like I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Abbott said. “It was so much fun. I have a lot of good friends, now lifelong friends. I’ve been part of weddings because of the minor league experience. I've got to travel. ... I really got good life experience because of baseball.”

Abbott had some back issues toward the end of his baseball career, so he had surgery last year. That's when he started thinking more about his future — and a possible return to water polo.

He went to an open swim at his high school to check out his fitness level. After clocking an impressive time in a race during a Curtis alumni meet, he got more serious about playing again.

Arroyo, who took over Long Beach's program in 2006, had stayed in touch with Abbott over the years. The coach said he always left the door open for him, and their relationship and Abbott's desire to honor his previous commitment played a major role in his decision to play for the school.

“Everything kind of came full circle,” said Abbott, a finance major. “And so I was like, ‘Hey, this is maybe where I should be.’ Everything happens for a reason. Obviously being an old guy, trying to help the young guys out as they experience college and becoming an adult. So hopefully kind of be that extra person to kind of help them along.”

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Sam Abbott, a 27-year-old defender on the Long Beach State men's water polo team, works out before a game against UC Irvine in Long Beach, Calif., Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Sam Abbott, a 27-year-old defender on the Long Beach State men's water polo team, reacts to his team's goal during a game against UC Irvine in Long Beach, Calif., Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Sam Abbott, top, a 27-year-old defender on the Long Beach State men's water polo team, reacts to his team's goal during a game against UC Irvine in Long Beach, Calif., Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Sam Abbott, a 27-year-old defender on the Long Beach State men's water polo team, works out before a game against UC Irvine in Long Beach, Calif., Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Sam Abbott, a 27-year-old defender on the Long Beach State men's water polo team, plays against UC Irvine in Long Beach, Calif., Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The College Football Playoff will double in size to 24 teams beginning next year, bringing an end to a three-decade era of conference title games that used to be among the marquee events of the season.

College leaders announced the new format Monday, after ESPN agreed to rework its contract to add the 11 new games. Terms were not announced, though ESPN said it was a deal for five years and additional $1.7 billion, on top of the $7.8 billion contract that runs through the 2031 season.

The revenue generated from the new games will presumably make up for the estimated $345 million the Power Four conference title games were worth. ESPN would then not be on the hook for $140 million of the extra money due to cancellation of the title games, the network reported.

The new format will have five automatic qualifiers — the champions of the Power Four league s and the best-ranked team in the smaller Group of Six conferences — with the other 19 teams being chosen by a selection panel. Notre Dame does not receive any guarantees, the way it does this year if it's ranked in the top 12 for what will be the last year of the 12-team postseason.

The top eight seeds will receive first-round byes in the new format and the playoff will start on the second weekend in December, with the first two rounds of games on campus. The traditional Army-Navy game will be played on the first weekend in December, which used to be reserved for conference title games.

Both the Southeastern and Big Ten conferences, whose approval was needed to adopt this change, and their Power Four brethren — the Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference — are banking that most of the additional spots will go to their members so some of the second-tier teams have new motivation to keep spending big in an era of NIL and $50 million football rosters.

“Opening the playoff to more programs, more student-athletes and more fan bases across the country is great for college football,” said Mississippi State president Mark Keenum, who is chair of the CFP board. "We look forward to seeing this expanded format come to life next season.”

The first final for the 24-team playoff remains set for Jan. 24, 2028, in New Orleans. Traditional bowl games will still host the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.

As part of the expansion, the CFP is requiring Power Four teams to play at least 10 “qualifying” regular-season games against conference foes, other Power Four opponents and Notre Dame. Group of Six teams will have to play 10 games against conference opponents and a mix of G6 teams, Notre Dame and other independents.

The agreement guarantees two off weeks during a regular season that will begin the week before Labor Day.

The move to 24 teams marks the second expansion of the playoff since it began in 2014 as a modest four-team affair. Right after it moved to 12 in 2024, most thought it would eventually max out at 16, which was the SEC’s preference.

But the Big Ten wanted to go bigger, while the SEC balked at that, concerned about the league title game — a property it invented in 1992 and made billions from over the decades — along with the marketability of games featuring third- and fourth-place finishers in power conferences.

ESPN took care of the money problem. Now, the question is whether fans will embrace an NFL-style free-for-all that could include about one-third of the Power Four’s 68 teams, depending on what happens with the Group of Si schools, whose role in these big-money power grabs seems to diminish with every move.

It's the latest seismic change for a sport that, for decades, built its distinct character and generated controversy by leaning on media and coaching polls to hand out national titles.

The new system won’t be a completely clean break. Critics see a risk in giving more power to a selection committee that hasn’t really mastered the four- or 12-team brackets. The exclusion of Florida State in 2003 and Notre Dame last season stand out as the best examples -- and the first rankings release of this season left people scratching their heads again.

Skeptics also view the expanded playoff as another watering-down of what’s largely seen as one of the most important regular seasons in sports, replacing potential matchups between, say, Alabama and Georgia in an SEC title game with a 13 seed vs. 20 seed game that would pit, say, Kentucky and South Carolina.

But, as Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti argued from the beginning, a postseason that gives bubble teams hope and keeps others vying for home-field advantage or byes will bring more eyes — not fewer — to the end of a regular season that sometimes boils down to only three or four traditional rivalry games with meaning. (One of those traditional games, Ohio State-Michigan, is shaping up to have zero impact on this year’s playoffs this year.)

More at-large berths also help the conferences cash in on the decision to expand their league schedules (the SEC didn’t really want to) and demand more non-league games be played among Power Four teams — all in an effort to beef up strength-of-schedule ratings that will carry weight with a selection committee.

Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here

UCLA defenders tackle Nevada wide receiver Perrion Williams, center bottom, during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)

Georgia linebacker Chris Cole (9) scores a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Florida, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Fans storm the field after an NCAA college football game between Southern California and Ohio State, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)