My memory is foggy but I seem to recall they usually announce the combine invitees around the time of the College Cup. Well, the Cup starts tomorrow afternoon; might we see an announcement before then?
You'd think either tomorrow or early next week. The 2012 combine list was announced 12/7/11. http://www.mlssoccer.com/superdraft...ces-initial-list-invitees-2012-player-combine The 2011 combine list was announced 12/9/10. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/mls-announces-initial-list-adidas-mls-player-combine-invitees The 2010 combine list was announced 12/10/09. http://www.examiner.com/article/2010-adidas-mls-player-combine-invitees-list-released
So most years the Combine has a token player from D-II and/or an NAIA school. Here's my suggestion for this year's NAIA token. Jordan Green, an American (from Lincoln, NE) redshirt Sr. forward, who can also play MF, from Hastings (NE) College. He's listed as 6-2, 170 Here are his stats. Year GP GLS AST 2012 23 28 11 2011 26 25 7 2010 25 20 15 2008 18 15 4 (at Nebraska Wesleyan) TOT 92 88 37 He won one NAIA national title (2010) and was runner-up once (2011). And was All PDL this summer playing for the Kansas City Brass, where he scored 7 goals and 12 assists in 15 games. He was one of three US players named first team NAIA All America. http://www.naia.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27900&ATCLID=205820043 I know it's NAIA and the level isn't that high, but 88 in a college career is just a bucket load and his assist numbers are pretty good, too. And doing well in the PDL shows he is capable of producing outside the NAIA. Not saying he'll be as good as fellow NAIA product Steve Lenhart (though he has a similar build and similar bio - Lenhart also won an NAIA title), but his productivity, doing it for a championship calendar team and playing well in the PDL should earn him an invite to the Combine to see if he can hang with the D-I prospects.
For those unwilling or unable or too damn lazy to click on the link... GOALKEEPERS: James Belshaw (Duke), Scott Goodwin (North Carolina), Luis Soffner (Indiana), Daniel Withrow (Marshall), Brad Stuver (Cleveland State), David Meves (Akron), Larry Jackson (Santa Clara) DEFENDERS: Taylor Kemp (Maryland), Danny Wenzel (Wake Forest), Jordan Gafa (North Carolina), Brenton Griffiths (USF), Jimmy Nealis (Georgetown), Tommy Muller (Georgetown), Eric Schoenle (West Virginia), John Gallagher (Penn State), Kofi Opare (Michigan), Joe Franco (CSUN), Shaun Foster (Hofstra), Andrew Ribeiro (Creighton), Kory Kindle (CSU-Bakersfield), Dylan Tucker-Gangnes (Washington) MIDFIELDERS: Kyle Bekker (Boston College), John Stertzer (Maryland), Colin Murphy (Boston College), Jonathan Mendoza (Stetson), Donald Smith (Charlotte), Paolo DelPiccolo (Louisville), Greg Cochrane (Louisville), Leston Paul (USF), Ian Christianson (Georgetown), Carlos Alvarez (UConn), Dillon Powers (Notre Dame), Marc Cintron (Providence), Machael David (UCSB), Paul Wyatt (James Madison), Tommy Nelson (SMU), Uwem Etuk (West Virginia), Jose Gomez (Creighton), Blake Smith (New Mexico), Ryan Hollingshead (UCLA), Fernando Monge (UCLA), Ben Fisk (Washington), Dan Delgado (San Diego) FORWARDS: Will Bates (UVA), Luke Spencer (Xavier), Ryan Finley (Notre Dame), Ashton Bennett (Coastal Carolina), Don Anding (Northeastern), Yannick Smith (ODU), Devon Sandoval (New Mexico), Emery Welshman (Oregon State), Coleton Henning (Furman), Chris Thomas (Elon), Erik Hurtado (Santa Clara)
List is fine I got 49 of the 54 in my own top 100 including goalkeepers Brad Stuver, Larry Jackson, Daniel Withrow especially when Alex Blackburn and Jordan Godsey are also available. They missed a few highly regarded defenders Barson, Konstanski and Wiet and I'm wondering if the MLS realize what crap seasons Marc Cintron and Jonathan Mendoza had this year. Also the Machael David thing kills me the guy was highly touted in 2009 and has been injured since and even at his best he'll be 24 in 2013 a 5'8 a midfielder with 12 shots in 66 college games and arguably UCSB was better off when he wasn't playing in the side. Overall I'd say the selection was lazy but at the same time a good representation of what NCAA D1 had to offer this season.
meant to say goalkeepers Brad Stuver, Larry Jackson, Daniel Withrow were part of the five not on my list
Barson and Wiet are Columbus Crew homegrown prospects ... likely to sign HG contracts with them, probably why they are not on the list
Thanks, They should come out with their Homegrown list before their combine list. It interesting I was looking at the PDL stats for all the combine guys and many of them played for Carolina, Reading or Ventura County. Under the new HG rule those guys should get MLS teams since they might be competitive in 5 years time BTW do you know if Ashani Fairclough, Adam Jahn and Martin Murphy are HG because there the next 3 guys who I'm surprised were not invited
Ives on Bocanegra's pre-Combine camp: http://www.soccerbyives.net/2012/12...ation-of-pros-with-mls-combine-prep-camp.html
Here's one guy who looks like he'll be going GenAd. Walker's one of the top US U20 defenders................ Walker Zimmerman @thewalkerzim Last day at furman. Can't believe it's already over but so thankful for all the friends and memories here #godins
I would be surprised if they are HG just based on where they're from. Fairclough is Jamaican and I'm pretty sure MLS doesn't have a team down there. Jahn is from the Sacramento area and Murphy is from the Raleigh area. It's possible they drove to the nearest MLS market, but it's doubtful. I agree that Jahn has produced enough to warrant an invite. Murphy's exclusion isn't as much of an oversight, thought it wouldn't be a huge shock if he was invited. I don't know enough about Fairclough to have an opinion one way or the other.
Because it's relevant, here is the citizenship status, as best I know it, of the players. If I didn't mention them on this post, all are US citizens. Kyle Bekker Midfielder Boston College – Canada James Belshaw Goalkeeper Duke – England Ashton Bennett Forward Coastal Carolina – Jamaica Machael David Midfielder UC Santa Barbara - born in Nigeria, raised in Italy, HS in US; not sure about citizenship or Green Card Danchrisandre Delgado Midfielder San Diego – born in Mexico but grew up in US; no idea about citizenship or Green Card. Shaun Foster Defender Hofstra – England Jose Gomez Midfielder Creighton – Mexico but grew up in US; not sure of Green Card status but may be an international a la Rafael Baca Brenton Griffiths Defender South Florida – Jamaica Colin Murphy Midfielder Boston College – New Zealand; HS in US and once called into a US U20 camp so he may be a dual citizen or have a Green Card Kofi Opare Defender Michigan – Canada/US Leston Paul Midfielder South Florida – Trinidad Emery Welshman Forward Oregon State – Canada Paul Wyatt Midfielder/Forward James Madison – England
Jahn only had one stop in the PDL with a club called Washington in 2010, Fairclough played in VSI Tampa for a few games and Murphy played with Reading and Carolina. The reason I thought Murphy would invited is he 79 games with UNC including 23 last season when they won the title. He also scored a goal this season from a direct free kick which I understand shouldn't be a factor but it shows a skill level that I think some of the 54 who were picked have never shown.
It's amazing how those three keepers got in over Godsey and Blackburn. Still puzzled at that decision...
Ives is reporting that MLS is working with several Africans looking to add them to the combine. The random internationals in the draft have been major busts so far, so it will be interesting to see how this goes.
Ten combine snubs: http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/ten-mls-combine-snubs-worth-a-look_aid28250
For what it's worth................Buzz is starting to think about the GenAds. Interesting info here. I don't know who his sources are, but Buzz (as we know) is reliable. http://www.3rddegree.net/2012/12/13/2013-mls-generation-adidas-preliminary-list/ Generation adidas Deshorn Brown (contract to be extended) Andrew Farrell (contract offered but not accepted as of this date) Jason Johnson (contract to be extended) Mikey Lopez (contract offered but not accepted as of this date) Kekutah Manneh (contract signed) Andrew Zimmerman (contract offered but not accepted as of this date) Kekutah Manneh is an interesting one. In case people don't know about him, he's a Gambian that was scoring goals for fun in the Texas Division of the Development Academy for years. He's not coming from the NCAAs, but from the Austin Aztex.
Ives reporting that Farrell and Zimmerman have both signed GA deals. Also he is reporting that seniors John Stertzer, Dillon Powers and Carlos Alvarez have already signed deals with league as well. Furthermore (he got a good amount of info today), he is hearing that Eriq Zavaleta and Andre Blake are now both being considered for GA deals.
http://www.soccerbyives.net/2013/01/zavaleta-signs-generation-adidas-deal.html Eriq Zavaleta signs GA deal to make the current announced class a total of 5 (including Farrell, Lopez, Zimmerman and Johnson) with announcements expected soon for Manneh and Brown so the final GA total seems to be 7 players.
My experience from working the last 5 or 6 Combines is that any consensus #1 picks skip the Combine. Why risk getting injured right before the draft? We also have the odd numbered year Combine/SuperDraft that often sees U.S. U-20s missing for most of the Combine, and often the SuperDraft itself . Actually, http://www.ussoccer.com/News/U-20-MNT/2013/01/U20-MNT-to-Hold-Training-Camp-in-Puebla.aspx This cycle's January camp is in Puebla, Mexico so we definitely won't see the U-20s drive across Florida to take in one day of the Combine. It's possible that any U-20s will start at the Combine (on the 11th), then travel to Puebla, but miss the SuperDraft.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/2013/01/06/cdn_bekker_signs_mls_contract_team_tbd/ Canadian Midfielder Kyle Bekker (Boston College) signs an MLS contract prior to the Combine and SuperDraft.
Interestingly, Jose Gomez of Creighton is training right now with Tijuana. http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/coll...m-of-pro-career-takes-seniors-abroad_aid28311 “I really don’t have a preference where I play, if it’s MLS, I’ll play in MLS, if it’s Mexico I’ll play in Mexico,” Gomez told TopDrawerSoccer.com. “I just want to play professional and get to that level of playing professionally, and then from there on see where my career takes me.”
http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...two-more-players-2013-generation-adidas-deals As expected, Brown and Manneh sign GA contracts. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/01/10/team-rosters-are-unveiled-2013-mls-player-combine In addition to the 51 seniors remaining after those changes, six Generation adidas players were added (the seventh, Walker Zimmerman, will not play due to injury) as well as four young international players and midfielder Nico Clavijo, who is currently out of contract. The youth internationals are: Franco Donado (Colombia), Junior Padilla (Honduras), Stefano Pinho (Brazil) and Kevin Mercado (Ecuador). The following college seniors were added to lift the player pool to a total of 72: Brian Fekete (University of Tampa), Michael Bustamante (Boston University), Charlie Rugg (Boston College), Dylan Remick (Brown University), Jack Bennett (St. John’s University), Ryan Clark (Monmouth University), Lebogang Moloto (Lindsey Wilson College), Stephen Okai (University of Mobile), Drew Beckie (University of Denver) and Barcelona-born Alex Isern (Winthrop). Here is how the four team's line up: ADI ZERO Goalkeeper (1): James Belshaw (Duke) Defenders (5): Taylor Kemp (Maryland), Dylan Remick (Brown), Andrew Farrell (Louisville), Dylan Tucker-Gangnes (Washington), Drew Beckie (Denver); Midfielders (7): Kyle Bekker (Boston College), Nico Clavijo (unattached), Paul Leston (South Florida), Danchrisandre Delgado (San Diego), Lebogang Moloto (Lindsey Wilson), Dillon Powers (Notre Dame), T.J. Nelson (Southern Methodist); Forwards (5): Luke Spencer (Xavier), Emery Welshman (Oregon State), Ashton Bennett (Coastal Carolina), Erik Hurtado (Santa Clara), Charlie Rugg (Boston College) Coaches: John Trask (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Don Gemmell (Texas Rush) ADI PURE Goalkeepers (2): Scott Goodwin (North Carolina), Brad Stuver (Cleveland State); Defenders (4): Jimmy Nealis (Georgetown), Jordan Gafa (North Carolina), Brenton Griffiths (South Florida), Stephen Okai (University of Mobile); Midfielders (7): Andrew Ribeiro (Creighton), Uwem Etuk (West Virginia), Donnie Smith (UNC Charlotte), Ian Christianson (Georgetown), Franco Donado (youth int'l.), Jonathan Mendoza (Stetson), Junior Padilla (youth int'l.); Forwards (5): Paul Wyatt (James Madison), Deshorn Brown (Central Florida), Devon Sandoval (New Mexico), Yannik Smith (Old Dominion), Fernando Monge (UCLA); Coaches: Brian Tompkins (Yale) and Jonathon Colton (Bethesda SC) PRIME Goalkeepers (2): Luis Soffner (Indiana), David Meves (Akron); Defenders (5): Greg Cochrane (Louisville), John Gallagher (Penn State), Tommy Muller (Georgetown), Shaun Foster (Hofstra), Brian Fekete (Tampa); Midfielders (7): Ryan Clark (Monmouth), Blake Smith (New Mexico), Carlos Alvarez (Connecticut), Jose Gomez (Creighton), Machael David (UC Santa Barbara), Ben Fisk (Washington), Colin Murphy (Boston College); Forwards (4): Ryan Finley (Notre Dame), Kekuta Manneh (Austin Aztex), Will Bates (Virginia), Eriq Zavaleta (Indiana); Coaches: Todd Yeagley (Indiana) and Paul O'Brien (Placer United) ADI POWER Goalkeepers (2): Daniel Withrow (Marshall), Larry Jackson (Santa Clara); Defenders (5): Jack Bennett (St. John's), Kory Kindle (Cal State Bakersfield), Eric Schoenle (West Virginia), Kofi Opare (Michigan), Danny Wenzel (Wake Forest); Midfielders (6): Alex Isern (Winthrop), Marc Cintron (Providence), Michael Bustamante (Boston University), John Stertzer (Maryland), Stefano Pinho (youth int'l.), Mikey Lopez (North Carolina) Forwards (5): Jason Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth), Don Anding (Northeastern), Chris Thomas (Elon), Coleton Henning (Furman), Kevin Mercado (youth int'l.) Coaches: Greg Andrulis (George Mason) and Jon Pearlman (FC Tucson)