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MLS 2009 Combine: A Run Down
Posted 10 Dec 2008 at 11:56 PM by Breton Bonnette
Tags mls combine, mls superdraft, ncaa, prospects
Even without the Generation Adidas Entries, you can still pick a decent draft class out of the 2009 MLS Draft Combine's invitees. Let's have a quick look:
GOALKEEPERS (7): Chris Brown (Boston College); Evan Bush (University of Akron); Steward Ceus (University of Albany); Alec Dufty (University of Evansville); Neal Kitson (St. John’s University); Milos Kocic (Loyola College); Sean Milligan (Dartmouth College)
There are three goalkeepers that really stand out here. Two of them are MILOS KOCIC of Loyola and CHRIS BROWN of Boston College. From what I saw of Brown in the ACC Tournament, he was what kept BC in the game vs. Maryland. He has yet to really hit the headlines, but at 6'5" and with consistent play he was able to earn himself a trip into the US Olympic Team training camp. He didn't have the best of defenses in front of him, but he will always keep the Eagles close. Another one in the bunch - the short one I should say at 6'0" - is NEAL KITSON of St. John's who can make the big saves when necessary, but fortunately he was keeper for the Red Storm, one of the better defending teams in the country. Then, last but not least, there's Kocic - between Stefan Frei, Kocic, and Zach MacMath I think you have your trio most coveted collegiate goalkeeping prospects. Kocic has come a long way since his ball-playing days in Leskovac, Serbia during the Kosovo conflict and right into the sights of pro scouts. He had a great 2008, but I still remember his best performance was during last year's NCAA Tourney when he kept Maryland scoreless all game before losing in PKs.
DEFENDERS (20): Lyle Adams (Wake Forest University); Calum Angus (Saint Louis University); Trevor Banks (Old Dominion University); Darius Barnes (Duke University); Rhett Bernstein (Brown University); Matt Besler (Notre Dame University); Evan Brown (Wake Forest University); Oscar Castillo (University of Connecticut); Chris Clements (University of Tulsa); AJ Delagarza (University of Maryland); Paul Gerstenberger (Boston College); David Hertel (Michigan State University); Wes Knight (College of Charleston); Otto Loewy (Winthrop University); Yohance Marshall (University of South Florida); Ryan Mirsky (Southern Methodist University); Babjide Ogunbiyi (Santa Clara University); Kyle Russell (Coastal Carolina University); Seth Sinovic (Creighton University); Jack Traynor (Notre Dame University)
There are several standouts in this group of defensive invitees. YOHANCE MARSHALL of South Florida is a nice prospect - he's big, mobile, and very powerful. South Florida had one of the best defensive set-ups and if you take away the recent Wake Forest ass-whooping, they would have been even better. I think scouts aren't going to see the true value of LYLE ADAMS until they see him at the combine. Overshadowed by the powerful Wake Forest offense, Adams has been consistent and dangerous all season. AJ DELAGARZA has had a real nice season for the Terrapins as well. A lot of what makes this guy so tough is his deceiving size. He's only 5'8", 140, but he's got significant strength for a guy his size. His vision is Parkhurst-like, but not quite there yet.
MIDFIELDERS/FORWARDS (39): Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe (George Mason University); Quincy Amarikwa (University of California-Davis); Brandon Barklage (Saint Louis University); Josh Boateng (Liberty University); Graciano Brito (Quinnipiac University); Pav Castenada (Duke University); Aaron Clapham (University of Louisville); Raphael Cox (University of Washington); Sam Cronin (Wake Forest University); Dylan Curtis (University of California-Davis); Doug DeMartin (Michigan State University); Jokul Elisabetarson (University of North Carolina-Greensboro); Michael Fucito (Harvard University); Andrei Gotsmanov (Creighton University); Mike Grella (Duke University); Alex Grendi (University of Pennsylvania); Juan Guerra (Florida International University); Jeffrey Harwell (Southern Methodist University); Bryan Irwin (University of Portland); Richard Jata (Campbell University); George John (University of Washington); Keum Sung Kim (Loyola University); Michael Lahoud (Wake Forest University); Ryan Maduro (Providence College); Patrick Murray (Furman University); Kyle Patterson (Saint Louis University); Nick Perra (University of California-Santa Barbara); Chris Pontius (University of California-Santa Barbara); Matt Poole (University of Virginia); Akeem Priestley (University of Connecticut); Daniel Revivo (Winthrop University); Tosaint Ricketts (University of Wisconsin-Green Bay); Brad Ring (Indiana University); Chris Salvaggionne (University of North Carolina-Charlotte); Jordan Seabrook (University of South Florida); Marcus Tracy (Wake Forest University); Nick Zimmerman (James Madison University); Graham Zusi (University of Maryland)
Well there is depth in this bunch with 8 attackers in the running for the Hermann Trophy. BRAD RING of Indiana, MARCUS TRACY of Wake Forest, MIKE GRELLA of Duke, CHRIS PONTIUS of UCSB [no relation to thong-wearing Party Boy] are probably the most obvious. All four should be first-rounders depending on their combines. Ring, especially, is one I can see having an impact right away in the pro ranks. I like what GRAHAM ZUSI has to offer though and he really acted as the glue for a strong Maryland offense this season. His coach Sasho Cirovski thinks so too and has called him in the past 'the most technically gifted player on the team". Even though there has been no real talk of Andre Akpan considering he has time left and isn't planning on going pro, the Ivy League is still well-represented in this group. MICHAEL FUCITO, also of Harvard, and ALEX GRENDI of UPenn were superb this year although undoubtedly a step below those mentioned above. Grendi acted as the midfield general for the Quakers, while Fucito has been lights out for the Crimson. Between Fucito and Akpan, Harvard had one hell of a combo up front this season. They combined for over half of the Crimson's 36 goals in 2008 and Fucito has been doing that for several years now - might be a sleeper come Combine time. Who is QUINCY AMARIKWA from UC-Davis? I have seen the rest play, but not him - yet there's a lot of chatter - 15 goals in 21 games will do that I guess. If we're talking about scoring lots of goals though, one has to mention DOUG DEMARTIN of Michigan State, 17 goals in 20 games, Big-Ten leading scorer, and he's probably the hardest worker on this list. Think a raw form of Taylor Twellman, seemingly always in the right place at the right time.
Leading up to the Combine - which starts on January 10th, 2009 - I should be getting some interviews with the invited. The Generation Adidas class should be announced and Division II, DIvision III players should be added to combine list soon. The latest early January. How does the 2009 list compare to 2008? Anyone not get enough credit out of these upperclassmen?
GOALKEEPERS (7): Chris Brown (Boston College); Evan Bush (University of Akron); Steward Ceus (University of Albany); Alec Dufty (University of Evansville); Neal Kitson (St. John’s University); Milos Kocic (Loyola College); Sean Milligan (Dartmouth College)
There are three goalkeepers that really stand out here. Two of them are MILOS KOCIC of Loyola and CHRIS BROWN of Boston College. From what I saw of Brown in the ACC Tournament, he was what kept BC in the game vs. Maryland. He has yet to really hit the headlines, but at 6'5" and with consistent play he was able to earn himself a trip into the US Olympic Team training camp. He didn't have the best of defenses in front of him, but he will always keep the Eagles close. Another one in the bunch - the short one I should say at 6'0" - is NEAL KITSON of St. John's who can make the big saves when necessary, but fortunately he was keeper for the Red Storm, one of the better defending teams in the country. Then, last but not least, there's Kocic - between Stefan Frei, Kocic, and Zach MacMath I think you have your trio most coveted collegiate goalkeeping prospects. Kocic has come a long way since his ball-playing days in Leskovac, Serbia during the Kosovo conflict and right into the sights of pro scouts. He had a great 2008, but I still remember his best performance was during last year's NCAA Tourney when he kept Maryland scoreless all game before losing in PKs.
DEFENDERS (20): Lyle Adams (Wake Forest University); Calum Angus (Saint Louis University); Trevor Banks (Old Dominion University); Darius Barnes (Duke University); Rhett Bernstein (Brown University); Matt Besler (Notre Dame University); Evan Brown (Wake Forest University); Oscar Castillo (University of Connecticut); Chris Clements (University of Tulsa); AJ Delagarza (University of Maryland); Paul Gerstenberger (Boston College); David Hertel (Michigan State University); Wes Knight (College of Charleston); Otto Loewy (Winthrop University); Yohance Marshall (University of South Florida); Ryan Mirsky (Southern Methodist University); Babjide Ogunbiyi (Santa Clara University); Kyle Russell (Coastal Carolina University); Seth Sinovic (Creighton University); Jack Traynor (Notre Dame University)
There are several standouts in this group of defensive invitees. YOHANCE MARSHALL of South Florida is a nice prospect - he's big, mobile, and very powerful. South Florida had one of the best defensive set-ups and if you take away the recent Wake Forest ass-whooping, they would have been even better. I think scouts aren't going to see the true value of LYLE ADAMS until they see him at the combine. Overshadowed by the powerful Wake Forest offense, Adams has been consistent and dangerous all season. AJ DELAGARZA has had a real nice season for the Terrapins as well. A lot of what makes this guy so tough is his deceiving size. He's only 5'8", 140, but he's got significant strength for a guy his size. His vision is Parkhurst-like, but not quite there yet.
MIDFIELDERS/FORWARDS (39): Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe (George Mason University); Quincy Amarikwa (University of California-Davis); Brandon Barklage (Saint Louis University); Josh Boateng (Liberty University); Graciano Brito (Quinnipiac University); Pav Castenada (Duke University); Aaron Clapham (University of Louisville); Raphael Cox (University of Washington); Sam Cronin (Wake Forest University); Dylan Curtis (University of California-Davis); Doug DeMartin (Michigan State University); Jokul Elisabetarson (University of North Carolina-Greensboro); Michael Fucito (Harvard University); Andrei Gotsmanov (Creighton University); Mike Grella (Duke University); Alex Grendi (University of Pennsylvania); Juan Guerra (Florida International University); Jeffrey Harwell (Southern Methodist University); Bryan Irwin (University of Portland); Richard Jata (Campbell University); George John (University of Washington); Keum Sung Kim (Loyola University); Michael Lahoud (Wake Forest University); Ryan Maduro (Providence College); Patrick Murray (Furman University); Kyle Patterson (Saint Louis University); Nick Perra (University of California-Santa Barbara); Chris Pontius (University of California-Santa Barbara); Matt Poole (University of Virginia); Akeem Priestley (University of Connecticut); Daniel Revivo (Winthrop University); Tosaint Ricketts (University of Wisconsin-Green Bay); Brad Ring (Indiana University); Chris Salvaggionne (University of North Carolina-Charlotte); Jordan Seabrook (University of South Florida); Marcus Tracy (Wake Forest University); Nick Zimmerman (James Madison University); Graham Zusi (University of Maryland)
Well there is depth in this bunch with 8 attackers in the running for the Hermann Trophy. BRAD RING of Indiana, MARCUS TRACY of Wake Forest, MIKE GRELLA of Duke, CHRIS PONTIUS of UCSB [no relation to thong-wearing Party Boy] are probably the most obvious. All four should be first-rounders depending on their combines. Ring, especially, is one I can see having an impact right away in the pro ranks. I like what GRAHAM ZUSI has to offer though and he really acted as the glue for a strong Maryland offense this season. His coach Sasho Cirovski thinks so too and has called him in the past 'the most technically gifted player on the team". Even though there has been no real talk of Andre Akpan considering he has time left and isn't planning on going pro, the Ivy League is still well-represented in this group. MICHAEL FUCITO, also of Harvard, and ALEX GRENDI of UPenn were superb this year although undoubtedly a step below those mentioned above. Grendi acted as the midfield general for the Quakers, while Fucito has been lights out for the Crimson. Between Fucito and Akpan, Harvard had one hell of a combo up front this season. They combined for over half of the Crimson's 36 goals in 2008 and Fucito has been doing that for several years now - might be a sleeper come Combine time. Who is QUINCY AMARIKWA from UC-Davis? I have seen the rest play, but not him - yet there's a lot of chatter - 15 goals in 21 games will do that I guess. If we're talking about scoring lots of goals though, one has to mention DOUG DEMARTIN of Michigan State, 17 goals in 20 games, Big-Ten leading scorer, and he's probably the hardest worker on this list. Think a raw form of Taylor Twellman, seemingly always in the right place at the right time.
Leading up to the Combine - which starts on January 10th, 2009 - I should be getting some interviews with the invited. The Generation Adidas class should be announced and Division II, DIvision III players should be added to combine list soon. The latest early January. How does the 2009 list compare to 2008? Anyone not get enough credit out of these upperclassmen?
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