I don't see how another year at UNC benefits Lindley. Unless they're gonna feed him growth hormones or something.
It's not like MLS has done a great job of getting young players playing time. Even when they are homegrowns it's terrible. Players want to play. Maybe Lindley is trying to look abroad for an opportunity, he probably has a better chance at playing time elsewhere.
I wonder how many top college prospects consider the dylan mares route. go nasl/usl/etc. work on your game for a few years and learn to be a pro. then hope to progress to mls or abroad. dylan's supposed to be making good money in miami now after his move from indy, fwiw.
Lindley to Orlando now official. https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018...d-college-star-cam-lindley-trade-chicago-fire
Mo Adams, Soph. MF, Syracuse (England) - Generation Adidas, team TBA Francis Atuahene, Jr. F, Michigan (Ghana) - Generation Adidas, team TBA Handwalla Bwana, Soph. M, Washington (Kenya) - homegrown contact, Seattle Sounders Aaron Herrera, Jr. M/D, New Mexico - homegrown contract, Real Salt Lake Cam Lindley, Soph. M, North Carolina - homegrown contract, Orlando JT Marcinkoski, Jr. GK, Georgetown - homegrown contract, San Jose Earthquakes Mark McKenzie, Fr. D, Wake Forest - homegrown contract, Philadelphia Union Joao Mouthinho, Fr. D, Akron (Portugal) - Generation Adidas, team TBA Edward Opoku, Jr. F, Virginia (Ghana) - Generation Adidas, team TBA Brandon Servania, Fr. M, Wake Forest - homegrown contract, FC Dallas Mason Toye, Fr. F, Indiana - Generation Adidas, team TBA Ema Twumasi, Soph. F, Wake Forest (Ghana) - Generation Adidas, team TBA Gordon Wild, Jr. F, Maryland (Germany) - Generation Adidas, team TBA Eryk Williamson, Jr. M, Maryland - signed with an agent; destination unknown
We've known he was leaving for awhile but it appears we have a destination for Maryland's Eryk Williamson has DC United has traded his homegrown rights to the Portland Timbers. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...spect-eryk-williamson/?utm_term=.df97bcd07cb4 No word on Williamson signing with the Timbers yet but hard to imagine they'd have pulled the trigger on a trade if they hadn't agreed to terms with him.
It appears Akron has lost another underclassmen. The Seattle Sounders today announced their roster for Sounders2, their Tacoma-based USL team, and Nick Hinds, a soph. M/D for the Zips who came thru the Sounders' academy, was on the list. https://www.soundersfc.com/post/201...d-2018-sounders-fc-preseason-presented-adidas
Mo Adams, Soph. MF, Syracuse (England) - Chicago Fire (Generation Adidas) Francis Atuahene, Jr. F, Michigan (Ghana) - FC Dallas (Generation Adidas) Handwalla Bwana, Soph. M, Washington (Kenya) - Seattle Sounders (homegrown contract) Aaron Herrera, Jr. M/D, New Mexico - Real Salt Lake (homegrown contract) Nick Hinds, Soph. M/D, Akron - Seattle Sounders 2 (USL) Cam Lindley, Soph. M, North Carolina - Orlando City (homegrown contract) JT Marcinkoski, Jr. GK, Georgetown - San Jose Earthquakes (homegrown contract) Mark McKenzie, Fr. D, Wake Forest - Philadelphia Union (homegrown contract) Joao Mouthinho, Fr. D, Akron (Portugal) - LAFC (Generation Adidas) Edward Opoku, Jr. F, Virginia (Ghana) - Columbus Crew (Generation Adidas) Brandon Servania, Fr. M, Wake Forest - FC Dallas (homegrown contract) Mason Toye, Fr. F, Indiana - Minnesota United (Generation Adidas) Ema Twumasi, Soph. F, Wake Forest (Ghana) - FC Dallas (Generation Adidas) Gordon Wild, Jr. F, Maryland (Germany) - Atlanta United (Generation Adidas) Eryk Williamson, Jr. M, Maryland - Portland Timbers (homegrown contract)
Interesting that all Gen Adidas players are foreigners. The rest are Home Grown contracts out of MLS academies. For college kids that don;t have either route, they likely have to wait until they can enter Draft - unless of course they leave ealry and sign with a independent USL squad or go abroad..
Yep. Beat me to it. 6 of 7 GA choices are international. In the last three classes, 5 of 20 are domestic. 2015 was the last year it was predominately American with 3 of 5.
Regarding professional athletes playing in nations that are not their home nations, I found this article and accompanying charts interesting ... https://www.nytimes.com/interactive...&gwh=C1858739DC5235D3135D314D38940755&gwt=pay
Anybody with any guesses on the next underclassmen to bolt before the start of the 2018 college season?
Not so fast my friend. We have our first college underclassmen this winter signing with a foreign club. New Mexico freshman forward Alex Vedamanikam has signed in Germany with Eintracht Braunschweig on the Bundesliga 2. He's a 99 who came through the RSL academy. http://golobos.com/news/2018/1/29/mens-soccer-vedamanikam-inks-professional-contract.aspx
Catch the video in this link. Vedamanikam assists Aaron Herrera on a goal Herrera hits from midfield. It's completely unexpected from the crowd, the teams and everyone else. ...but not from Herrera who knew the UCLA goalie's tendencies from previous play. Freshman Vedamanikam heads to Germany while Herrera, a junior, to Real Salt Lake. Herrera is perhaps the most versatile and offensive minded defender in the last ten years for the Lobos. Whoa is me and the rest of the Lobo fans.
Per Dave Marino-Nachison, Jordan Saint Louis, a freshman forward at George Washington this fall, has signed with second division club Swiss club Servette. No official notice from Servette's website but he's been pulled from GW's roster and his twitter account says he's with Servette.
Servette, Romeo's club I understand that this young lad is joining the Academy's U21, not the first team. I did not find other details about this move. Was he scouted? Did he (or his agent) apply? If he is a good player and works well he will have the opportunity to improve a lot, as Servette Academy is excellent (more for young U11-U18 rather than post-Academy).
Grand Cayon's Evan Waldrep, who got a couple of looks in the last U20 cycle, is giving up his final season of eligibility and signing with the USL's Phoenix Rising. Waldrep spent his first two seasons at Creighton before transferring to GCU to be closer to home. http://www.phxrisingfc.com/news_article/show/886989?referrer_id=2717359 This probably is closer to an isolated incident than the beginning of a trend. But if USL teams start signing undergrads away from colleges in bigger numbers, that could be a huge challenge to college soccer.
Updated list. Mo Adams, Soph. MF, Syracuse (England) - Chicago Fire (Generation Adidas) Francis Atuahene, Jr. F, Michigan (Ghana) - FC Dallas (Generation Adidas) Handwalla Bwana, Soph. M, Washington (Kenya) - Seattle Sounders (homegrown contract) Aaron Herrera, Jr. M/D, New Mexico - Real Salt Lake (homegrown contract) Nick Hinds, Soph. M/D, Akron - Seattle Sounders 2 (USL) Cam Lindley, Soph. M, North Carolina - Orlando City (homegrown contract) JT Marcinkoski, Jr. GK, Georgetown - San Jose Earthquakes (homegrown contract) Mark McKenzie, Fr. D, Wake Forest - Philadelphia Union (homegrown contract) Joao Mouthinho, Fr. D, Akron (Portugal) - LAFC (Generation Adidas) Edward Opoku, Jr. F, Virginia (Ghana) - Columbus Crew (Generation Adidas) Jordan Saint Louis, Fr. F, George Washington - Servette (Switzerland) Brandon Servania, Fr. M, Wake Forest - FC Dallas (homegrown contract) Mason Toye, Fr. F, Indiana - Minnesota United (Generation Adidas) Ema Twumasi, Soph. F, Wake Forest (Ghana) - FC Dallas (Generation Adidas) Alex Vedamanikam, Fr. F, New Mexico, Eintracht Braunschweig (Germany) Evan Waldrep, Jr. M, Grand Canyon - Phoenix Rising (USL) Gordon Wild, Jr. F, Maryland (Germany) - Atlanta United (Generation Adidas) Eryk Williamson, Jr. M, Maryland - Portland Timbers (homegrown contract)
Another pretty good college players chooses the USL over the rest of his college eligibility. Cal Poly soph. M Christian Enriquez, who was the Big West freshman of the year in 2016, has signed with the T2, the USL (second/reserve) team of the Portland Timbers. https://www.timbers.com/post/2018/03/02/t2-announce-five-player-signings-ahead-2018-usl-season Last year, T2 signed Terrell Lowe from UVa and Lamar Batista from UCSB after their freshman year's in 2016. So that's three players from the class of 2020 that T2 has presumably being groomed for the Timbers. Lowe came thru Timbers academy, but Batista and Enriquez would have been in the draft as seniors or if they'd signed GA deals. Timbers are working the system.
Updated list. Mo Adams, Soph. MF, Syracuse (England) - Chicago Fire (Generation Adidas) Francis Atuahene, Jr. F, Michigan (Ghana) - FC Dallas (Generation Adidas) Handwalla Bwana, Soph. M, Washington (Kenya) - Seattle Sounders (homegrown contract) Christian Enriquez, So. M, Cal Poly - Portland Timbers 2 (USL) Aaron Herrera, Jr. M/D, New Mexico - Real Salt Lake (homegrown contract) Nick Hinds, Soph. M/D, Akron - Seattle Sounders 2 (USL) Cam Lindley, Soph. M, North Carolina - Orlando City (homegrown contract) JT Marcinkoski, Jr. GK, Georgetown - San Jose Earthquakes (homegrown contract) Mark McKenzie, Fr. D, Wake Forest - Philadelphia Union (homegrown contract) Joao Mouthinho, Fr. D, Akron (Portugal) - LAFC (Generation Adidas) Edward Opoku, Jr. F, Virginia (Ghana) - Columbus Crew (Generation Adidas) Jordan Saint Louis, Fr. F, George Washington - Servette (Switzerland) Brandon Servania, Fr. M, Wake Forest - FC Dallas (homegrown contract) Mason Toye, Fr. F, Indiana - Minnesota United (Generation Adidas) Ema Twumasi, Soph. F, Wake Forest (Ghana) - FC Dallas (Generation Adidas) Alex Vedamanikam, Fr. F, New Mexico, Eintracht Braunschweig (Germany) Evan Waldrep, Jr. M, Grand Canyon - Phoenix Rising (USL) Gordon Wild, Jr. F, Maryland (Germany) - Atlanta United (Generation Adidas) Eryk Williamson, Jr. M, Maryland - Portland Timbers (homegrown contract)
Yet another underclassmen signs with a USL team. Coastal Carolina CB Sam Strong, a former US U20/U23 NT player who had transferred to CCU after some, uh, issues at UCSB, has signed with Fresno FC.