Saw this on the twitter this morning. It's interesting for a couple reasons. A) It has Doyle, who is pretty plugged in, suggesting Dike could be the top pick in the draft this winter. B) It shows a nice UVa goal that features a sweet touch by Dike. Spectacular goal, and also I think Dike is going to be the No. 1 Superdraft pick this year https://t.co/3vzdTCHveY— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) September 24, 2019
Dike would have to be offered a GA contract (which is a strong possibility) in order to be in the draft, unless MLS finally changes their antiquated rule about only college graduates being eligible, aside from GA players and some youth internationals.
For the heck of it I'll note that it looks like the current leading D1 goalscorer among American freshman is '00 Reed Berry of Oral Roberts, who was in the FC Dallas system. Former Union academy player Ryan Becher, an '01, is the only other such player in the latest top 50.
So it's still a really long shot that any current college player makes the U23 team for the games that count, but there are still a few 97-00s having some intriguing seasons. Besides Daryl Dike, who continues to get some attention on the twitter, another player having a strong year is UCLA Jr. Milan Iloski, a 99 from the RSL academy. Sunday against San Diego State, Iloski hung 5-goals on San Diego State, setting a new school record, which, given UCLA's history, is saying something. Iloski now has 14 goals and 2 assists in 10 games. Sure, it's a long shot but this time a year ago none of us had heard of Hassani Dotson, either.
Seems like a pretty big stretch for the U23s, but UCF '97 Sr. Cal Jennings is still scoring goals for the Knights. One of them came in an eventful recent 3-3 with SMU. https://ucfknights.com/documents/2019/10/7//BoxSocrePDFatSMU.pdf By the way, if you were wondering what happened to Glademir Mendoza, he's there too, as a RS-Fr. (His bio indicates that his favorite *movie* is "The Great Gatsby." Ah, to be young.)
Mendoza's a left back, no? RSL doesn't likely need to sign him, but I could see some team trading for his HG rights given how rare good left backs are.
I'd expect Iloski to get signed this offseason, and if he wins minutes right off the bat...? IIRC Mendoza was at UNM but tore his ACL so didn't play at all in their final season. Good to see him back on the field. I could see a push to get Mendoza onto the Monarchs. Though at the moment, RSL doesn't have a head coach, OR a Monarchs head coach, OR a general manager, so who really knows who they'll be signing.
If I remember right, Pichu is a left sided centerback. He was also good friends with a lot of the guys '00 and '01 guys who signed/moved abroad. I think you sign him if you're RSL and try to start integrating him. Here's some good company: https://www.rsl.com/post/2018/07/10/rsl-academy-members-earn-end-year-awards
I'm curious who the top 01s in college soccer have been and if they can expect any U20 looks this winter. I know Hunter George, who some U18 looks with the 01s, has 5 goals in 8 games for San Diego State. Aidan Morris, an 01 from the Crew academy, has started every game for Indiana in MF and has a goal and 3 assists. Another Crew/IU 01, Maouloune Goumballe, has been the Hoosiers' super-sub, with 2 goals and 3 assists, all off the bench. He reminds me, both in physique and style of play, of Mason Toye. Goumballe is actually from Cincinnati; wouldn't surprise me if FCC traded for his HG rights.
Nice story on former USYNTer Eddie Munjoma, who is a likely homegrown signing for FCD. Fullback at SMU. Left back, which isn't the deepest position with the FCD first team. Nice little story on Eddie Munjoma who first impressed me in the FCD college camp two summers ago."The next great defender from the FC Dallas Academy" https://t.co/2dYHTcL91p— 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) October 13, 2019
They have arguably the best American LB in MLS in Hollingshead and the best American LB from the 2018 college season in John Nelson. I would argue that few teams in MLS are deeper at LB than Dallas. If they plan on signing Munjoma, I suspect one of the aforementioned gets moved this winter.
Sell Cannon and move Hollingshead to RB, with Reynolds as his backup. Start Nelson on the left and Munjoma as his backup.
At some point they're just going to do away with the draft altogether. SOURCES: @MLS to abolish combine, replace with College Cup weekend event— SoccerWire (@TheSoccerWire) October 17, 2019
For what it's worth, setting aside Milan Iloski, NJIT's RS-Jr. Rene White appears to be an American who played mostly high school ball and is among the leading D1 goalscorers. I don't know his YOB. Cal Jennings meanwhile remains in the goalscoring mix, along with San Diego's big '97 Miguel Berry, an American born in Spain, and Albany's Austin DaSilva, whose YOB I also don't know but probably qualifies for this thread as a sophomore.
Lost in the debate about whether NCAA soccer is still relevant as a pro pathway for US players and how it can be reformed if it isn't is that more than a third of all Men's D1 soccer players are now int'l and that % has increased significantly in the past 5 years https://t.co/qZoVoEpgX5— Steven Bank (@ProfBank) October 24, 2019
Robbie Robinson (JR) from Camden, SC never played at a USSDA program, but has 13 goals and 8 assists to lead Clemson this year to a 12-1-1 record. Tanner Dieterich (SR) a former U17 WC Player and RSL Academy who has moved to CM has 2 goals and 8 assists as captain in 13 games. Grayson Barber (SO) a former USYNT and SKC Academy player has 8 goals and 6 assists in 13 games. James Brighton (SO) a former USYNT and ATLU Academy player has 3 goals and 2 assists in 13 games. Charlie Asensio (SO) a former USYNT and ATLUA Academy player started all 13 games in defense and has 1 assist. Basically the same team that last year scored 25 goals all season has scored 54 already this year.
I'm too old to know whether or not this is good news, but it appears that Jacobo Reyes neither can stop, nor will. 1191460068459368448 is not a valid tweet id
I know nothing about Riley Ferch except what's in this post, but thought it noteworthy that the American '00 who transferred to UCLA from S. Florida, who was at one time part of Orlando City's academy, is among the NCAA D1 assist leaders with 9 at present. He's also scored a goal. https://uclabruins.com/cumestats.aspx?path=msoc&year=2019
Is Wilmer Cabrera Jr. American? Seems he was born in Colombia, but maybe a dual citizen -- and, in any case, he's an '00 who was named the Big East FOY and second-team all conference. (Other players of not also named at link below.) https://butlersports.com/news/2019/...-big-east-freshman-of-the-year.aspx?path=msoc
Indiana So. D Jack Maher, the only field player still in college to get chosen for the U23 YNT this year, has been named Big Ten defender of the year. Teammate Aidan Morris, an 01 midfielder from the Crew academy, was named Big Ten freshman of the year. Like Morris, Penn State freshman Liam Butts, an 01 forward from Atlanta's academy, was named first-team All Big Ten. https://bigten.org/news/2019/11/8/big-ten-announces-2019-mens-soccer-postseason-honors.aspx
Kentucky Jr. CB Aime Mabika, a 98 who was born in Zambia but is a US citizen (moved here when he was seven) was named Conference USA player of the year. He is 6-foot-6 and very quick and agile. Gotta figure the MLS types are all over this one. https://conferenceusa.com/news/2019...ll-conference-awards-announced.aspx?path=msoc