2014 Signees Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown High School Club Team/Last School Matt Foldesy M 5-6 155 North Olmsted, Ohio St. Ignatius University of Akron Jack Griffith M 6-0 155 Danville, Ind. Brownsburg Westside United Grant Lillard D 6-4 195 Hinsdale, Ill. Hinsdale Central Chicago Fire William Lukowski GK 6-3 180 Greenwood, Mo. Lee's Summit Iowa Western CC Jay McIntosh M 6-0 185 Kalamazoo, Mich. Loy Norrix Vardar Tim Mehl D 6-1 170 Manhattan Beach, Calif. Loyola FRAM Soccer Club Michael Riedford M 6-1 165 Evansville, Ind. Reitz Memorial Indiana United Jake Rufe M 6-2 165 Huntsville, Ala. Grissom Vestavia Steamers Trevor Swartz M/D 5-10 155 Cameron Park, Calif. Ponderosa Galaxy Blues Cory Thomas M 6-0 160 Corydon, Ind. Corydon Central River City Rovers http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/021014aan.html +1 more tomorrow who had a paperwork issue.
http://www.guhoyas.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/021014aaa.html Georgetown continuing to tap its NYRB pipeline
Following up on absence of Hugo Gutierrez from Cal Poly official announcement. LA Galaxy PR states he signed with Cal Poly. Maybe not official yet with uni due to paperwork or academic requirements. We shall see. http://www.lagalaxy.com/news/2014/0...tional-signing-day-11-players-heading-college
This is interesting. After pushing the envelope of the NCAA rules in recruiting internationally (especially from Germany) cost previous coach Oliver Weiss his job, Virginia Tech's AD supposedly had Mike Brizendine agree to not do so when he promoted him to replace Weis. Well, Tech has a new AD and perhaps coincidentally, but perhaps not, three of Tech's recruits are internationals, including two from Germany. http://www.hokiesports.com/msoccer/recaps/20140209aaa.html
They don't have a head coach but Memphis announces one player. http://www.gotigersgo.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/021014aaa.html
After already announcing transfers, VCU announces a bunch of incoming freshmen, most of whom are in-state. http://www.vcuathletics.com/sports/msoc/2013-14/releases/20140207vih4nj
Seattle plucks three kids out of NorCal as part of its recruiting class. http://www.goseattleu.com/ViewArtic...23&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=209402835&DB_OEM_ID=18200
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/albr/sports/m-soccer/auto_pdf/2013-14/misc_non_event/Signees.pdf UAB's tagline this year is "five youth internationals, one juco All-American," which sounds pretty impressive to me. The youth internationals include former US U17 DeAndre Robinson, who must be one of the better regarded recruits in their program's history.
Nobody will be surprised to see me say this, but Essome in particular is a f***ing joke. He turns 24 this fall, and a player that age should not be allowed to come in and compete for a scholarship against an 18-year-old. Not even close to a level playing field. As for Baus, he is already 21, so he shouldn't have more than one year of eligibility but undoubtedly will.
James Caan doppelganger Tim Lenahan announces Northwestern's new players. The kid from Houston is supposed to be the shit. http://www.nusports.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/021114aab.html
Apparently it was Soccer Recruit Announcement Day on Sheridan Road as Loyola, a few blocks south of Northwestern and coached by a former Wildcats assistant, also announced today. Not surprisingly. Neil Jones brought in a couple of fellow Kiwis. http://www.loyolaramblers.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/021114aab.html
Creighton's recruiting class includes a transfer (with one season of eligibility remaining, which I always find odd) from a four-year school, a pair of JuCo kids originally from Elmar's baackyard in NC before going to perennial power Tyler JC and some highly-regarded Academy kids. http://www.gocreighton.com/ViewArti...518&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=209403343&DB_OEM_ID=1000
A couple of transfers, a couple of foreign kids and a couple of good players from the South - in other words, a typical Alabama-Birmingham class. http://www.uabsports.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/021014aaa.html
Albany mines Long Island for some talent. http://www.ualbanysports.com/ViewAr...95&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=209402729&DB_OEM_ID=15800
The Pennsylvania version of St. Francis, which finished with 11 wins and a Top 60 RPI last year, checks in. http://www.sfuathletics.com/news/2014/2/7/MSOC_0207144119.aspx
There are four D-I programs in the state of Rhode Island. The smallest and least-well known of the four is Bryant yet every year they're the first ones to announce their new players. http://www.bryantbulldogs.com/sports/msoc/2013-14/releases/20140205h94rp9
Gotta like a kid born/raised? Lima, Peru from a High School in Vienna, Austria that finds his way to the 4th largest D1 program in little Rhode Island.
I'm not doubting you, but I'm not sure where you got the age. I agree that the age is ridiculous, but the number of foreign players is less of a problem. With the some kids getting signed early, more than a few people have felt the college game was going to become meaningless. I personally think the opposite is happening. The level of play is getting higher and is attracting some pretty decent talent from around the world. The advanced age works against a lot agents combing the college ranks looking for prospects, but I think successful players will find it increasingly easier to get some serious tryout offers.
Just Google the guy, and this comes right up. This guy is older than Andrew Wenger and only just arrived. http://www.transfermarkt.com/en/som-essome/leistungsdaten/spieler_196008.html If you restricted the ages, you'd force coaches to find better talent and you wouldn't turn the competition into a joke.
For me, the issues with the older, international players is not just that they're more physically and emotionally mature, it's what they've been doing since they finished HS. Are we supposed to believe that these guys haven't been playing organized soccer the whole time, even if it wasn't pro? Per NCAA rules, you're supposed to lose a year of eligibility for every year of organized competition you play after HS. Are they trying to tell us a guy stayed good enough to play D-I soccer despite taking years off from organized competition? That just doesn't pass the smell test. And then there's the whole amateur/professional angle and whether he was playing against pros or getting compensation. The whole thing is just shady. BTW - if this kid was in the military, than all bets are off. I have no qualms with older kids, from any country, who served in the military, then playing college sports in the US. (This is often the case with the Scandinavian and Israeli kids, where military service is compulsory.)
It'd be easy enough to add a special exemption to the rules if this is considered important (there may already be one?), although the Israelis are the only ones who are affected in a big way. Scandinavian kids are generally done with their military service in a few months, and Sweden doesn't even bother with it any more.