Far too many of our top prospects are still playing college soccer. There have been 54 players called up to the U20 team so far this cycle and 25 more just called up to the U19s. Of those... 27 have committed to playing college soccer as freshmen this fall and seven others are returning as sophomores or juniors. Several more are in the class of 2019 and their post-HS plans aren't known. This is a system everyone agrees is highly flawed. Yet few in positions of power will even acknowledge it's an issue, let alone do something about it.
I imagine most of these kids were with non-MLS academies? And I don't put a ton of stock into some college commitments because it's solely a backup plan for some. Nobody ever thought Marc Pelosi and Paul Arriola would end up at UCLA even though they signed scholarship papers. We'll be adding 5 new MLS academies in the next 4-5 years and with the aggressiveness shown in recruiting out of area kids by academies recently, these numbers should continue to decrease. But there will still remain some outliers.
Jake Arteaga (LA Galaxy) - Portland Charlie Asensio (Atlanta) - Clemson Christian Cappis (Dallas) - SMU Jean-Julien Foe-Nuphaus (San Jose) - California Sam Fowler (Seattle) - Washington Justin Garces (Atlanta) - UCLA Wilson Harris (Kansas City) - Louisville Matt Hundley (Colorado) - UCLA Aboubacar Keita (Columbus) - Virginia Justin McMaster (Philadelphia) - Wake Forest (Soph.) Glademir Mendoza (Salt Lake) - New Mexico Trey Muse (Seattle) - Indiana (Soph.) Isaiah Parente (Columbus) - Wake Forest Johan Penaranda (NYCFC) - Pittsburgh Jeremy Rafanello (Philadelphia) - Penn State Justin Rennicks (New England) - Indiana (Soph.) AJ Seals (Orlando) - NC State Sebastian Soto (Salt Lake) - California Greg Tracey (Colorado) - Portland Aristotle Zarris (LA Galaxy) - Wake Forest Sean Zawadzki (Columbus) - Georgetown
I do see how it would be tough for guys to make the college vs. pro decision in some cases. If you're not a surefire star at the U-whatever national team level, you might have legitimate questions about whether or not you can make it as a pro. You could take a shot at the pros, and if you're still stuck in a lower division by your early- to mid-20s, you could bail and go back to school. However, if you go that route, you won't get a soccer scholarship and are looking at ~$200K in debt to go to a top-tier school. If you're 17 and a school like Stanford, Cal, Georgetown, etc. comes around offering you a full ride, that'd be tough to turn down. You'd always have the option of going pro sometime in those 4 years if an enticing offer pops up, but if not, you'd get a free degree and would probably walk into a six-figure starting salary upon graduation.
One year of college soccer doesn't bother me. Last year, Mason Toye, Brandon Servania, and Mark McKenzie were in the NCAA for about four months, then moved on to the pros. No biggie. It's the lingering that's the problem. It's particularly tough for these non-MLS DA kids - without foreign offers the only route to the pros is the GA program (which signs mostly foreign college kids now, it seems) or taking a big risk with a USL contract.
Soto has an offer from UCal where if he plays there just one season (one semester), he has a scholarship for life at the school. He can come back in his 30’s after his pro career is over and finish his degree for free - 7 semesters
Are you sure that's how it works? Isn't his scholarship tied to his soccer playing ability. NCAA Division I men's Soccer teams have an average roster size of 29 players but only a maximum of 9.9 athletic scholarships to award per team. This means the average award covers only about 1/3 of a typical athlete's annual college costs - and this assumes the sport is fully funded at the sponsoring school. This says nothing about coverage for a prior soccer player in his 30's. And most colleges give yearly renewable scholarships and not 4 yr scholarships. They are only for one year, and they’re renewable at the school’s discretion. http://www.scholarshipstats.com/soccer.html
I would presume it’s one of these: https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a6a62c3f1255 I know other schools aside from the one in this article offer them as well.
I agree with @Balerion. One semester isn't bad. They'll probably play more soccer in that one semester than they would in USL. The issue is playing longer than one semester. I don't blame any of these players. Its their life. They have to make a choice thats best for them. If they think getting an education right now is as important to them as having a footballing career, its not my place to say they are wrong. At the same time, I don't think there's much doubt here that they are hurting their footballing development if they play longer than a semester in college soccer with keepers being the only exception. How many players can overcome getting less than optimal development from ages 18-22? Not many, so we might as well just write the 3-4 year college soccer players off as a whole group, and recognize that we will be wrong about a handful or so per cycle who turn into the Besler's, Cameron's, Gonzalez's, etc.
I'm sure someone else knows more about this than I do, but I was looking for reasons it took so long for Kyle Holcomb to get a call up, and my best guess is his disciplinary record. http://pats.ussoccerda.com/sam/teams/index.php?team=1400901&player=33919440
I also agree that isn't bad at all. Cannon also did that at UCLA, came back to FCD and sat on the bench last year (grrrrrr) and this year looks like a veteran. I suspect that moving away from home (college or USL) for a bit helps kids grow up faster too. A big piece of the puzzle would be if the NCAA's and colleges turned into real places for development like they are for football and basketball and somewhat are for baseball. Same rules, really good coaches, full seasons etc. Not going to happen but could sure fill in some gaps if it did.
Going off my best 20 in the U-20 thread. Here's my current best 23 for the U-19's that includes players not on that list. Would like this to be the next U-19 call up list. GK: Dos Santos, Fowler, Budnik DF: Dest, Watts, Bailey, Asensio, Arteaga, Crain, Nuphaus, Shaver MF: Sands, Zawadzki, Goslin, Angking, Amaya, Mendez, Hundley, Mines, Jones FW: Holcomb, Rafanello, Akinola Alternates: Penaranda, Pinho, Almaguer, Brisco, Ofeimu, McGann, Seals, Murphy, Aaronson, Ferri, Teves, Acosta, Reyes, Hernandez, Pereira, Padilla Dos Santos Dest-Arteaga-Crain-Asensio Sands-Goslin Mendez Hundley-Holcomb-Jones
I definitely wouldn't turn that down for even an MLS offer at this point. ~$300,000 value for the back half of one pro season where you will likely just play USL and you can play USL during that time anyway.
Something is up with Padilla. He hasn't played for FCD in a while now. Injured I think........................
Best possible U-19 team. GK: Garces, Dos Santos, Fowler DF: Dest, Lindsey, Gloster, Asensio, Richards, Crain, Sands, Keita MF: Durkin, Zawadzki, Mendez, Goslin, Angking, Carleton, Ledezma, Hundley, Jones FW: Sargent, Soto, Weah Garces Dest-Richards-Keita-Gloster Durkin Ledezma-Mendez Carleton Sargent-Soto
I think he'd be in the second best 23. The last two spots were hard to pick for this team, so I think there could be an argument for him there.
I haven't seen any of his games but heard Ferri scored for Greuther Furth recently and is doing pretty well. He was an every game starter at the U17WC and quietly goes about his business.