Michelle Cooper has announced that she is leaving Duke to turn professional after her sophomore season. Arkansas Razorback/Canadian forward Jessica De Filippo is forgoing her final season of eligibility to enter the NWSL draft. Any others anticipated to do the same?
The list of players declaring/eligible for NWSL draft should be available before the middle of next week. I have heard of a few considering it but do not want to post names here in the event that they decide or decided not to enter. This is much more common for the guys. In many instances if a guy is a senior or sometimes even a junior people wonder why they’re still around. The numbers of professionals in MLS and in the men’s NT pools that have collegiate experience are also becoming fewer & fewer. Even from less than 10 years ago the numbers are quite dramatic.
It seems like US Soccer is encouraging players to drop out of college to go pro earlier and then offering them a spot on the full team roster. that has happened now with 3 or 4 players. Wondering if Thompson will skip college now that she has already been called up to the full team.
im not sure I see a connection between offering players a spot on the full team and encouraging them to leave college. I see the pressure other places than ussoccer. the pressure to leave college seems largely financial, now that players can make a decent living from their club and NT opportunities under the new CBA’s.
Which 3 to 4 players did this happen with? Rodman dropped out before she got a sniff with the full team. Shaw and Moultrie bypassed college without a full team call up. I admit I have not double checked the timelines, but I believe Sophia Smith and Cat dropped out on their own before a full call in. I don't recall Pugh's timeline but back then I don't think there was a push on dropping out. She just had the chance to make legit money when there was no NIL in place for college players. I have wondered about the Thompson pull up though. It is a carrot to encourage her bypass college?
What I’m surprised with is the lack of kids starting college early to then to become draft eligible at 18 or 19 with 1-3 years of college under their belt. i do think you’ll start to see a little more of that at some point.
Moultrie passed up high school. She is home schooled. At any rate, she was too young for high school at age 13. And her Nike contract had enough in it to guarantee money for a college education, since signing it made her ineligible for the ncaa. There was no NIL then. The league didn’t allow her NWSL contract until that provision was guaranteed. FIFA regulations mandate players get an education as part of their contracts until age 23. That’s why the league originally required players to have degrees and no eligibility - so the league wouldn’t have to pay for their education.
But the posters statement was: "It seems like US Soccer is encouraging players to drop out of college to go pro earlier and then offering them a spot on the full team roster. that has happened now with 3 or 4 players." I cannot think of anyone this happened to. Horan skipped college yes. But there was no call up related to that. It was just a decision she made. The only player I beleive this 'could' apply to is Alyssa Thompson. Is US Soccer calling her in earlier to the full team than they may otherwise to encourage her to go pro?
There are some who are doing it. Kennedy Fuller reclassified from a 2025 to a 2024 grad and is committed to UNC. UCLA had at least 3 freshman enroll early (last winter/spring semester) and played there freshman seasons this recent fall. I agree that we will start to see more of this.
None. Why did you ask that? The OP made no mention of it. I simply responded to his comment that he is surprised more are not starting college early. There are two separate conversations going on here. One about going to college early and the other about getting enticed to leave college early with a full National team call up.
I think there have been three recent players added to the full team roster that dropped out of college to go pro. They had been invited to a camp for the full team but not placed on the actual roster. They came to a camp, got skipped over for a later roster, then dropped out/went pro, and then showed up on the WNT roster after they dropped out. Also, the fact that no college players have been called into a camp for the full team and skipped over for others that are not in college
Will be interesting to see what happens with Michelle Cooper - called up multiple times for YNT , performed very well with U20 teams but no call up to full team. She is dropping out of college and going pro - will she be called up to next camp and on the roster for the WWC?
I was asking because some here are trying to make a link between ussoccer and players going directly to the pros and the uswnt. the more example I see given, the more it affirms there is no such link. The shift is an economic one, and we should celebrate it.
I fully agree with this. I was not making that connection at all. 2233soccer is and I challenged them to offer names of his 3-4 players he believes got call ins in exchange for dropping out. They have offered none. There are no such players that fit this sequence of actions. The players who dropped out of college, excelled with pro clubs and then were then rewarded with national team invites. Separately there are players starting to head TO college early. Likely to get into the college/pro track as young as possible. Money is starting to be there for elite players.
If you are talking about players starting in the Spring rather than waiting until the next Fall when they ordinarily would matriculate, that is not new. It has been going on for a long time. Not a lot of players do it, but it was happening at least ~20 years ago. The reason for it is to allow top level players to integrate into teams during the Spring practice season so that they are ready to go with the team in the Fall.
I am fully aware of this. As I am sure most people are. I simply said it is happening more often. I know UCLA had at least three players enroll early last spring. While this may have happened 20 years ago, it is more frequent now. I also said a player reclassified from 2025 to 2024 grad and is enrolling a full year early to UNC. That is rare but will likely happen more now for elite players.
Before I would reach a conclusion on this, I would need to see some actual data comparing average numbers in the past to current average numbers. It may be the case, but before knowing it is one would have to do that comparison. Of course, I am one who does not trust my own or others’ senses, hunches, anecdotes, eye tests, whatever. I want to see the actual numbers. Unfortunately, in this particular case I think it would be very difficult to get comprehensive and reliable numbers.
You need your stats. I don't. I have been around this business a long time. I can see the trending is obvious.
Chloe Ricketts, 15, just signed with the Washington Spirits and is 3 days younger than Moultrie at the time of signing Washington Spirit Signs Youngest-Ever Player to NWSL Contract » Washington Spirit