Best players still in college?

Good list Sandon.

I'm gonna derail this young thread a bit and talk about teams instead of individuals. Specifically Santa Clara. Since it now looks like both Cochrane and Cronin will be back next year, I'm predicting a big year for the Broncos. They graduated only 3 seniors and only Jamil Walker (leading scorer) would be called a critical player. This past fall was Coach Rast's first as head coach so the players spent most of the season adjusting to his style of play which is significantly different (and better) than Murray's kick and run. The Broncos ended their season very strong with 4 wins with an aggregate score of 12-2. They had some tough 1 goal losses in the middle of the season when Cochrane and Cronin were with the U-20s. Their entire defense which gave up 1 goal/game average will return anchored by a dominating Cochrane.

More in keeping with Sandon's thread:
They had several Red-shirt and true freshman that really looked good. Kelechi Igwe, at 6-0 195lb, is a load at forward and has some speed, hopefully he can step into Jamil's role as goal scorer. Jeff Scott looked like a talented left side midfield/forward. And Jason Cunliffe also impressed me in the mid and had a run of late season goals.

As you can see, I'm looking forward to next fall.

 

Oliver

Sandon be advised that Matt Oliver was injured in preseason of his freshman year and is actually a Junior in eligibility going into next season which leaves the P-40 option available to him after next season.
I noticed that you mentioned 7 Terps in your thread and I think most people believe that UMD is probably the best team in the coubtry on paper going into next season. It should be a great ride next season with the Turtles.

 

David Walters of Penn State might be one to watch over the next few years. He was Second-Team All-Big Ten as a freshman and tallied 2 goals and 5 assists while starting every game for the Nittany Lions. He ran the midfield and offered Chad Severs some great service. It should be fun to see how he develops, he's already off to a great start.

And I agree that Maryland has to be the early favorites based on their returning squad. Hopefully they can stay healthy and use their tough loss to UCLA as motivation. Sumed Ibrahim is a special player, and Dom Mediate was captain clutch in the NCAAs.

Thanks for the heads-up on Santa Clara, due time, it's hard for us on the east coast to follow what's going on out west.

With Knox Cameron returning, I'd also keep an eye on Michigan. They advanced to the Big Ten final and are on the verge of becoming a power. Grabavoy and Ambersley will make sure Indiana contends again. They both impressed me more than Pat Noonan who was garbage in two games against Penn State.

When do schedules for 2003 come out? I'm counting down too!

 

Another great list, Sandon ... as usual, here are a few quibbles:

1) In the past, you've listed Frankie Sanfilippo -- he'll be back at San Jose State for a fifth year and probably deserves mention.

2) Any word on how soon Chefik Simo can be expected to climb back onto the list?

3) Leonard Griffin's lack of ball skills make him a somewhat dubious choice. OTOH, there are quite a few other UCLA Bruins who could be added. Perhaps the biggest name among them is Mike Enfield. I can't say he's impressed me much, but word is that they are still expecting big things from him.

BTW, 2002 was a banner year for the west coast, but this year could be even better. Along with Santa Clara, three of last year's strongest teams should get even stronger: Portland, Cal, and UCLA.

 

From Florida Atlantic University:
Gabe O'Campo
Scott Rauscher

 

What's the story on Ambersley? He really impressed me in the NCAA final when he was a freshman(?). But lately I don't hear much about him. Has he had injuries, or did I just miss the mark on his ability?

I see Sandon has him on his list....

 

Yes. Cal just seems to get better every year, they seem to be building a really solid program. Another one to keep an eye on is UW. I see they graduated only 4 seniors, although past CJ Klaas, I don't know if they have any exceptional players.

 

Due Time-

I saw Ambersley play against PSU twice this year and he played well. He scored an absolutely amazing goal on a long-range volley and generally gave the Nittany Lions fits. I can't speak for how well he played the rest of the year but I was really impressed with both him and Grabavoy. I felt that each showed more skill than Noonan who flubbed many, many opportunities in both games.

 

I wouldn't count my eggs before they've hatched with Gregorio, Klaas, Grabavoy, Marshall, Cochrane, and Jaqua. The U20s still have the U20 WYC to play in which is before the MLS season starts. Marshall, Cochrane and Klaas would have good shots at making the Olympic qualifying team this fall should they take the plunge.

 

The goalie from Penn, Haefner, was 3rd-Team All-American this year, a real solid player.

Internationally, Khari Stevenson of Williams (Jamaica) is certainly one of the most talented players in the nation regardless of level. (returning All-American). Oodles of skill.

 

Defender???

How often does the Herman go to a defender? Without stat's it's difficult to get the glory regardless of how well a defender plays. My understanding is that Wingert is strictly a defender and does little to support the attack statistically. He's an obviously name for the preseason Herman list but has almost no chance of winning it.

 

Beineke - Chefik Simo's injuries from the accident were very extensive. I believe he was hospitalized for almost a month after the accident. He was in attendance at Furman's first round NCAA game, but immediately afterwards flew back to Dallas to begin rehab.

I think it's going to take a while for him to get back to where he can just run again, but if he can get healthy and still has the drive to play, he will one day be on that list.

As for Clint Dempsey, I do believe he has been called into U-20 camp in the past and has gotten some playing time. I may be mistaken, but I think he has been there. While he's got great skill and is just naturally gifted, there is a lot I think he needs to learn. He's a great passer of the ball and dribbler, but too many times he just admires the passes that he makes instead of laying it off and getting the ball right back. When I've seen him do that, he's very dangerous.

 

Thanks for the info on Simo, Srod. Hopefully, he's making some progress down the long road back.

Nice description of Dempsey, too.

 

It should be interesting to see how Drew Moor does if called into a national team camp.

He's definitely got a few things going for him. He's got good size and speed. He works extremely hard and is a good ball winner. On the ball he's good and could definitely get better.

I think he's still really raw. He has potential to be a great collegiate player and could become a good pro prospect.

What's really ironic at Furman, is that their head coach Doug Allison, is South Carolina's all-time leading scorer. He's always getting joked about how he never played defense in college.

Yet, the Furman teams over the past five or six years have been great defensive squads. This year's was probably the best defensive squad ever.
Drew Moor, Luke Barbour, Ricardo Clark, Kenny Penn and McNeil Cronin are some great defensive players. I think Drew Moor will have an even better sophomore campaign and another player to look out for will be Luke Barbour at the back for Furman.

 

Re: Re: Defender???

But they'll advertise the hell out of a player who has become a professional who used to play for them.

T

I don't think that he really thinks that, although it might be perceived as such. Very few players will be added to the Olympic team roster after the qualifying process this fall. I can't see any amateurs making it, simply based on fitness alone. We're way above that now, and the only reason Conor Casey got a run out in the last Olympics was because his college coach was the U23 coach. He ran out of gas bigtime.

 

Re: Re: Defender???

True, but it doesn't seem to bother them enough to do something about it - like allow more games per year, or limit substitutions!

 

Re: Re: Re: Defender???

Hmm, I'd guess that cutting down on substitutions would be more likely to hinder development than help it - it would probably lead to some potentially promising young players riding the pine until their junior or senior year. More playing opportunities for underclassmen seems better than less, both for development and evaluation purposes.

Besides, my impression is that the top pro prospects eventually tend to play close to 90 minutes per game for their college teams anyway. David Stokes played virtually every minute of every game for UNC the past two seasons.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Defender???

Defensive players typically do play 90 minutes, but attackers don't.

In addition, when we consider playing time, we should factor in quality as well as quantity. It's not a huge exaggeration to suggest that part-time players are expected to come in and run around like headless chickens. That's not good preparation for the years ahead.

 

talked to a friend who was in dallas over the break who said that chefik was walking with only one crutch ... a huge difference from even a few weeks ago. hopefully he will be able to make a comeback and return to playing form.

 

Re: Re: Defender???

All good points and I think that Wingert is a wonderful player who's worthy of national honors consideration. My point was that I think it will be difficult for a defender who doesn't score much to be the national player of the year. Chris will have to rely on St John's continuing to win the close games because all the games are close since they only average 1.37 goals per game. True they only give up .44 goals per game but understand too that they lose a strong starting defender to graduation and may not be as strong next season in the back overall. They won only 13 of 21 games last season basically because they couldn't score. The point is that St John's may not be ranked near the top of the polls as they were last season bringing Wingert national attention. The inability to score also doomed them in post season play.
Now having said all of this, I would love to see a Chris Wingert type player to be the Natioanl Player of the Year because I think if should go to the best player regardless of position. Unfortunately a lot of things play into it including stat's, publicity, team success, politics and likability. The other thing is that St John's tries to play soccer and it would be good for the college game to see that type of program produce the POY.
My final point although redundant is that the guys scoring the goals tends to get all the credit in soccer regardless of the level and Wingert is going against the odds to win any individual national honors. But as Sandon said and I agree it's not impossible.

 

I got to see Haefner play in the tourney against UCONN..excellent goalie

 

best players left in college

feel free to add as many east coast players as u like. i think Sandon's original list included 15 of 18 east coast strikers, and then nate jaqua left and made it 15 of 17, or something close to that. anyway, Sandon has already admitted to an east coast bias, and so my question is; why even more bias towards east coast strikers?