Link to the article here: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=353620&root=ncaa&cc=5901 Nice article. I think the writer captured 2 things that we have been speaking about on this board. Next seasons top contenders This past seasons biggest disappointments Article points to Akron, New Mexico and Penn State as the emerging powerhouses from 2005. I would agree with Akron and Penn State but... New Mexico may be losing too much to make another run to the College Cup. Obviously will be very good but the College Cup may be too much. Akron should really be pushing to make it next year. I get to see them once in a while and they are going to be VERY good, with whoever is their coach. Ubiparipovic is the real deal and will be a Hermann trophy candidate next season. Evan Bush may be the next great college GK and is certainly deserving of a call up. They play excellent soccer and I am sure they are going to make a serious run. Don't forget this team only lost one game all season and that was an overtime loss to the then two time defending national champion Hoosiers in Bloomington. Penn State returns almost their entire team from the group that swept the Big Ten regular season and tournament championship (8-0). Omekanda and Yeisley will arguably be the best forward tandem in America next season. Throw in Rich Costanzo (Fomer US U18 and 2004 B10 F.O.Y) who sat out this past season and that offense is big time scary. Jeff Chambers in midfield is the catalyst and may be the teams best player. The entire back 4 defense is back and 1st team all B10 GK Conrad Taylor is only gonna be a junior. Their are probably some other big teams to look out for next year, namely: North Carolina, Clemson, Duke, Cal, SMU, Virginia, UConn and Wake Forest. My Pre-PreSeason Top 10: 1.North Carolina 2.Maryland 3.Penn State 4.Duke 5.Akron 6.California 7.UCLA 8.UCONN 9.Virginia 10.Indiana Underachievers according to the article: Stanford, Boston College, Michigan, Northwestern-all have been mentioned in other threads. He also singled out UCLA, but you have to think that they will be back in 06.
I am sure Bush will think long and hard before making any moves. I highly doubt Akron would give him a release to Louisville, which would mean sitting out a year and paying his own way. Having already burned his redshirt, that would mean losing his sophomore season and not coming back until '07.
I know... didn't mean to imply that you didn't think that. It's just that all these kids, in the heat of the announcement, decide they will make the move too without fully realizing the logistics behind it. Who is even to say that the assistant coach you are following down there will even be there more than a year? Like Mario, his ties are also out west. Now, as for Sinisa, who knows. He has always done his own thing. Personally, I think he would be better served by coming back. In reality, he has only had one really good year of collegiate soccer (2005). I would have to believe he is a lock as a preseason All-American and will be on that preseason Hermann list. Add in the bonus of possibly leading what could be an even better Akron team to a title... why not stay?
Getting dumped by your coach for the hotter chick (metaphorically speaking) provides even more motivation for seeing it through in 2006.
Usually if someone gets left for a hotter chick, you are usually heartbroken not motivated. Not sure the small conference teams can win the big one. This is the main reason coaches are jumping ship to the Big East. Akron is not winning a national championship and for a player to give up a pro career for that fantasy is not very smart. To come back because he is not ready or to finish his education or because he enjoys his college experience makes sense but not the Akron winning a national championship.
Anyone who went to the Maryland Akron game saw that Akron could have come out of that game instead of maryland. To me, that game was the national title as the level of play was twice that of any game in NC. So whos to say next year they cant make a run at it next year.
This was their year. Everything went right this year for them. Kind of like UCSB last year, great team with everything flowing on the field, chemistry, limited injuries, etc. Very hard for schools from the smaller conferences to sustain that level year in and year out. No knock on Akron, those are the facts. Maryland, Indiana are able to sustain because of the support and the quality of players they are able to consistently recruit. Will there be someone at Akron to replace McKenzie ? Probably not. Maryland already has a couple of national teamers to replace Geary.
Evan Bush= pro career? Not sure about that. He is a really good college keeper who was made great by three outstanding defenders in front of him. I don't think choosing between Louisville and Akron is the difference between a pro career or not. He didn't come to Akron because of the GK coach. Akron hasn't even hired anyone yet... who is to say someone even better doesn't come in? As an athlete coming off the season Bush just had, would you really want to put it all on the back burner for a year to sit out, or would you be anxious to get playing again? As for losing McKenzie, he is replaceable. Ubiparipovic will be the bigger loss.
I was talking about Sinisa going pro or staying at Akron. Coming back to win a national championship should not be his reason for making a decision. See the post above. It will tough for Akron to find a better coach than Lolla.
I truly think he would be better served with one more year of college. He just isn't a mature enough player to make that leap yet. Getting even better and continuing to grow should be his reason for staying in college one more year (that, and earning a degree). It will be hard to find someone better than Lolla, but that doesn't mean that person isn't out there. Akron isn't going to lure away a head coach from a big-time school, so I think the goal is to find that up-and-coming assistant who just may be the "next Ken Lolla." Ken came to Akron as a 20-something NAIA coach and rebuilt a program. It took time, but the person coming in now has a pretty good situation falling into his lap. Ken's departure was good in that it make the UA administration wake up and see it needed to put more resources into the program. This new coach will have it much better (salary wise and budget wise) than Ken ever did. Bottom line: 1. Evan Bush= good pick as Soccer America All-Freshman second team 2. Go Zips!