NIKE PROJECT-40 NEWS MLS & Nike PROJECT-40 LANDS DYNAMIC DOZEN FOR 2003 Gaven Becomes Youngest Player to Sign with League, Eskandarian, Clark, and Gonzalez Also Headline List of Newcomers; League Expands Developmental Rosters to Six NEW YORK (Thursday, January 9, 2003) - Major League Soccer unveiled today 12 Nike Project-40 signings ahead of the League's 2003 season. Announced by MLS Senior Vice President Todd Durbin, the signings complete the program's largest class since its inception in 1997. All 12 players will be available for selection in the 2003 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas on January 17 at 3:30 p.m. (ET) from the Kansas City (MO) Convention Center. "The quality of this group really speaks for itself, especially considering that this process becomes more selective each year," said Durbin. "Given that Nike Project-40 continues to stress quality over quantity, adding so many elite players means that our teams will have access to a tremendous amount of talent deep into the SuperDraft." The stellar new Nike Project-40 class includes MAC Hermann Trophy winner Alecko Eskandarian of Virginia, who departs the storied Cavalier program after his junior season. Joining Eskandarian are U.S. Under-17 standouts Eddie Gaven and Guillermo "Memo" Gonzalez. Gaven, who turned 16 less than three months ago, becomes the youngest player ever to sign with MLS, surpassing the mark set by D.C. United's Santino Quaranta, who joined MLS four months after his 16th birthday. Also forgoing their senior seasons from the college ranks to sign with Nike Project-40 are Wake Forest midfielder Brian Carroll, North Carolina defender David Stokes and midfielder Logan Pause, Eastern Illinois forward Jason Thompson, Virginia midfielder Jacob LeBlanc, and Clemson defender Eric "Ricky" Lewis. In addition, sophomore sensation Ricardo Clark, a defensive midfielder from Furman and the U.S. Under-20 National Team, has also chosen to make the jump to the professional ranks after earning NSCAA first team All-America honors in 2002. Rounding out the stellar class is a pair of offensive dynamos as U.S. Under-20 midfielder Mike Magee and forward Arturo Alvarez, a standout with the U.S. Under-18 squad, have also elected to join MLS. In addition, Durbin also announced that MLS teams will be allotted six developmental roster positions during the 2003 season. Teams were allowed to carry four developmental players in 2002. MLS Clubs will now have 24 official roster spots to fill, with the senior roster remaining at 18 players. Created in 1997, Nike Project-40 is a joint venture between MLS and U.S. Soccer aimed at providing America's top young soccer players with the opportunity to play and train in a professional environment on a daily basis. Players signed to Nike Project-40 contracts receive an educational stipend in addition to their salary and a developmental spot on the roster of their MLS club. In conjunction with the new signings, Durbin also announced a group of nine players who have graduated from the program. That list includes Kelly Gray of the Chicago Fire, Miguel Saavedra (waived by Chicago), Chris Carrieri of the Colorado Rapids, Edson Buddle and Kyle Martino of the Columbus Crew, D.C. United's Quaranta, Brad Davis of the MetroStars, Martin Klinger (waived by the MetroStars) and Shaker Asad (waived by New England). Effective immediately, these players will no longer receive the roster protection granted to members of Nike Project-40. Brief bios for the 12 players follows: Name: Arturo Alvarez Position: Forward College: NA Ht: 5-9 Wt: 145 Hometown: Houston, TX Born: June 28, 1985 - Led the U.S. Under-18s with seven goals in 2002 - The tournament's second leading scorer as the U-18s' won the Talence International Tournament (France) - A natural finisher, he combines skill and poise near the goal Name: Brian Carroll Position: Forward College: Wake Forest Ht: 5-10 Wt: 150 Hometown: Springfield, VA Born: July 20, 1981 - Fairfax, VA - A finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy and a first team All-ACC selection as a junior in 2002 - Started all 61 games during his three-year career at Wake Forest - A member of the U.S. Under-23 National Team, participated in the most recent U-23 training camp in Florida - A member of the U.S. squad at the 2001 World Youth Championship in Argentina Name: Ricardo Clark Position: Midfield College: Furman Ht: 5-10 Wt: 140 Hometown: Jonesboro, GA Born: February 10, 1983 - Atlanta, GA - A first team NSCAA All-American as a sophomore in 2002, he led Furman to a 19-3-1 record and a top 10 national ranking - Started at defensive midfield on the U.S. Under-20s during CONCACAF Qualifying for the World Youth Championship - Named Georgia's High School Player of the Year as a junior and senior at St. Pius X Catholic High School Name: Alecko Eskandarian Position: Forward College: Univ. of Virginia Ht: 5-8 Wt: 160 Hometown: Montvale, NJ Born: January 4, 1986 - As a junior, claimed the 2002 MAC Hermann Trophy Winner (first unified award) - In 2002 set a single-season school record by scoring 25 goals, his 113 career points ranks 6th all time at UVA - Currently a member of the U.S. Under-23 National Team Name: Eddie Gaven Position: Midfielder College: NA Ht: 6-0 Wt: 145 Hometown: Hamilton, NJ Born: October 25, 1986 - At the age of 16 years and 2 months, he becomes the youngest player ever to sign with MLS - Recently began his fourth semester in U.S. Soccer's Full-Time U17 Residency Program in Bradenton, FL - A creative player whose size and athleticism make him an excellent ball-winner on both offense and defense Name: Guillermo "Memo" Gonzalez Position: Midfielder College: NA Ht: 5-11 Wt: 145 Hometown: Paramount, CA Born: January 4, 1986 - Recently began his fourth semester in U.S. Soccer's Full-Time U17 Residency Program in Bradenton, FL - Led the team in scoring last year, tallying 21 goals and seven assists in the team's first 45 matches in 2002 - Plays predominantly in central midfield for John Ellinger due to his ability to change the point of attack Name: Jacob LeBlanc Position: Forward/Midfielder College: Univ. of Virginia Ht: 5-11 Wt: 180 Hometown: Palo Alto, CA Born: February 2, 1981 - Auburn, CA - Appeared in 62 games during his three-year career at Virginia - Led the Cavaliers with eight assists in 2002, including four game-winners - Named to the ACC All-Tournament Team in 2002 - Played with the U.S. National Team program at the Under-18 level Name: Eric "Ricky" Lewis Position: Defender College: Clemson Ht: 6-0 Wt: 170 Hometown: Spring, TX Born: May 29, 1982 - As a junior started 19 of 21 matches and tallied 14 points on four goals and six assists - A member of the U.S. Under-23 player pool in 2002 - Completed his three-year career starting all but three of his 61 appearances at Clemson - A member of the U.S. squad at the 2001 World Youth Championship in Argentina Name: Mike Magee Position: Forward College: NA Ht: 5-9 Wt: 150 Hometown: Long Grove, IL Born: September 2, 1984 - As an 18-year old, led the U.S. Under-20s with 14 goals in 2002 - In 2002 following tryouts with Ajax (Holland) and Viking (Norway) he frequently trained with Chicago Fire - Scored four times in a 5-2 win over Ukraine to put the U.S. into the semifinals of the C.O.T.I.F. Torneig Internacional in Spain Name: Logan Pause Position: Defender College: North Carolina Ht: 5-10 Wt: 155 Hometown: Hillsborough, N.C. Born: August 22, 1981 - Raleigh, NC - Earned All-ACC honors as a defender in 2002 - Helped lead North Carolina to the 2001 National Championship - A member of the U.S. U-23 & U-20 National Teams - Played his first two seasons at midfield, where he started for the Tar Heels Name: David Stokes Position: Defender College: North Carolina Ht: 6-3 Wt: 185 Hometown: Dumfries, VA Born: May 28, 1982 - Fort Belvoir, VA - One of 15 finalists for the MAC Hermann Trophy as a junior in 2002 - Named the Defensive MVP of the 2001 NCAA College Cup, leading his squad to the National Championship - Traveled to Portugal and Italy with the U.S. Under-23 National Team in February 2002 - Started all 71 games of his career at North Carolina Name: Jason Thompson Position: Forward College: Eastern Illinois Ht: 6-1 Wt: 185 Hometown: Garland, TX Born: November 22, 1981 - Finished his three-year career at EIU with 40 career goals and 96 points, tallying 14 goals as a junior - Scored twice for the U.S. Under-23s on a four game tour of England in 2002, including one against Manchester United's reserves - Led the nation with 21 goals as a freshman in 2000 - Tied his own Missouri Valley Conference single-game record by scoring six goals against Illinois-Chicago in 2002 NIKE PROJECT-40 ROSTER - January 9, 2003 Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate Hometown Club Akwari, Nelson D 5-11 190 01-04-82 Houston, TX MetroStars Alvarez, Arturo F 5-9 145 06-28-85 Houston, TX SuperDraft Eligible Barclay, Devin F 5-9 165 04-09-83 Annapolis, MD. San Jose Earthquakes Bardales, Isaias F 5-10 170 08-18-79 San Jose, CA. Los Angeles Galaxy Beckerman, Kyle M 5-11 155 04-23-82 Crofton, MD Colorado Rapids Burciaga Jr, .Jose D 6-1 166 11-16-81 Duncanville, TX Kansas City Wizards Capano, Craig M 5-6 140 07-07-85 Hyde Park, NY Chicago Fire Carroll, Brian F 5-10 150 07-20-81 Springfield, VA SuperDraft Eligible Clark, Ricardo M 5-10 140 02-10-83 Jonesboro, GA SuperDraft Eligible Countess, D.J. GK 6-1 185 01-09-82 Sacramento, CA Dallas Burn Downing, Nick M 5-9 145 01-25-80 Redmond, WA New England Revolution Eskandarian, Alecko F 5-8 160 01-04-86 Montvale, NJ SuperDraft Eligible Gaven, Eddie M 6-0 145 10-25-86 Hamilton, NJ SuperDraft Eligible Gonzalez, Guillermo M 5-11 145 01-04-86 Paramount, CA SuperDraft Eligible Johnson, Eddie F 6-0 170 03-31-84 Palm Coast, Fla. Dallas Burn LeBlanc, Jacob F/M 5-11 180 02-02-81 Palo Alto, CA SuperDraft Eligible Lewis, Ricky D 6-0 170 05-29-82 Spring, TX SuperDraft Eligible Magee, Mike D 5-9 150 09-02-84 Long Grove, IL SuperDraft Eligible Mapp, Justin M 5-10 140 10-18-84 Brandon, Mass. Chicago Fire Pause, Logan D 5-10 155 08-22-81 Hillsborough, NC SuperDraft Eligible Stokes, David D 6-3 185 05-28-82 Dumfries, VA SuperDraft Eligible Stone, Jordan M 6-1 170 03-16-84 Allen, Texas Dallas Burn Thompson, Jason F 6-1 185 11-22-81 Garland, TX SuperDraft Eligible Trembly, Seth M 5-6 145 03-21-82 Littleton, Colo. Colorado Rapids ALL-TIME NIKE PROJECT-40 GRADUATES - January 9, 2003 Player Pos. D.O.B. Hometown Current/Last MLS Club + Chris Albright F 01-14-79 Philadelphia, PA Los Angeles Galaxy + DaMarcus Beasley M 05-24-82 Ft. Wayne, IN Chicago Fire + Carlos Bocanegra D 05-25-79 Alta Loma, CA Chicago Fire + Edson Buddle F 05-21-81 New Rochelle, NY Columbus Crew + Danny Califf D 03-17-80 Orange, CA Los Angeles Galaxy + Chris Carrieri F/M 04-28-80 Stafford, VA Colorado Rapids + Bobby Convey F 05-27-83 Philadelphia, PA D.C. United + Sergi Daniv M 08-23-75 Lviv, Ukraine Chicago Fire + Brad Davis M 11-8-81 St. Charles, MO MetroStars + Brian Dunseth D 03-02-77 Upland, CA Columbus Crew + Nick Garcia D 04-09-79 Plano, TX Kansas City Wizards + Francisco Gomez M 01-25-79 Watsonville, CA Kansas City Wizards + Kelly Gray M 04-07-81 San Jose, CA Chicago Fire + Tim Howard GK 03-06-79 North Brunswick, NJ MetroStars + Dema Kovalenko F 8-28-77 Rochester, NY D.C. United + Kyle Martino M 02-19-81 Westport, CT Columbus Crew + Chad McCarty D 10-05-77 Clovis, CA Columbus Crew + Ben Olsen F 05-03-77 Middletown, PA D.C. United + Rusty Pierce M 07-24-79 The Woodlands, TX New England Revolution + Santino Quaranta F/M 10-14-84 Baltimore, MD D.C. United + Eric Quill F 02-28-78 Missouri City, TX Kansas City Wizards + Nick Rimando GK 06-17-79 Monclair, CA D.C. United + Brian West F 06-10-78 Columbia, MD Columbus Crew + Josh Wolff F 02-25-77 Stone Mountain, GA Kansas City Wizards ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- ^ Ubusuku Abukusumo D 03-24-77 Albuquerque, NM Tampa Bay Mutiny ^ Shaker Asad M/F 08-18-79 Raleigh, NC New England Revolution ^ Jamar Beasley F 10-11-79 Ft. Wayne, IN Chicago Fire ^ Jose Botello F 04-24-76 Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles Galaxy ^ Scott Bower M 06-27-78 Tampa, FL S.J. Earthquakes ^ Judah Cooks M 11-29-76 Bethesda, MD D.C. United ^ Micah Cooks M 07-02-81 Bethesda, MD D.C. United ^ Nino Da Silva M 05-26-79 Hoffman Estates, IL MetroStars ^ Joey DiGiamarino M 04-06-77 Corona, CA Colorado Rapids ^ Michael Green D 07-16-78 Columbia, MD Kansas City Wizards ^ Andy Kirk GK 10-03-77 Milwaukee, WI Tampa Bay Mutiny ^ Martin Klinger F 07-09-80 Kearny, NJ MetroStars ^ Alen Kozic D 09-27-76 Tampa, FL Miami Fusion ^ Mario Longo M 12-03-80 Apex, NC Columbus Crew ^ Matt Napoleon GK 08-18-77 Feasterville, PA Columbus Crew ^ Matt Nyman GK 09-16-76 Middletown, CN Tampa Bay Mutiny ^ Antonio Otero M 05-20-77 Tampa, FL D.C. United ^ Carlos Parra M 02-03-77 West Haven, CT New England Revolution ^ Marvin Quijano M/F 10-09-79 N. Hollywood, CA Colorado Rapids ^ Maurizio Rocha M 08-02-76 Santa Cruz, Bolivia Miami Fusion ^ Esmundo Rodriguez M 05-25-77 Dallas, TX Dallas Burn ^ Miguel Saavedra M 07-03-83 Milwaukee, WI Chicago Fire ^ Tim Sahaydak D 06-01-77 Bethlehem, PA Miami Fusion ^ Sergio Salas F 03-21-81 Falls Church, VA D.C. United ^ Juan Sastoque F 06-26-77 El Cajon, CA Dallas Burn ^ Barry Swift F 11-11-76 Brooklyn, NY MetroStars ^ Scott Vallow GK 06-08-77 Naperville, IL Dallas Burn ^ Scott Vermillion D 12-23-76 Olathe, KA D.C. United All-Time Members: 76 Current: 24 + = graduated (on MLS roster - 24) ^ = graduated (not on MLS roster - 28) www.MLSnet.com
I'll bet you we repeat history and take at least one or two of the TX P-40's for our dev squad. That would be Arturo Alvarez, Ricky Lewis, or Jason Thompson. This however, does not answer the question, "Who do we take at #4?" With absolutely no scouting info, I'll say that David Stokes might be a good fit.
I wonder, should Jordan remain in Europe, would MLS "graduate" Countess from his P-40 status, or does this announcement mean that Countess and Johnson will be roster-protected for all of 2003 no matter what?
Good pick if he's available. Just as likely might be one of the players who attended last week's combine/mini- camp, of which several apparently showed quite well.
Doesn't look like any of these guys (including the college seniors) are good enough to break into the Burn's starting 11. Combined with the fact that teams are now given 6 developmental slots, the Burn need to stock-up on roster-exempt players. I hope the Burn grabs the 3 Texans. Ricky Lewis at #4. Alvarez at #12 Thompson at #15.
I'm not convinced that Vaca will be able to fill in Pareja's shoes down the line, and would like to see the Burn draft a central midfielder. Both Eddie Gaven, "a creative player whose size and athleticism make him an excellent ball-winner on both offense and defense" and Memo Gonzalez, who "plays predominantly in central midfield for John Ellinger due to his ability to change the point of attack" sound like they might be able to eventually take over Pareja's "point-guard" role on the team.
At #4 I still think Jeffries and Swift will take the best player on the board. You can't tell who that is right now becasue I think this will change with more signings. There are still players out there who could be in the pool. I too really like Alvarez, but I think he is too young to go at #4. Eskandarian will go #1. In the next pac I put Walsh, Stokes, and Ricardo Clark (the U-20 player out of Furman). There is also a real nice group of U-20 and U-17 players out there. Jason Thompson intrigues me as well, but probably not at #4. Keep an eye out for a Philip Salyer MLS signing, and a college forward named Nate Jaqua out of Portland both would go real high. I am no College Expert, but here is alist of players I put together.... http://www.3rddegree.net/season/pick_bios.htm And I can announce I will be going to the MLS SuperDraft and will have reports, interviews, and news form KC. http://www.3rddegree.net/
Sweet! How much would we each have to chip in to get you to do a Burn-fan only web cast? I was also suprised that Grabavoy and Jaqua had not signed.
Not sure I can get a web cast set up that fast. I think I can have a chat room up and running. I may have to step away form time to time, but I will try and have it running most of the day baring technical problem at the site. I also think that there will be expansion of the Developmental roster this year... more P-40 and players like Behncke. Primarily because the USL call up deal is dead. It's almost time for reserve teams.
Thanks... I was actually expecting more than that... I had heard it MIGHT be as many as ten.... but I guess 6 is better than 4.
After looking at the College and Amateur forum, I was surprised to find that the NC supporters appeared to think much more highly of Stokes P-40 classmate Logan Pause. He has played at a-mid, d-mid and central defense during his time at NC, captained the team, and was supposedly the surprise player for the U-23's versus Canada in his first call-up. Could he be a dark horse?
It may be important with so many P-40's to think about who a team might not protect for next season's hypothetical expansion draft. Look at large contracts on older players... A few come to mind. If Vaca goes an attacking mid for sure. Deering, Cerritos, Morrow, Chivas will be out of contract and we know how he feels about playing in Mexico. All make good candidates to start thinking about possibly having to replace.
Definitely think a left-sided player would be a good idea for the Burn. I think Martinez, short of him getting no looks from a Mexican club, is good as gone.
Martinez??????????????? OK back from my off season hybernation which consisted of Finals, work, and Hattrick(!), what's this about Martinez? Does he want to go to Mexico to play? He was one of our flashier players last year I'd hate to see him leave our side. That would trully suck. But if that's the deal maybe we should trade him to DCU or the Metros pluss someone to get Earnie over here. Yea...I'd be pretty happy with that.
I wouldn't go that far. He'll definitely be expecting six figures from MLS if he has another season like last year. If a Mexican team offers him more than than that, why wouldn't he go? One of the things I'm looking forward to most this season is a contract-bitter Chivas during a "resume" season.
Re: Martinez??????????????? Chivas has stated in several interview that he wants to play in Mexico at some point. He has one more year on his deal. There was a story that he had asked for a bigger deal, but my source talked to him and said he wasn't upset he got the standard raise. But his deal is up and It would certainly be prudent to think about the possibility he might want to leave, or that the Burn might not be able to afford him. Either way it is a consideration.