Now I know what some of you guys might be thinking, why start this thread when we're like 6 or 7 months from the Superdraft. But with so many young players strongly contending for Rookie of the Year already, how could I not? Besides with the Olympics coming up next summer, many players still in college may still be vying for a spot on the team. So who do you think is going pro next year? And who should, if they want to make the U-23 squad?
This thread might be better suited for the college board, but I'll give it a shot here. I'll take the second question first. All of them, if they want to make the U23 team. Nobody who isn't a pro next year goes to the 04 Olympics, period. Hell, it's going to be very hard for players who aren't pros NOW to make the U23 team next year. As to who should, well the obvious ones are the seniors who have been in the U23 pool - Chris Wingert of St. John's and Adolfo Gregorio of UCLA. They'll be the top SENIORS taken in next year's draft. If they have really strong starts to their pro careers, they might be able to make a run at the 18 for qualifying. As for underclassmen, Chad Marshall of Stanford is probably the best pro prospect in college soccer, not counting the incoming freshmen. If Freddy isn't in the draft, he will likely go No. 1, provided he doesn't go the Euro route. Some think he still has a shot at the Olympics but I think it's a long one since he didn't turn pro this summer. Along those lines you've also got CJ Klaas of Washington, Knox Cameron of Michigan, Ryan Cochrane and Steve Cronin of Santa Clara, Justin Moose of Wake Forest, Ned Grabavoy of Indiana and Heath Pearce of Portland. There is also a rumor that Drew Moor, who has left Furman, is turning pro this summer though he could just be transferring somewhere. If he is going to another school, toss his name into the mix. Among the freshmen, this is a very deep class as you have the U18 and U17s. The best pro prospects are UNC-bound Corey Ashe and SMU recruit Ramon Nunez. Also in this mix are Adrian Chavannes (Clemson), John DiRaimando (Saint Louis), Greg Dalby and Nate Norman (both Notre Dame). Anyone one of these guys could say college ball isn't for them though the freshmen have the advantage of being age-eligible for the 2008 Olympics so there isn't much urgency as there is with the college kids born 84 and before.
Possible Project-40 Signings for 2004 Top MLS Targets: 1. Freddy Adu F U-17 NT (MLS must sign him) 2. Danny Szetela DM U-17 NT (A probable starter for the U-17 National team in Finland) 3. Danny Vasquez MF U-18 NT (He's been scoring goals for the U-18s regularly as a midfielder) 4. Patrick Phelan LCB/LB U-18 NT (He was the MVP of the U-18s international tournament in France in 2002) 5. Julian Valentin CB U-17 NT (He's the third central defender for current team, but a year younger like Szetela) *Top Juniors- All of these players should consider leaving early as Project-40 players or else they'll have trouble making tight rosters after 4 years of college. CJ Klaas RB/DM Washington (small defender with good ball skills) Ryan Cochrane CB Santa Clara (Marshall's partner in central defense for U-20s) Steve Cronin GK Santa Clara (Former backup to Countess at Bradenton) Knox Cameron F Michigan (Huge target player) Ned Grabavoy AM Indiana (Could develop into a Kyle Martino type player with MLS experience) Soph: Justin Moose MF Wake Forest (He's making a strong run at a roster spot on U-20 team) Chad Marshall CB Stanford (MLS has been trying to sign him since HS, but it's very unlikely that he will leave Stanford early for MLS) Frosh: Corey Ashe LM/RM North Carolina (MLS also tried to sign him before the last draft) Will Hall DM Virginia (another player offered a Project-40 contract last winter) Ramon Nunez AMF SMU (He doesn't have citizenship yet, but everyone loves his attacking flair. Also trains regularly with Dallas Burn) Others: Abe Thompson F Maryland R-Jr.
I could see Klaas going very, very high in next year's draft if he decides on MLS. Heath Pearce will be an intriguing option for a lot of teams because he is a left back with some real skill. Also, there has been a trend in UP soccer for good players to take off their 2nd year under Charles. Still, don't be surprised if you don't hear a lot about Pearce until the day he declares himself eligible for the draft. UP soccer doesn't tend to generate a lot of national attention. One other thing - I'd regard Pearce as the 2nd best field player at UP right now. Alex Salazar could have a break out year as the featured player.
The league needs to start getting really creative in signing these prospects IMHO. Do something like offer $10-20K bonuses up front plus free room and board for 2-3 years(doesn't that equate to anywhere from 8-12K extra a year?). Throw in a slightly higher than average salary, say $35K. P40 usually lasts two to three years. 35+3+8=46K a year. In Texas, that's really not chump change for a single guy with no one to support. I'm sure in other places it's not seen as much. Bottom line though is that the league needs all the young talent coming through that it can get for future expansion. And the time to sign prospects is now, in order to develop them for 2005 Any thoughts on the general level of the U18 team? The team seems to have more prospects than any other previous U18 team....
I'm definitely in the Brandon Owens camp based on Dallas Cup tapes. I'd say Chevanes is borderline. He may be better off with a year of college ball & PDL under his belt. I put DiRaimondo even a bit lower. What is Gaven's story? He could go P-40 IMHO. Germani should stay in college. How old is Trini Gomez? Is he a young under 17? I would like to see him play in person or a few more taped games.
I forgot about Owens. He was offered a Project-40 contract as well, but turned it down to play at UCLA. He's interested in Europe, but I guess they aren't looking at him. Gaven plays for the MetroStars. Gomez is going to UCLA as well. He is actually one of the oldest players in the U-17 pool (Jan '86).
I haven't seen them play, but I think the previous team that featured Clark, Grabavoy, and Cameron had better results in Europe. That team won an international tournament in Portugal (Portgual, South Africa, Austria) and finished a respectable third place in a club tournament in Holland. The current U-18 NT lost 5-0 to the U-17 team in March. That scoreline is very scary. They shouldn't get jacked like that by a younger team.
One thing to keep in mind for underclassmen is that in 2005, there will likely be two more teams. Some might opt to stay an extra year to have a better shot to play more when the talent pool is a little diluted.
Yeah, but haven't they also beaten the U17s 2-1? Never underestimate the power of day in, day out training I suppose. The '99 U18 team had Casey, Martino, and Brad Davis, Lewis?, Salyer?, Carroll? anyone else I'm forgetting? The 2001 U18 team had Cochrane, Klaas, Clark, Barclay, Cameron, Grabavoy and ???it remains to be seen how good the college players become. I think long term Barclay will be a good MLS player. You're right about the 2001 team---they have a lot of potential MLS starters on that team. Cochrane, Klaas, Clark*, Cameron, Grabavoy, Barclay, Convey*, Dolinsky(A-league, I think he'll make it to MLS), 2003 potentially good MLSers-Nunez, Alvarez*, Capano*, Will Hall, Phelan, Vasquez, who else???? Still, they beat some fairly good European reserve teams, there's gotta be a few more.
Re: Possible Project-40 Signings for 2004 Thanks for the list, davide. Quick question: were you restricting yourself to players who have potential US national team connections? It's a little off-topic on this forum, but surely, there are a few foreign underclassmen out there. What about guys like Aaron Lopez of UCLA or Gonzalo Segares of VCU?
Re: Re: Possible Project-40 Signings for 2004 Yeah, I was only including players with US youth National team experience. MLS hasn't taken a foreign Project-40 player for a few years now. Lopez is an interesting player though. I wonder if he's close to gaining citizenship.
Here are some of the top seniors who are not US citizens. I’ve included their dates of birth as, for MLS purposes, that is very important. Assuming the rules don’t change, players have to be born on or after 1/1/1980 next year to qualify as a Transitional International (count against the roster and cap, not as a foreign player) in MLS. Because of this reason, a lot of NAIA and D-II foreign players who might be good enough to play in the league don’t because many of the players from those divisions are usually older. The same goes for most, but not all, Scandinavian and Israeli players who have to fulfill a military obligation before they come to the US and are usually 2-3 years older than most of their class mates. Sumed Ibrahim, M, Maryland (Ghana), 12/30/80 David McGill, M, UC Santa Barbara (Ireland), 10/24/81 Joseph Ngwenya, F, Coastal Carolina (Zimbabwe), 3/30/81 Hector Orellana, F, Cal State Fullerton (Honduras), 11/6/80 Atilla Vendegh, F, Old Dominion (Slovakia). 3/12/81 Orellama went to HS in the US and may have a Green Card. Among international underclassmen, a list of the top ones includes… UCLA’s Lopez though I suspect he has a Green Card, Mehdi Ballouchi, So., M, Creighton (Morocco), 4/6/83 Antou Jallow , Jr., F, Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Sweden) 6/11/81 Alan Keely, So., D, UC Santa Barbara (Ireland), 5/10/82 John O’Hara, Jr., GK, George Mason (Ireland), 4/18/81 Alon Lubezky, F, Jr., Hartford (Israel), 8/25/80 Guy Melamed, Jr., D, Boston College (Israel), 9/12/79 Gonzalo Segares, Jr., D, Va. Commonwealth (Costa Rica), 10/13/82 As always, I encourage others to post names of folks they think highly of or have heard good things about.
'98/99 U-18 Team Regulars: GK Doug Warren- DC United GK Curtis Spiteri- Portland A-LG D Abe Geiger- Stanford (Sr. this yr) D Matt Oliver- Virginia (Jr. this yr) D Kevin Wickart- SLU and Fire Reserves (Sr this yr) D Carlos Morales- (UCONN) D Jason Thorpe- (California) D Ryan Gibbs- (UVa) D Jonathan Weimer- UAB MF Kyle Martino- Crew MF Brian Carroll- DC United MF Ian Joy- ? MF AJ Herrera- Maryland (Sr this yr) MF Guy Abrahamson- ? MF Brad Davis- Dallas F Carlo Espinosa- Germany(?) F Connor Casey- Germany F Edson Buddle- Crew F Gus Kartes- ? F Nate Jaqua- Fire Others that attended at least one U-18 camp F Casey Schmidt- Rapids MF Logan Pause- Fire MF Johannes Maliza- Quakes MF Trevor Perea- Crew * This U-18 team might not produce any MLS quality defenders. The defenders from this age group that currently play in MLS include Kelly Gray, Kenny Arena, Tim Regan, Scot Thompson, Phil Salyer, and Jose Burciaga. ***************************** 2000/2001 U-18 Team GK Steve Cronin- Santa Clara GK Noah Palmer- Maryland D Ryan Cochrane- Santa Clara D John Hartman- Virginia D Stephen Shirley- VCU D Troy Roberts- Cal D CJ Klaas- Washington M Bobby Convey- DC United* (only in 1 camp) M Mike Enfield- UCLA M Ned Grabavoy- Indiana M Miguel Saavedra- Milwaukee ALG(?) M Kirk Dinnal- Virginia M Joe Vide- Virginia M Ricardo Clark- MetroStars F Dimi Colon- Germany F Devin Barclay- DC United* (only in 1 camp) F Knox Cameron- Michigan F Brett Weisner- Washington F Andre Schmid- St. Johns * Again, this team looks a little thin in defense.
I don't think he was a regular. IIRC, he only was called into one camp and that's because the U18s played a game in B'ham.
No, he was called into Birmingham, Terborg Holland Tournament, and the Soccer Festival in Portland. The team got together four times in 1999 and he was invited to three of them. That makes him a regular.
Even more remarkably, none of the U-18 defenders even lasted till they were U-20's. The subsequent crop may be "thin" on defense, but at least Cochrane and Klaas have proven they were good choices. IIRC, Roberts and Shirley both progressed to the U-20 pool as well.
Drew Moor From The College Board . . . Drew Moor is reported to be transferring to Indiana. He wants to be in a place where he will get more recognition and put himself in a better postion for the next draft.
2004 draft picks sandon, your assessment of the logical choices; Gregorio is not even the best player on his college team, and rarely starts or plays for his PDL team, yet you have coronated him as a top draft pick because of his nat team experience. soros opined about locking in on players like you do in another thread. take some time to look outside the nat pool for players.
A couple of points - Reccoc - or is it The c0ck? - you frikkin' dolt, did you read the whole thread? Or any others I've posted on? I just posted a list of international players who would go in the draft and I'm constantly calling for less-exposed college players to get a look from MLS or a youth national team. (My cause celebre for this year is Maryland defender Clarence Goodson.) I guess you miss those posts as it wouldn't allow you to make a self-righteous, self-serving, post that lets you expose your pettiness and narrow-mindedness. Secondly, let's see if you'll put your money where your mouth is. I think Leonard Griffin, Matt Taylor and Zach Wells are the Bruins teammates you think are better pro prospects - among the seniors - than Gregorio. I think you are mistaken and I think time will tell come the MLS draft next year. So, here it is: If Gregorio is the highest Bruin senior taken in next year's draft, you fly out and take me to an MLS game in my town. Conversely, if one of the other Bruin seniors goes before Gregorio, I'll fly out to LA-LA land and tickets to a Galaxy game are on me. So, there you go. Put up or shut up. Literally.
Sandon, thank you for the offer. Yes, i read your post in it's entirety as well as the thread. my comment was regarding your assertion that Wingert and Gregorio would be the top seniors taken in the draft. i do believe that Griffin is the top pro prospect from ucla, but it is not self serving to have that opinion. I do have club section season tickets on Victoria street and you are welcome to them even if you come to LA before the next draft. Why would you want to go to any game with a self-rightoeus, self serving, narrowminded, petty, frikkin dolt that does not currently or ever had a cause celebre? I suppose if you can put up with me for a couple of hours, i could stomach you as well. Your on. LA-LA land?