With the NCAA Final Four coming up soon, you may be wondering about a player's chances of getting a shot at the (relatively) big time. Well, if he plays for UCLA, his chances are pretty good. For the entire decade of the 1990s, there were 8-11 future pros among UCLA's letterman. We don't have complete data beyond that, but looking at the current upperclassmen, the trend should continue. UCLA is consistently drowning in talent. [Note: Here I've counted players who appeared in MLS, plus Alex Yi who went straight to Europe and Scot Thompson who hasn't appeared yet due to injury.] 82 (1) - Caligiuri 83 (1) - Caligiuri 84 (0) - 85 (1) - Caligiuri 86 (2) - Caligiuri, B.Thompson 87 (1) - B. Thompson 88 (4) - Sa.George, Jones, Lapper, B.Thompson 89 (4) - Sa. George, C.Henderson, Jones, Lapper 90 (11) - Friedel, Sa.George, C. Henderson, S. Henderson, Ianni, Ibsen, Jones, Lapper, JM Moore, Salcedo, B.Thompson 91 (9) - Friedel, Sa. George, S.Henderson, Ianni, Ibsen, Jones, Lapper, JM Moore, Salcedo 92 (11) - Friedel, Frye, Hejduk, S.Henderson, Ianni, Ibsen, Lewis, JM Moore, Razov, Salcedo, Snitko 93 (10) - Frye, Hejduk, S.Henderson, Ianni, Jakins, Lewis, Razov, Salcedo, Snitko, Vanney 94 (9) - Frye, Hejduk, Jakins, Keller, Lewis, Razov, Reis, Snitko, Vanney 95 (10) - Frye, Se.George, Hartman, Jakins, Keller, Lewis, Razov, Reis, Snitko, Vanney 96 (9) - Conrad, Se.George, Hartman, Jakins, Keller, Reis, Shak, Vagenas, Victorine 97 (10) - Bocanegra, Conrad, Se.George, Keller, Reis, Rimando, Shak, Tennyson, Vagenas, Victorine 98 (8) - Boca, Futagaki, Se.George, Rimando, Shak, Tennyson, Vagenas, Victorine 99 (8) - Boca, Futagaki, Rimando, Shak, Tennyson, S.Thompson, Vagenas, Victorine 00 (5*) - Akwari, Countess, Tennyson, S.Thompson, Yi 01 (4*) - Akwari, Futagaki, S.Thompson, Yi 02 (2*) - Futagaki, S.Thompson *Some players still at UCLA
Same chart for Indiana ... quite different story 87 (1) Sommer 88 (1) Sommer 89 (2) Deering, Sommer 90 (2) Deering, Sommer 91 (2) Maisonneuve, Yeagley 92 (2) Maisonneuve, Yeagley 93 (3) Coufal, Maisonneuve, Yeagley 94 (5) Coufal, Klein, Maisonneuve, Porter, Yeagley 95 (5) Alavanja, Coufal, Klein, Porter, Rodriguez 96 (7) Alavanja, Coufal, Klein, Korol, Kovalenko, Lavrinenko, Porter 97 (7) Alavanja, Garcia, Klein, Korol, Kovalenko, Lavrinenko, Porter 98 (5) Alavanja, Garcia, Korol, Kovalenko, Lavrinenko 99 (5) Garcia, Korol, Lavrinenko, Noonan, Warren 00 (1*) Noonan 01 (1*) Noonan 02 (1*) Noonan
I always thought it would be interesting to have an alumni game between MLS/Professional Players from UCLA vs those from Indiana. The other thing that is striking is how many guys from Indiana -- and great Indiana championship teams -- have either never overcame, or ultimately descende into, mediocrity. And we're talking Herman trophy candidate types like Alavanja and Korol. Meanwhile, of all the Indiana players, only Maisoneuvve could be considered truly an "impact" national teamer -- maybe Deering, but that's it. Klein is on the fringes, and Noonan may be. But look at all the Bruins who have been top national teamers -- Caligiuri, Cobi, JMM, Brad, Frankie, Lewis, now Boca. Guys who have been fixtures. Interesting.
Question: Was Indiana a random comparison to UCLA, or are they the runner-up in colleges that have produced professional players? I am just curious, mostly because I would have thought that Virginia would be the leader in this statistic. As to Karl's point about UCLA vs Indiana national team players, the one striking difference I see between the typical UCLA alum and the Hoosiers is that on the whole, UCLA appears to have better athletes. Perhaps that is not a high priority in Yeagley's evaluation...
Agreed that it's interesting ... I think the root cause is the underlying talent pool in their geographic regions. With the exception of Friedel, all of the UCLA players you list went to high school in Southern California, as did several non-UCLA products ... guys like Wynalda, Balboa, Donovan, Dolo, and Califf. I think UCLA won last year's NCAA title with a 100% California line-up. They're sitting on a goldmine. Incidentally, I noticed that my IU list omitted Mike Clark. Hopefully, there aren't many other mistakes.
And yet Indiana under Yeagley has 5 national titles, while UCLA has 4. Much like Bob Knight (with whom he is very good friends), Yeagley produces great college teams, regardless of whether or not those players go on to play at the highest professional level. BTW, a lot of other Indiana players have played in the A-League. I know, because we had a boatload of them when I worked for the Blast. Strangely enough, Indiana and UCLA play this weekend in the NCAA tournament.
With yesterday marking the MLS debuts of Zach Wells and Scot Thompson, it's time for an update on this list. Ex-Bruins like Yi (00 - 01), Gregorio (00 -03), and Maurin (00-03) may still get MLS minutes, so it's unlikely that 2000 won't remain as a low point. By year, UCLA letter-winners who have appeared in MLS: 82 (1) - Caligiuri 83 (1) - Caligiuri 84 (0) - 85 (1) - Caligiuri 86 (2) - Caligiuri, B.Thompson 87 (1) - B. Thompson 88 (4) - Sa.George, Jones, Lapper, B.Thompson 89 (4) - Sa. George, C.Henderson, Jones, Lapper 90 (11) - Friedel, Sa.George, C. Henderson, S. Henderson, Ianni, Ibsen, Jones, Lapper, JM Moore, Salcedo, B.Thompson 91 (9) - Friedel, Sa. George, S.Henderson, Ianni, Ibsen, Jones, Lapper, JM Moore, Salcedo 92 (11) - Friedel, Frye, Hejduk, S.Henderson, Ianni, Ibsen, Lewis, JM Moore, Razov, Salcedo, Snitko 93 (10) - Frye, Hejduk, S.Henderson, Ianni, Jakins, Lewis, Razov, Salcedo, Snitko, Vanney 94 (9) - Frye, Hejduk, Jakins, Keller, Lewis, Razov, Reis, Snitko, Vanney 95 (10) - Frye, Se.George, Hartman, Jakins, Keller, Lewis, Razov, Reis, Snitko, Vanney 96 (9) - Conrad, Se.George, Hartman, Jakins, Keller, Reis, Shak, Vagenas, Victorine 97 (10) - Bocanegra, Conrad, Se.George, Keller, Reis, Rimando, Shak, Tennyson, Vagenas, Victorine 98 (8) - Boca, Futagaki, Se.George, Rimando, Shak, Tennyson, Vagenas, Victorine 99 (8) - Boca, Futagaki, Rimando, Shak, Tennyson, S.Thompson, Vagenas, Victorine 00 (7) - Akwari, Countess, Griffin, Taylor, Tennyson, S.Thompson, Wells 01 (6*) - Akwari, Futagaki, Griffin, Taylor, S.Thompson, Wells 02 (5*) - Futagaki, Griffin, Taylor, S.Thompson, Wells 03 (3*) - Griffin, Taylor, Wells *Some players still at UCLA Speaking of impressive depth on college squads, I notice that ex-Stanford keeper Andrew Terris has gotten a deal with the MetroStars. As a senior, Terris was beaten out by talented sophomore Robbie Fulton. This fall, the tables may turn -- Fulton will be a senior and faces a battle from even-more talented sophomore Andrew Kartunen.
Terris still hasn't played an MLS minute, so he doesn't make the Stanford chart: 86: Semioli 87: Semioli 88: Harty, Semioli 89: Harty, Semioli 90: Harty 91: Harty 92: 93: 94: 95: 96: J.Clark 97: J.Clark, S.Elliott 98: J.Clark, S.Elliott, L.Morrison 99: Dunivant, Levesque, L.Morrison, R.Nelsen 00: Dunivant, T.Graham, Levesque, L.Morrison, R.Nelsen 01: Dunivant, T.Graham, Levesque, L.Morrison 02: Dunivant, T.Graham, Levesque, C.Marshall 03: C.Marshall Bobby Clark arrived in 1996 and immediately began to turn out MLS talent. That should be taken with a grain of salt, however ... Jamie Clark was his son, and Simon Elliott and Ryan Nelsen had played for Clark in his previous job coaching New Zealand. He may deserve more credit for walk-on Taylor Graham, who won his first letter in 2000, after arriving on-campus in 1998, IIRC. After Bobby Clark left in 2000, there seems to have been a bit of a drop-off, although it's too early for this table to reflect that.
When UNC beat UVa recently, they tied their all-time series at 30-30-7. Historically, UVa has had more talent, but their media guide isn't online, so I can't chart them. Here's UNC ... 86: ashton 87: ashton 88: ashton 89: ashton, ferruzzi 90: ferruzzi 91: ferruzzi 92: ferruzzi, pope, zavagnin 93: pope, t.suarez, zavagnin 94: (4) pope, t.suarez, talley, zavagnin 95: (5) pope, sahaydak, t.suarez, talley, zavagnin 96: (4) e.robinson, sahaydak, t.suarez, talley 97: (1) talley 98: (4) carrieri, d.jackson, leitch, e.robinson 99: (5) carrieri, m.crawford, d.jackson, leitch, e.robinson 00: (7) carrieri, m.crawford, d.jackson, leitch, pause, e.robinson, stokes 01: (6) m.crawford, d.jackson, leitch, pause, stokes, testo 02: (4) m.crawford, pause, stokes, testo 03: There's always a chicken-and-egg situation, but I find it interesting that their 2001 championship team coincided with a surge in the number of future pros on the roster. If Marcus Storey and Tim Merritt make it into MLS, the 2001 group will surpass the 2000's.
Looks like one of the traditional greats might be starting to recover from a long drought... Saint Louis 86: santel 87 88: santel 89: santel, sorber 90: mcbride, santel, sorber 91: battelle, mcbride, pinon, sorber 92: battelle, mcbride, mckeon, pinon, sorber 93: battelle, mcbride, mckeon, b.wilson 94: mckeon 95: mckeon 96 97: di maria 98: di maria 99: di maria, jewsbury 00: b.davis, jewsbury 01: b.davis, jewsbury, selolwane 02: jewsbury 03:
Updating Indiana ... they had an uncharacteristically bad year in 2000 -- 7 losses versus 6 from 1997-1999 combined. That could be related to the shortage of pro talent. 87 (1) Sommer 88 (1) Sommer 89 (2) Deering, Sommer 90 (2) Deering, Sommer 91 (3) M.Clark, Maisonneuve, Yeagley 92 (3) M.Clark, Maisonneuve, Yeagley 93 (4) M.Clark, Coufal, Maisonneuve, Yeagley 94 (5) M.Clark, Coufal, C.Klein, Maisonneuve, C.Porter, Yeagley 95 (5) Alavanja, Coufal, C.Klein, C.Porter, E.Rodriguez 96 (7) Alavanja, Coufal, C.Klein, Korol, Kovalenko, Lavrinenko, C.Porter 97 (7) Alavanja, N.Garcia, C.Klein, Korol, Kovalenko, Lavrinenko, C.Porter 98 (5) Alavanja, N.Garcia, Korol, Kovalenko, Lavrinenko 99 (5) N.Garcia, Korol, Lavrinenko, Noonan, Warren 00 (1) Noonan 01 (2*) Grabavoy, Noonan 02 (2*) Grabavoy, Noonan 03 (1*) Grabavoy
numerista: how hard would it be to add A-League to these lists? I know there are some guys who are playing professionally, just not in MLS.
SLU has had a few other players drafted by MLS in recent years including Kevin Kalish, Jason Cole and Nick Walls. Kevin Quigley an All American in 1997 would have been drafted by MLS but he informed MLS brass that he would not sign as he was committed to Medical School. Another former SLU player Jacob Thomas has been toiling in the German Regional Bundesliga. A number of SLU players have been playing in the A League including Joe Hammes and Tim Leonard. Keeper Paul Nagy has been in a couple of Dallas Burn Camps in recent years.
Afraid it'd be tough ... I'm not aware of any A-League player register, and even if I had one, it'd be an awful lot of work to find all the kids for a particular school. In addition, for the purpose of assessing talent, I like using an MLS appearance as my gold standard. If a kid gets the chance to play in MLS, he's very likely to give it a shot. By contrast, the decision to play in the A-League will often depend on personal factors (although there is no shortage of quality players there).
One more list before getting back to the real world ... Maryland 87: j.garvey 88: j.garvey 89: j.garvey 90: j.garvey 91: 92: 93: r.payne 94: r.payne 95: k.beach, cullen, r.t.moore, r.payne 96: k.beach, j.bent, j.cooks, cullen, a.kirk, merkel, r.t.moore, r.payne 97: k.beach, j.cooks, cullen, a.kirk, merkel, r.t.moore 98: k.beach, califf, n.downing, merkel, ta.twellman 99: buete, califf, n.downing, s.ibrahim, ta.twellman 00: buete, n.downing, goodson, s.ibrahim, salyer, stammler 01: buete, s.ibrahim, salyer, stammler 02: buete, goodson, s.ibrahim, stammler 03: buete, goodson, s.ibrahim, stammler To me, this looks like MLS giving too many ACC players a look; apart from a couple of can't-miss prospects, this group hasn't accomplished much. Another kind of "pro talent" to mention: standout ref Paul Tamberino played for Maryland.
Thx for the info, Tom ... for simplicity's sake, I'm just including guys who have actually played MLS minutes. Incidentally, I grew up hearing about SLU but hadn't been aware that so few players emerged during the mid-to-late 90's. Was there something holding the program back ... and if so, how was it fixed?
Washington 90: farrell 91 92 93: russell 94: boyce, prideaux, russell, waibel 95: boyce, mccarty, prideaux, waibel 96: boyce, franchino, mccarty, prideaux, russell 97: boyce, franchino, mccarty, prideaux, russell, waibel 98: w.hart, sleeth, waibel 99: w.hart, sleeth 00: kingsley, sleeth 01: kingsley, sleeth 02: 03: Also, Tim Lawson, currently with DC United, played from 1994-1997. It's fairly remarkable how quickly they dropped from 6 or 7 future MLSers to only 2 ... vaguely, I seem to remember that the program suffered funding cuts.
Dear god, how many red cards did they get that year? McCarty, Franchino AND Waibel. Its like the soccer version of the Hanson brothers.
Don't forget Brandon Prideaux ... and Wes Hart, who arrived the following year, isn't too easy on the ankles himself. Perhaps the program declined from a rash of career-ending injuries?
Once a strong west coast team, Cal State-Fullerton is 0-5-2 and heading to its fourth straight losing season. 90: ammann, hesse 91: ammann, hesse 92: ammann, hesse 93: ammann, hesse, lak 94: franchino, lak, b.wilson 95: digiamarino, franchino 96: digiamarino, shel.thomas 97: oughton, shel.thomas 98: a.martinez, oughton 99: a.martinez, oughton 00: oughton 01: 02: 03:
UConn 94: rhine 95: m.rocha, rhine 96: m.rocha, rhine 97: m.rocha 98: s.forko, c.gbandi, m.rocha, rhine 99: s.forko, c.gbandi, dar.lewis 00: s.forko, c.gbandi, dar.lewis 01: s.forko, c.gbandi, ralph, shav.thomas 02: ralph, shav.thomas 03: Ray Reid arrived in 1997 and won a national title by 2000 with a team that highlighted foreign-born talent. Last year and so far this year, that strategy has achieved mediocre results ... tough to say whether they'll consistently produce MLSers.
UVa 83: Gelnovatch 84: Gelnovatch 85: Gelnovatch, Harkes 86: (3) Agoos, Gelnovatch, Harkes 87: (3) Harkes, Kelderman, Maessner 88: (6) Agoos, Kelderman, Maessner, Meola, R.Williams, Yorks 89: (8) Agoos, Crawley, Imler, Kelderman, Maessner, Meola, R.Williams, Yorks 90: (10) Agoos, Bates, Causey, Crawley, Huwiler, Imler, Kelderman, Maessner, R.Williams, Yorks 91: (9) Bates, Causey, Crawley, Huwiler, Imler, Peay, R.Williams, A.J.Wood, Yorks 92: (8) Bates, Causey, Crawley, Imler, Peay, Pollard, D.Silvera, A.J.Wood 93: (7) Bates, Causey, Peay, Pollard, D.Silvera, Slivinski, A.J.Wood 94: (6) Peay, Pollard, D.Silvera, Slivinski, B.Walsh, A.J.Wood 95: (7) Chulis, B.Olsen, Pollard, D.Silvera, Slivinski, Vermillion, B.Walsh 96: (7) Chulis, M.Green, B.Olsen, Slivinski, Vermillion, B.Walsh, B.West 97: (8) Albright, Chulis, M.Green, Jas.Moore, B.Olsen, C.Prince, Vermillion, B.West 98: (6) Albright, Chulis, M.Green, Mar.Leonard, Jas.Moore, C.Prince 99: (4) K.Arena, Mar.Leonard, Martino, C.Prince 00: (6) K.Arena, Eskandarian, LeBlanc, Mar.Leonard, Martino, C.Prince 01: (5)* K.Arena, Eskandarian, LeBlanc, Mar.Leonard, Martino 02: (3)* K.Arena, Eskandarian, LeBlanc 03: * Also of note: Reyna 91-93 Obviously, the numbers are fairly big (slowly declining), but for the past decade, there's been a lot more light than heat.
Many schools post their all-time lettermen, so I use that, along with an archived MLS player register, which already includes colleges for most players. It's a little time-consuming, but I really enjoy seeing the results. It seems appropriate to wrap up this project with the nation's current #1 team in both polls: UC-Santa Barbara 99: Thiago Martins 00: Thiago Martins 01: 02: 03: Not too long ago, people would've said this team was completely irrelevant to soccer in California, let alone the US. In 1998, the year before their current coach took over, they were 2-17-1. More recently, however, they've been putting up excellent records, so it'll be interesting to see what happens next year to current standouts like Drew McAthy and New Zealand national teamer Tony Lochhead.