Using the Top Drawer Soccer list..... http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/References/top_100.html ...anybody care to give their deepest felt intuition, brain storms, brain farts, or whatever as to who had the best recruiting classes. Or as John McLaughlin would ask "can you say with ontological certitude, complete metaphysical conviction..." as to who had the best class? Any thoughts on good players that were left off the Top Drawer list? Thanks in advance.
This is always an interesting question. In terms of schools bringing in some talent you have to like UCLA's and Wake Forest's class. I look for good things from Kamani Hill for the Bruins, and Patrick Phelan is going to be a dominating defender for Wake. But, my vote for best class goes to the Tarheels. Beyond just raw talent you have to look to where a team needs help. UNC's defense last year was cobbled together with players who'd have preferred to be somewhere else on the pitch. It hurt UNC late in the season. Their midfield suffered when they had to move talented players to the back line to patch their defensive holes. When they changed their midfield their scoring dried up. You had no one to deliver balls to Marcus Story, Jamie Watson, and Michael Harrington. This year's class has as talented of defenders as their last class had in forwards. As much as I dislike the Tarheels, I'm afraid they're going to be a much better team next year. They did a great job of recruiting where they needed the most help.
Recruiting My favorite player/school paring has to be John Mellencamp to IU.I read it and thought it had to be a typo,but have since found out that the kid is legit and actually related to the musician,native Hoosier ,and major IU athletics booster of the same name.
Re: Re: Rating the Recruiting Classes? Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC is a great university in many respects and draws a lot of it’s talent mainly from that reputation not to mention it is very affordable even if out of state. The men’s soccer program on the other hand has suffered. They have some good talent on the team and as you know from the past has had the ability to draw good talent to the team. It also appears they will be bringing in some additional talent from the national team that should also help. The problem with the program and what keeps it from being a great program is the coaching. Elmar Bolowich and his assistant are more clinicians than winning coaches, they do some drills and some training, but when it comes to putting a team on the field and winning with them they are at a loss. I know they finally won a National Championship a couple of years ago but that win is really attributed to Oliver Weiss, now the head coach at VA Tech than with Bolowich. If you look at what Weiss has done at VA Tech since he has been there you will see why everyone knows who was the instrumental person behind the Carolina Championship. Carolina has a great tradition in many areas, but the men’s soccer program is not one of them. I believe if you make a coaching change then you will a chance to turn a mediocre program into a great program. Just look at all the talent they have had over the past 10 years and the mediocre results, with exception of the when Weiss was they “running” the program and you will see why a coaching change is best for the school. Just my opinion.
Re: Re: Re: Rating the Recruiting Classes? Wow, quite a bold assertion for a first post, calling for a coaching change in what some others might see as a successful program. The "Weiss was behind UNC's success" thread has been debated here once or twice before. Why do you single out the UNC program, sort of out of the blue, and with your initial post on BS? What happened to trigger this? Maybe one of Elmar's spring season cuts, or a recruiting snub? Just curious.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Rating the Recruiting Classes? Basically I was just expressing my opinion or observation about the school from a previous post so I was not singleing out UNC. As to that being bold, I dont think I said anything anyone else was not thinking and by your own admission said it had been debate here before in part. As for the comment concerning recruiting snub or spring season cut. The answer would be no. I have been on the sideline and have not been on the pitch for many years. That is unless Bolowich is running a masters soccer program. I apologize if I broke some Big Soccer rule that I should make a certain amount of passive or mindless post behind I express my opinion.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Rating the Recruiting Classes? Welcome to BS, mc ... no rule broken at all ... I was just curious as to what was behind the opinion that Elmar needed to be replaced ... no offense meant. You seemed to have some insight into how he ran his program ... "Elmar Bolowich and his assistant are more clinicians than winning coaches, they do some drills and some training, but ..." And see how fast the post count can grow. I think I'm already into the twentys myself.
SLU soccer Anyone hear anything regarding Tim Ward? I've heard that he is seriously considering SLU and UVa. He would be a welcome addition to a defensive line that loses all 3 starters. Thanks for the info.
As much as SLU needs to replace the back 3, I wouldn't look for too many signings this year after last year. I have heard Ward's name mentioned, but not for a while. I understand SLU got another transfer from Clemson?
They got a big center back/forward that used to room with Martin Hutton. I think he came cheaply just to get away from Trevor. From what I heard, SLU has some money turning over. Look for Ward to make a decision soon.
I have heard the same thing regarding the back going from Clemson to SLU. That player's parents frequent this board so out of deference I'll wait on the specifics till either the school announces it or said person says its OK as I don't want to say anything that could screw this up. Assuming the transfer goes through, this will be a big help to SLU's beleaguered and depleted defense.
Re: Re: Recruiting Well he does already have a building named after him, but he grew up outside Cincinnati and went to Lakota West where he was coached by the great Steve Cummins, who tragically died this year at the age of 50. His Uncle John was often seen at his nephew's games. His older brother Ian played two years at IUPUI but quit to concentrate on music. Mellencamp (center) is bringing along a teammate for company - High School All American Forward Kevin Noschang (right). A third teammate, Forward Eric Kustos (left), is headed to OSU. Quite a team this year. And none of them currently live in little pink houses - but ain't that America?.
Re: Re: Re: Recruiting Whoah, a Brotha headed to play soccer at IU? I don't think I can remember the last time that happened. By no means am I saying Yeagley is racist, just that his teams have traditionally been very whitebread. And, yes, I know that the first person to letter in soccer at IU is black.
Stanford? I'd be interested in the assessment of Stanford's recruiting so far. Top Drawer only lists two commitments so far -- Scott Bolkan and Luke Sager. Will they be able to contribute as freshmen? Does Stanford still have a legitimate shot at the others they are eyeing? Stanford very nearly went from first to worst last year. Earlier this month they lost the top draft pick in the MLS not named Adu. I know its hard for the coaching staff to find players that are gifted both on the field and in the classroom. At this point, I'm wondering if ex-coach Clark had a special knack for that or was just extraordinarily lucky...
Re: Re: Re: Re: Recruiting Kyle Schwartz of Fort Wayne, redshirt freshman in 2003. PDL Fort Wayne Fever.
Re: Stanford? [QUOTE I know its hard for the coaching staff to find players that are gifted both on the field and in the classroom. [/B][/QUOTE] I hear its getting harder. Rumor has it the admission requirements for athletes at Stanford not playing football or basketball are getting even more stringent.
Re: Re: Stanford? I hear its getting harder. Rumor has it the admission requirements for athletes at Stanford not playing football or basketball are getting even more stringent. [/B][/QUOTE] That might help explain the misfortunes of last year's team. Wonder if anyone bothered to tell Brett Simon that before he signed on as head coach.
Bill Archer,thanks for the info and pic.Mellencamp is on the Top Drawer list but Noschang is not,any more stats or info on him?
Re: Re: Re: Recruiting Bill, What do you know about Kiki Willis? Is he a junior or a senior this year? I'd read he had some overseas interest and I'm sure many of the big college programs are interested too.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Recruiting Willis was a junior this past year. It got rather quiet in NE Ohio after Willis' school was eliminated early from the state tournament in an upset. He hasn't had any luck getting a spot on the Region 2 team as well. He was apparently injured late last spring (knee), and it's been said he'd not fully recovered.
After looking at the Top Drawer website, I am surprised that no one has mentioned SMU and Duke along with UCLA, Wake Forest and North Carolina as the top recruiting classes in the country. As the other three that were mentioned in earlier posts are very strong, look at the classes that the other two have coming in: SMU - Stephen Sandbo (#1 GK on the United States U-18 team; travelled with US U-17 team to Finland for World Championships), Isreal Jones (center midfielder on the Region II 87 ODP team) and Danny Vasquez (Golden Boot at 2003 ESP; rumored to be going pro earlier this year). Duke - Michael Videira (maybe the top rated midfielder in the class and starter on the US U-18 team), Tomek Charowski (central midfielder who has starred on both the Atlanta Fire and now with the Dallas Texans; also has played with US U-18 team); Justin Papadakis (goalkeeper for Atlanta Fire and has played with the US U-18 team); Paul Dudley (6'7" defensive midfielder for FC Delco); Spencer Wadsworth (leading goal scorer for the Dallas Texans). These two have to be regarded among the top classes in the country.
I'm biased towards slu, but they received word that Tim Ward (u17 residency) is going to attend SLU. Also, a centerback from Clemson is transferring in. With the class they had last year and the addition of Ward and transfer they should be solid.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Recruiting Kenny "Kiki" Willis is only a Junior this year. (Perennial power Youngstown Cardinal Mooney). In 2002 Ohio had the distinction of being home to two of the seven Junior HS All Americans (Ohio POTY Xavier Balc and GK Casey Latchem) AND the ONLY Sophomore HS All American, Willis. Having been named again in 2003 as a Junior, he is likely to be a three time HS AA, a very rare accomplishment. He did have some injury problems this season which limited his field time and cut way back on his Region 2 participation, but I'm told he's fine. Incredibly quick with great ball skills and intelligence, and called "the most coachable kid I've ever had", he toured Europe with the Region 2 team a year ago and got offers from both AC Milan, Italy, and Roda JC, Holland, among others. He is telling people that he wants to go straight to Europe after he graduates next year, hopefully to AC Milan. US College is a distant second. Noschang is a 6'1" 175 lb. forward with as explosive a first step as most people have ever seen. he scored his share of goals but the interesting thing about him is his assists - he broke all sorts of records this year with 15 on top of a bunch of goals. It's not often that a kid who can just blow by people also has the vision and the ethic to give up the rock inside the box. A bunch of schools wanted him - particualarly several ACC schools (I understand Duke and Maryland were both camped out) but he decided on Indiana largely because of Mellencamp. Wait til you see this kid.
Sandbo is out of Columbus Upper Arlington and spent a good deal of time working with the Crew before heading off to Bradenton as a 16 year old. Big, rangy, cat-quick and a real presence in the box, this is a big time kid. He looked very good in the U17 WC and has to be considered the best GK prospect in the country. Jones is an interesting case. He was home schooled and so was never an All American or got the press a lot of kids do. But the cogniscenti knew exactly who he was. He and Balc were supposedly Ohio States top two targets, but Jones committed early (June) with SMU. Not sure how they pulled this off, but he's the real deal and will open some people's eyes. This was an incredible year for Ohio talent. Some big time kids. Maybe the best is Balc who Bluem somehow hoodwinked into going to Ohio State. A left-footed player with talent on loan from God (to borrow a phrase) you ain't lived until you've seen this guy's touch. Eric Brunner, who's on his way to Maryland, is another scary good player. Big, strong and tough. Like I said, Ohio sure was fun this year.