Lets hear them guys. I know that we are still waiting on a couple of classes, but what the heck, you can always edit later. I also know that some of these teams have stated they still have players to add to their lists (Penn State,Clemson, and you know Virginia will put another kid on the U18 team and then say they have signed him). But just for fun.... 1. St. Louis 2. Notre Dame 3. Stanford 4. Penn State 5. Clemson 6. UCLA 7. SMU 8. Virginia 9. Indiana 10. Duke
Buyer, beware Soccerrules - I think you did a great job looking at the early press releases and putting together a top 10 list of the top recruiting classes. Saying that, I think you have to be careful about how high you rate Penn State. I know that you have a lot of PSU posters on here, but I have heard that one of the most overrated prospects out of this class was Jeff Chambers. A US U-18 national team player a year ago, his stock has gone down considerably over the last year. Simon Omekanda will be an excellent college player, but I don't know if he can carry a 'top 10' recruiting class. The other classes you had mentioned are all worthy of 'top 10' recruiting classes.
Top Recruiters I also wouldn't mind hearing about the top recruiters in the country as well. Dan Donnigan (St. Louis), Bobby Clark (Notre Dame) and Trevor Adair (Clemson) all have very good reputations as head coaches who are very good recruiters. Mike Frietag (Indiana), Mike Jacobs (Duke) and Matt Stimson (Stanford) are assistant coaches who have excellent reputations as recruiters, and the above mentioned group of coaches all have schools listed in that same top 10 list mentioned. I can't believe that's a coincidence.
SouthernScene, I hear Chambers is as good as advertised, but all the players in the country on all the recruiting lists are based on hearsay. (I know that isn't spelled correctly.)But the fact is, he was a 2 time ESP selection and a regular with the U18 National Team. But you may know more than I do. On paper, they are very good, that's it, I don't know too much more. But you also have to remember that all these kids coming out of the U17 camp are just that, kids too. So don't put too much stock into a group of boys that are graduation HS a year early...there is a reason there are not going Pro40. So everyones classes are basically just paper rankings until the season is over. I say we do a post season analysis next year. Good post Southern Scene.
It's just way to early to rate recruiting classes, and really, the only way to accurately rate a recruiting class is to wait a couple years to see how they do.
PSU Southern, Sorry, got cut off and couldn't finish my thoughts... Recruiting at every level is tough and hard to judge exactly right. Is 4 to high for PSU? Possibly, but anytime you land two players with that much "paper" credentials, than it deserves a high rating. The word I have heard from people who "know" is that Omekanda is without a doubt the real deal and is probably the favorite for freshman of the year in the B10 and possibly nationally. That goes a long way. Every one in the the country wanted him and many regarded him as one of the top players coming out this year and going to college. Some say he is the #1 forward prospect in the country....What have you heard? Chambers, regardless of whether or not his stock has fallen he is a U18 National Team player that a lot of people went after. Had he been signed by an ACC school than everyone would be talking about how great he is. Virginia wanted him and didn't get him, so did SJU and UNC. I am interested in hearing how his stock has dropped. It's funny how opinions go but that I hear one thing and you hear another. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder? The rest of the group seems pretty solid and like I said with all the classes, they surely aren't done, but this alone is without a doubt a top 5 class based on those 2 kids and the fact that these classes are based on credentials. There is no substitute for immediate upgrades. I respect your opinion and this is obviously all for fun.
Re: Top Recruiters Good topic..Bobby Clark is about as proven as they come. Dartmouth, Stanford, and ND. He is getting it done everywhere. Another to consider is Bob Warming..he finds players from nowhere. Donigan is young and I think that kids really like that about him. But the best, regardless of whether he can coach them or not is Gelnovatch. It's not fair how he can do it, but he does. Being the U18 coach, doesn't hurt and it obviously gets used to his advantage.
Omekanda and Chambers Omekanda was certainly one of the top rated forwards in the country coming out in this recruiting class. I would certainly put him in the same class as club and high school teammate Nate Norman (US U-18 heading to Notre Dame), Adam Cristman (UVA), Ashley Kozicki (St. John's), Jacob Peterson (Indiana) and Corey Ashe (UNC). Chambers was not as highly recruited as one might have believed, and apparently had his stock drop this summer after poor showings at ESP, Region I tournament and Super Y League Nationals. I'm sure UVA was recruiting him, as they flog the US U-18s, but he hasn't appeared for the US U-18s since last year. St. John's went after the top prospect out of FC Delco this past year, Kozicki, and got him.
Suggesting a Top Ten Recruiting Class is an interesting exercise, and since with each one you can look at all the kids they picked up and say that if one of them doesn't quite work out, they've still got Y and Z, there's even a bit of legitimacy in the exercise. But announcing that somebody will be a Conference Freshman of the Year before he ever sets foot on a field, before he even graduates from High School, is just utter nonsense. How many kids can most of us name who looked like sure things, the real deal, coming out of High School and were barely heard from again. For a class as a whole, sure. Odds are that at least SOME of them will be as advertised and more. But on an individual basis? I don't think so.
Bill, agreed. But here are 2 things. 1. Im just telling you what I have heard, I really don't know too much about these guys. Everything about these guys is word of mouth and you will never know if its true. 2. Omekanda has graduated high school already as a post from Hax and the release PSU made says. He will be training and playing at PSU from January until August. That is a MAJOR up on the rest of the players coming out this year. Justin Moose did it at Wake Forest and look what it did for him! ACC FOY. But I agree with you totally. THat is way too much pressure to put on a kid before he even plays. Omekanda will have played in spring games this year and will be training with the team. That's gonna help.
exactly LDB gets it, this is all a beauty contest. Ranking incoming classes is fun to talk about but doesn't mean a thing until these babies of the game step on a college field and play against some men. It's a different level and some will adjust better than others but to say one group is rated better than another is crystal ball stuff. If you look at the core players for the top college teams many feature players not highly touted coming out of high school. I am most familar with Maryland so I will use them as an example. Chris Lancos, Abe Thompson and Erwin Daiz were on national teams but none were starters. The players that help make UMD a top five program are the players not heavily recruited and listed on UMD's press release as the fourth, fifth or lower players in the own classes. I'm speaking of Seth Stammler, Scotty Buete, Clarence Goodson, Dom Mediate and Ian Rodway that have emerged as top rate college players that may have opportunities beyond the college level. They certainly didn't help the ratings of their incoming recuiting classes so again I say ranking recuiting classes is only a fun exercise with very little meaning.
terp fan's example of Maryland hits the nail on the head. From what I saw last season (I saw the Terps play twice in the regular season and twice in the ACC tournament), Buete was their MVP. Tireless worker, solid on the ball, good defending, just a solid blue collar player, but he doesn't have the "paper" that Diaz and Lancos had. This is what I hate about college soccer, frankly. Too much emphasis is placed on recruiting services who rank players and classes based on the kid's "paper" credentials. How do you rank a player you have never actually seen? You can't do it, but it's done...because that's the system. Southernsoccerscene mentioned a player whose stock dropped after "poor"showings at events, such as ESP. So the kid has one less than stellar showing...does that mean he's not as good as advertised, or, is he human after all and just happened to be off his game? I know a young man who went to ESP a few years ago, only 6 weeks after suffering a badly broken foot in his state cup. The kid spent 6 weeks trying to heal up so that he would be ready for ESP, only to have a mediocre camp where his stock dropped. Did the coaches know the kid had suffered two broken bones in his dominant foot 6 weeks prior to ESP? No. Did they bother to find out? No. Yet, just a few months later, the kid kicked serious butt at the ODP interregionals because he was healthy. I think it's totally unfair to say that Chambers isn't as good as people thought, because he may have been battling injuries, or whatever, you just don't know. I realize that recruiting is cutthroat and unfair, but I think a lot of these kids are given a bad rap when it's undeserved. I don't know anything about Chambers, but I hope he goes out there and proves everyone wrong who wrote him off.
The story I was told from two different college coaches was that Jeff Chambers' play had suffered throughout most of this past spring and summer. Not only was he invisible at ESP, but he was susposed to be the key player in his club team at both the Regionals and Super Y-League Nationals and did not perform well. He can't be a poor player, because he wouldn't be in those playing opportunities if he didn't have something to offer. Saying that, I wouldn't annoint him as a top player just because he was a member of the US National program at one point of his career. Heck, UVA's program is filled with players who have appeared in a US U-18 uniform!
Chambers made the region 1 pool this summer on reputation. He didn't impress at camp. He was a last minute addition to the region 1 team in Nov. due to a player dropping out. His play there was sub-par. All players at the inter-regionals were selected for the Brazil trip. Hence, Chambers made the trip. He played better in Brazil. His absence on the U18 national pool has nothing to do with his refusal to go to UVA. UVA recruited all the region 1 players. Chambers just hasn't developed like many thought he would.
UVA definately has a better recruiting class than PSU. This doesn't translate into a better year or record. UVA has lost the meat of their line-up and this will put green freshmen on the field and under enormous pressure. Situation doesn't look good for next year where 2 or 3 UVA players may leave early. Until UVA can retain players until graduation, the team will be forever young.
Bill- "But announcing that somebody will be a Conference Freshman of the Year before he ever sets foot on a field, before he even graduates from High School, is just utter nonsense. How many kids can most of us name who looked like sure things, the real deal, coming out of High School and were barely heard from again." It's kinda funny you said this because when Chad Severs signed to come to Penn State, Barry Gorman said he would be an All-American and Big Ten freshman of the year before he ever set foot on campus. Well, he performed as expected and was Big Ten Frosh of the Year in 2001 and tallied 17 goals in 2002 and seems on his way to being an All-American. I know it's ludicrous to make statements like this, but Barry Gorman doesn't run his mouth unless he feels a kid is a "can't miss" prospect. Omekanda is supposed to be one such player, we'll see if Barry is right once again. Good discussion everyone, I am very intrigued by the Jeff Chambers saga, we'll find out this fall if he's legit. Omekanda did graduate early and is here practicing with the team so he should have a leg up on other freshmen. I agree that recruiting classes are hearsay but as a Penn Stater, I'm thrilled that PSU is landing some big name recruits. Gorman throws his freshmen to the lions (just ask David Walters and Brian Devlin) so Omekanda and Chambers can expect a ton of minutes. I can't wait for the fall, when are spring games?!?!?
UCLA #6? I believe this thread started before UCLA completed its recruiting class. At this point -- with 3 members of the National U18 squad, 2 members of the National U17 team, a Region IV ODP player, and a 2002 CIF Player of the year -- the UCLA recruiting class looks very strong. To my eyes, this looks like the top collection of newcomers. Definitely not #6.
I'm not going to try ranking all the classes, but the top four, IMHO, are St. Louis, UCLA, Virginia, and Notre Dame. For immediate results, Notre Dame, with Dalby and Norman, will be a team to watch this year. UCLA got a bunch of excellent players, but it remains to be seen how many of them will actually become major contributors. Cristman should be ready to shine as a UVA freshman...I have a wait and see attitude about the others. SLU, with the youngsters, may have the best class of all, but the results may be a couple of years away.
recruiting classes the 2000 UCLA recruiting class was comprised of u-20 players Yi, Akwari, gregorio, and countess. u-20 pool players; griffin, taylor and mckinley and u-17 pool player lawson. Yi, Akwari and Countess left early and UCLA won the cup during their junior year. i don't see how anyone can say this year's recruiting class is UCLA's best on paper in recent years, but what this really shows us is that quantity and quality pay dividends. PS, i think YI, Akwari and Countess have had regrets about leaving early.