U.S. players who are college graduates?

I did see Timmy Howard doing an ad for SNHU (Southern New Hampshire University I think). That doesn't mean he's completed his degree, but it sounds like he's working on it.

 

Nice thread bump in back-to-back autumns.

 

Of the 23 players that were on the Wales/Panama camp roster, only three played NCAA soccer

Zach Steffen: Maryland, 2 years
Reggie Cannon: UCLA, 1 year
Tim Ream: St. Louis, 4 years

I wonder if there's ever been a USMNT roster of 23 players with as few NCAA players and as few NCAA years.
It seems hard to believe that there would be.

 

College soccers level is stagnant while the USMNT and MLS grow. It will soon be irrelevant in the grand scheme of US Soccer.

 

It'll provide warm bodies for the USL though.

 

Maybe. We've been saying that for 25 years, but former NCAA players still make their way to the USMNT. NCAA players called up over the last calendar year (which includes last year's January camp):

Mark McKenzie (Wake Forest)
Mauricio Pineda (UNC)
Jackson Yueill (UCLA)
JT Marcinkowski (Georgetown)
Chris Mueller (Wisconsin)
Daryl Dike (UVA)
Reggie Cannon (UCLA)
Sean Johnson (UCF)
Matt Turner (Fairfield)
Tim Ream (SLU)
Chase Gasper (Maryland)
Frankie Amaya (UCLA)
Brandon Servania (Wake Forest)
Cristian Roldan (Washington)
Gyasi Zardes (Cal St. Bakersfield)
Jonathan Lewis (Akron)
Jordan Morris (Stanford)
Zack Steffen (Maryland)

The list goes on with players that we can see capped in the next several years: Miles Robinson (Syracuse), Jeremy Ebobisse (Duke), Donovan Pines (Maryland), Henry Kessler (UVA), etc. The list goes on and on.

I think what we're seeing is that our upper echelon guys won't be NCAA players. The Pulisic, Reyna, Adams, McKennie types. But after that, the squad depth can and will still include NCAA players. And those players, particularly in certain positions like CB and GK, can rise up to be starters with the group.

People always say "there are no good players coming from the NCAAs any more" and then 3 weeks later they're watching Daryl Dike dominate right away in MLS.

A rising tide lifts all boats.

 

It would probably be a positive for the game if most college soccer programs followed this route:

https://www.yahoo.com/now/how-a-sem...-program-shuttered-by-covid-19-224852512.html

Barring that, the least the NCAA could do is allow common-sense schedule and rule changes to keep the college game at least somewhat relevant to the pro game.

 

You'll always have some players who are "one & done" -- they come from non-academy settings or weren't highly rated. They get a better sense of their standing & then attract enough attention to justify a move. Or maybe they figure out college isn't the right place for them right now.

I don't think you will see a lot of college grads.

But because the US system isn't maximized around a singular professional pyramid with a robust scouting environment, there will always be players who need college for exposure/development.

 

When I first got into soccer as a kid I pretty much viewed college ball as the first division while high school was the minor leagues. Crazy how the sport has grown.

 

how old are you?

 

Oh yes for sure, I think that it would be great for the USL to get the best of college soccer.

 

These days the top %1 of college soccer players can make it MLS. The very best of the best in the game. It was a lot larger percentage in around 2005, but I think that percentage will keep shrinking each year of college guys going into MLS and teams have started to value the Super Draft less and less each year.

 

Exhibit A. Daryl Dike.

Zero USYNT caps on any level to this day.

Two year NCAA player at Virginia. Drafted by Orlando, played a shorted MLS season.............................and is already excelling at the top of the championship while on loan.

1368232901150601219 is not a valid tweet id

 

HS and NCAA Soccer will still have a lot of importance because there is nowhere near enough pro academies to cover the entire country. Even in a sport like Tennis where most turn pro when they are teenagers you have NCAA stars on tour like John Isner, Danielle Collins and Jennifer Brady.

 

Yup.

Players with NCAA experience on our 31-man CONCACAF U23 Championships roster (I'll include the pulled Atlanta players). Not many of these players would be in our "best" USMNT (or even U23 roster.) But they're the quality depth being developed in the program. And its still every position: goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, forwards

Matt Freese (Harvard)
Jonathan Klinsmann (Cal)
JT Marcinkowski (Georgetown)
Aaron Herrera (New Mexico)
Henry Kessler (Virginia)
Mauricio Pineda (UNC)
Miles Robinson (Syracuse)
Frankie Amaya (UCLA)
Hassani Dotson (Oregon State)
Eryk Williamson (Maryland)
Jackson Yueill (UCLA)
Jonathan Lewis (Akron)
Benji Michel (Portland)

Others called in to the U23s this cycle

Aboubacar Keita (Virginia)
Donovan Pines (Maryland)
Reggie Cannon (UCLA)
Mark McKenzie (Wake Forest)
Daryl Dike (VIrginia)
Jeremy Ebobisse (Duke)

 

You've gotta think Barnsley are going to extend Orlando an offer for him.

 

GA and homegrown players that play a year or two in college aren't really "NCAA players". What is going extinct is the 4-year college player being among the best in our pool and playing on the national team. The difference is that players are now bring pros and getting minutes at 17-20 years old and before they didn't become pros until after the draft at like age 22-23. That is where we couldn't compete because a 23 year old in Europe is someone with a 100 pro appearances under their belt, not a rookie learning what it's like to play a season longer than 14 weeks. The only college players on the national team now will be late bloomers/diamonds in the rough and the occassional depth pieces like Turner at GK. Drogba didn't play first division in France til age 24. Vardy has a movie trajectory. But those are pretty rare exceptions of players reaching the highest level from obscurity.

 

Three of the American managers who have coached in the elite leagues in Europe were Ivy League graduates(Bradley,Marsch,Matarazzo) but, I do not think that will be the case with the next group of Americans getting shots to coach in Europe.

 

I kinda wonder if those places look good on a resume or if European clubs are perplexed.

 

Usually Colombia is better than Columbia.