Drew Harrison, outside back, has reportedly sealed the deal. I wonder if other residency players signing to play collegiately, P40, or otherwise.
Gers, thans for the info. To be clear, players can't acutally sign with a college program till early February. There's nothing stopping them from verbally committing, but that is non-binding.
I ran into two of the U-18s at games yesterday, and they indicated that the following verbal commitments have been made: UVa-Will Hall, Adam Christman UCLA-Kyle McClung, Taylor Canel, Brandon Owens Stanford-Andrew Kartunen, Marcus Ryan ND-Ian Etherington
UNC I heard over the weekend that Corey Ashe and Michael Harrington have made verbal committments to UNC.
So are all the 86s from Bradenton, graduating a year early? If they're commiting to colleges for next fall, it would appear so. That's very interesting. By graduating a year early, they can do like 2 years of college, mollify their parents and see how their careers have developed and then, if they're still among the nation's elite. turn pro and still only be 19.
I wonder if a lack of playing opportunities in MLS has curtailed efforts to sign players to Project 40 contracts. I think Owens is the biggest surprise to me, but these guys have to look at a Justin Mapp or Jordan Stone re playing time and think twice about it.
I would tend to agree with this and until MLS expands the rosters and starts up reserve teams less young players will be signing P-40 contracts.
Your point makes a lot of sense for the U-17's. Right now, they have very little opportunity in MLS. OTOH, it's also possible that these kids are being conservative. Apart from (possibly) Memo Gonzalez, none of them are sure to have good pro opportunities right away. For that reason, they need to have a scholarship lined up as a fall-back. Regarding P-40, however, MLS should be shifting its focus to college. Several underclassmen from the U-20 and U-23 pools do appear ready to make the jump.
Yes and No I would say.. Yes, with the smaller rosters of MLS, playing time will be at a premium for any U-17 player.. No, in that there has been no curtailing of signing P-40 players that I am aware of.. IIRC, most of those signings are done just after the new year and not really beforehand.. As for Mapp and Stone, there playing time was certainly minimal but the day to day experience of training and living like a professional player highly outweighs the negatives of only training 20 hours a week during the college season.. Mapp and Stone both knew going in that it was highly unlikely to see any significant playing time.. Convey and Quaranta are special talents and got to play mostly out of desperation due to crippling injuries mounting up with senior players on United over the past few seasons... They are certainly the exception to the rule...
Me too. I didn't expect any of the others to get offers from MLS yet. Will Hall and Kartunen were sort of wildcards as it's difficult to evaluate them, but the others were not really at the level yet. Sandon, you make a great point about the accellerated education. If that were true it would be a pretty good deal for them. But, I'm guessing that they are making verbal committments after their junior years, which seems to be happening a lot more often in major college sports these days, particularly basketball. I'm a tad surprised and disappointed that Corey Ashe picked UNC over UVa. With his skills and stern determination to attend college for the full 4 years he's a huge catch. Stay tuned, despite the committments, if a P-40 offer pops up, I expect guys like Owens will turn pro. Any word on Spector? Has he officially been offered by MLS? In this pool I wouldn't be surprised to see Memo, Eddie Gaven, Brandon Owens and Jonathon Spector get P-40 offers. Eventually Germani and DiRaimondo may also have a chance at getting an offer IMHO. -Tron
These guys are not making commitments as juniors. Most if not all have been fast tracked and are High School Seniors. I'll agree with Sandon, It's a great idea to get them into college early. What about the proposal for U20 residency at the new Home Depot center in LA? Will it be finished (not the stadium just the training center) in time for any of these players to consider that option?
Fast-Tracking Academics Wow, I'm surprised. I knew they were taking classes during the summer, but did not know that they were fast-tracked. That's awesome! Yes, I totally agree with Sandon as well, what a brilliant idea. Now even if they go to college only for a year while they are 17, and then turn pro, they can always return to the school and obtain their collegiate degree, as they will already have passed the admissions hurdle, which is a significant barrier to older students. The schools win too. Nice. -Tron
I have to disagree with some of you, who think it's a good idea to get these guys into college early. First of all, some of these kids are REALLY small. We all know the pounding that goes on in college soccer, and some of these kids need an extra year to develop physically before they step on a college pitch. Put some of these kids in the Big Ten or Big East next year, and they'll get hammered. What's the rush to get them in college a year early? If you ask me, it's USSF trying to save money because they expanded residency to 30 players.
The U-17s have experience playing against older and stronger opponents. The rush to get them into college is that the team will disband after the finals in August anyway or sonner if they fail to qualify. They're all capable of competing at the college level. For instance, Hunter Freeman graduated early from high school and made a smooth transition to the college level. There is no use wasting another year playing youth soccer.
I'm with LuvDaBears here. Some of these kids are going to get pounded. The college game is much more physical. They can get away with it when they're playing as a national team because they have all been trained to play a similar style. When they get in college it will be a rare situation where they are surrounded by a team of similar capabilities. You can look at a couple of the players selected for the U20 team, and how they have done in college. Some of these guys are not starting or are seeing limited playing time. I'm not saying this is a bad thing--I'm just saying that the college game is different, and you shouldn't assume it will be a painless transition for some of these players.
Great attitude, very athletic, loves the game. Developed skills via playing a lot of pickup. Hits a mean cross. Goes by nastynate on the Web.
Training Time? ? Every time I read a "day in the life" interview with a English player in Four Four Two, he says something like "Got up, had breakfast, went to practice at 10 AM, finished at noon, blah blah blah." These guys seem to practice 2, maybe 3 hours daily. Twenty hours per week at most.
who are the projected starters for the U17s in the chapionships in aug. where do they have qualifying.
Student Sports lists U-18 forward George Spanos as giving a verbal commitment to St Johns. U-18 Pool: GK Andrew Kartunen - Stanford GK Jason Landers- D Taylor Canel- UCLA D Greg Dalby D Hunter Freeman- FR at UVa D David Henning D Gabriel Ortega D Kareem Smith D Mike Zaher F Sergio Flores- Chacarita Juniors M Jeff Chambers M Ian Etherington- Notre Dame M William Hall- UVa M Muner Hassen M Patrick Ianni M Josh Villalobos- FR at Furman M Arturo Alvarez F Chad Barrett F Adam Cristman- UVa F Nathan Norman F George Spanos- St Johns F Ramon Nunez GK Ryan Best M Steve Purdy M Craig Capano- Fire (MLS) M Dave Brown D Andrew Daniels D Jeff Serafini F Kamani Hill D Patrick Phelan
Anybody want to take a whack at some Portuguese? I think this is suggesting that Patrick Ianni was training with a Brazilian team at some point. http://www.milenio.com.br/milenio/noticias/ntc.asp?Cod=1169
No problemo. I ran it through one of the handy on-line translation pages on the web. Here's what came out: "Intercambio--The American sock Patrick Ianni, 17 years, this doing intercambio with the cast athleticano. He this in Brazil ha tres days and coaches in the Rubro Black one by more two weeks." Got it?