NCAA, Gen A and the SuperDraft - early peeks

[professor]

for those who have nothing better to do

Tonight on Fox Soccer Channel
Men's NCAA Div 1 College Soccer, UCLA v Maryland, 10:00 p.m. ET
Game is being played at the Home Deport Centre

This match up is as good as it gets in terms of NCAA elite programs
Both are in the top 1% in terms of funding, facilities and player recruitment

Both programs operate at a standard that would make more than a couple of MLS franchises very envious

Both schools have a history of developing MLS ready players
Both schools have a history of encouraging players to go Gen A
(TFC connections = UCLA: Wynne & Barrett; Terps: Edu)

UCLA's Kyle Nakazawa (Mid) is on the Hermann watch list
Maryland's Omar Gonzalez (D - CB) is also on the watch list

UCLA is ranked 14th
UCLA's David Estrada (F) will test Maryland's back line
Estrada & Nakazawa are Jrs (both also USSF NYT members) and might be tempted to go the Gen A route

Estrada vs Gonzalez could be an entertaining match up

Maryland is ranked 8th
Terp's coach Sasha Cirovski is from Windsor
Red Bulls wonderkid Matt Kassal is a freshman with the Terps
Gonzalaz is 6'5", a Jr and smooth for such a big man - plays with a bit of a mean streak - He'll easily be approached for Gen A.
Aaron Chin (Cdn) is a reserve kpr for the Terps - he's a Sr, but from what I hear, he's 4th in depth

[Jamaicanadian]

Aaron Chin used to room with Edu.
He also used to play for Magic (a Jamaican community based club) in the OSL.

[professor]

through an e-mail this morning,
seems someone from TFC was at Home Depot Centre last night
and took in the game

btw, Terps 2, UCLA 1 in OT
HDC looked deserted, game was poorly attended, maybe 1200, hard to tell - both teams generally see 3000+ when on their home fields

Terps pulled this one out very late, played to win in the 2nd half
Terps were bigger, faster and stronger looked to be the better team overall

Matt Kassell looked good from what little time on the ball that he got. He got subbed early - didn't see it, and he didn't return so maybe an injury
Terps did a good job neutralizing Nakazawa, he's got a nice touch
Gonzalaz didn't show much - but was efficient in what he needed to do
Estrada was a non factor, didn't even start

UCLA CB, Rusin played well, i remember him from super y & dallas cups he's got some serious size as well. of the 2 CBs, Rusin had a better performance than Gonzalaz.

UCLA's Jason Leopoldo was the player I liked in this match. Quick and good decisions in distributing the ball. Good consistent touch, imposed himself throughout the match. Commentator said he's a senior so perhaps a combine invitee if he continues to be one of UCLA's main engines.


other e-mails on NCAA action
Zips destroyed Notre Dame 3-0 (Teal Bunbury, 1A)
UConn 4, St Johns 0 (O'Brien White scored 1; his buddy Priestly was MOTM, w/2 G, 1A)

[Sullivan]

Notre Dame recoved, thumped Duke yesterday. Ozzy was there.
go Irish


Are you going to keep this thread up?

Just so ya know, good info being wasted.



btw,
Great start for your guys, 4 points. That took you what, 13 games last year When are you on campus?

[Ossington Mental Youth]

Its bad on my part but i never really rate these guys all that highly, im sure they could/can make a big contribution but often they seem to bit a bit overrated, no?

[professor]

Its bad on my part but i never really rate these guys all that highly, im sure they could/can make a big contribution but often they seem to bit a bit overrated, no?

you're correct - the process is highly overrated

less than 1% of NCAA players could make a "big" contribution, but they head to Europe, not MLS, and usually as an undergrad

about 1% are ready to walk on to an MLS roster

another 2-3% of NCAA players require adjustment or transition period

look at Houston's Bobby Boswell - undrafted, very steady performer at the MLS level, a starter and has played every minute of every match so far this season for Houston. DC signed him as a discovery - solid player for DC too. Houston traded for him. A couple of all-star games. A couple of Sr caps for the US. And a couple of EPL teams are taking a sniff.

He was a pretty decent NCAA player, but played at a small school

And a bargain, $33,000.

Then there's the 3rd and 4th rounders, guys who can fill holes, gaps and not be outright liabilities

Jonathan Bornstein D left back (CHV) 4th Rd 37th overall - 06 SuperDraft
Gonzalo Segares D (CHI) 3rd round, 35th overall - 2005 SuperDraft
Jeff Parke, D (NYK) 6th round, 60th overall - 2004 SuperDraft
Rob Friend F (CHI) 4th round, 35th overall - 2004 SuperDraft
Jack Jewsbury, M (KC) 5th round, 43rd overall of the 2003 SuperDraft
Davy Arnaud, M (KC) 5th Rnd, 50th overall 02 SuperDraft - a D2 late bloomer
Cory Gibbs, CB (COL) 4th round, 40th overall of the 2001 SuperDraft
Jim Curtain, D (CHV) 3rd, 29th 2001
Craig Waibel, D (HOU) 3rd round, 31st overall - 2001 SuperDraft

but the best players aren't going the NCAA route like they used to

NCAA is just another development tier, but education based, where soccer is second priority but who knows what might happen - sort of explains why your getting guys out of university at 23

MLS is chasing high schoolers for Gen A, then the Fr & So

Julius James, perfect example, smart young man, great athlete but he's a CB
top 1% in NCAA - but was always deployed as a CB
Played youth and ODP as a CB, his coaches all played him as a CB
Its a huge shortcoming of football in N America, tunnel vision
JJ's teams' always were competitive because everyone played where they excelled - development occured naturally to facilitate winning - not to develop talented individual players. Its the way youth coaches coach, to win, not to develop. Play Jules at CB and we'll see another side of his game.

and here's another thing
word's out on TFC, little confidence in NCAA players - "NCAA players are not ready to play professionally", they lack "a football mentality or intelligence"

Right or wrong, its not a message they can afford to have out there

[Ossington Mental Youth]

Great analysis (i also suspect you enjoy the science of the whole process, HA )

[professor]

Notre Dame recoved, thumped Duke yesterday. Ozzy was there.
go Irish
Are you going to keep this thread up?
Just so ya know, good info being wasted.
btw,
Great start for your guys, 4 points. That took you what, 13 games last year When are you on campus?

hey RH
good trip?
ya I bet Clarke ripped them good on Friday night - scared them sh..less right through to yesterday

Kerr's a Cdn and a decent guy so I didn't like that result much

don't know about the thread, depends on the tech & theory group not RPB
check your gmail.
see ya in Montreal

[professor]

Great analysis (i also suspect you enjoy the science of the whole process, HA )

oh ya,

loads of fun, very challenging, and very rewarding

and thanks

[Sullivan]

Good comments on the NCAA.

If I could add to the comments about Gen A
Why is MLS hitting 20+
They need to target the youngsters, 15, 16, 17 and get them into the PRO environment.

MLS should expand the Gen A concept. A list for each MLS club.
18 players max, ages 15-18; a 3 year maximum stay then its fish or cut bait. Players could be released after a year or two.
Pay them $12,900 p/year.
No strings attached.
Its essentially expanding the Academy and Discovery concept.