Patrick Mullins will still be a high draft pick in 2014. (Photo via University of Maryland Athletics/Greg Flume)
Yes, I know it is extremely early to be doing a list like this but it's Friday, I have a day off, and I say why not. Just after national signing day I thought it would be a good time to break out the college reports and see who was worth a look at for next year's MLS SuperDraft.
It has only been a week since the 2013 MLS Draft wrapped up, and just two days since the Supplemental Draft gave another group to of college players their dream of being selected by a pro team, but MLS scouts are already looking ahead to next year and the players who just might be having their names called when the next draft rolls around.
The four rounds of the 2013 MLS Supplemental Draft whizzed by on Tuesday afternoon, and the Colorado Rapids, Philadelphia Union and New York Red Bulls were among the busiest teams.
The Red Bulls opened the day by taking Monmouth midfielder/defender Ryan Clark with the No.
Jason Johnson sure doesn't shy from lofty comparisons. In truth, he relishes them. When asked which player's game most resembles his own, the Virginia Commonwealth forward didn't hesitate.
"I would say Cristiano Ronaldo," he stated bluntly, before laughing as he added a caveat "but not the fancy stuff.
Good afternoon everybody (and good morning on the West Coast). It's time for us to talk all things soccer in the latest SBI Live Q&A.
If you want to talk about the U.S. Men's National team, MLS, college soccer, international soccer or the latest in movies, TV or music, feel free to join us now as I answer questions on these topics and more for the next few hours.
By Jason Davis - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 12, 2012) US Soccer Players -- The Indiana Hoosiers are college soccer champions. In 2012, that means something different than it did in 2002 or even 2007. The achievement is still notable, and represents a return to the top for Indiana and their eighth championship overall, but the victory comes during a very strange time for the game at the college level.
MLS has released their initial MLS Combine list of players today. A total of 54 seniors have been invited to the MLS Combine, that will take place next month in Florida.
Ryan Finley and Jose Gomez, two of the three Missouri Athletic Club's (MAC) Hermann Trophy finalists, are among those looking to impress the 19 MLS clubs.
Notre Dame midfielder Dillon Powers, UConn playmaker Carlos Alvarez and Coastal Carolina forward Ashton Bennett were among the top players invited to the MLS Combine.
Indiana University goalkeeper Luis Soffner is fresh off winning an NCAA title with the Hoosiers and will be the lone representative from Indiana at the Combine, while Georgetown, the team Indiana defeated, will send Tommy Muller, Jimmy Nealis and Ian Christianson to the Combine.
Akron standout and Columbus Crew Academy product Will Trapp is widely regarded as one of the best pro prospects in the college game, and it appears now that he is ready to turn pro after two seasons of college soccer.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, Trapp has hired an agent and is preparing to leave school and turn pro.
Walker Zimmerman appears to be a lock. (Furman Paladin Athletics)
It is that time of the year again. Time when we really dive into the SuperDraft talk around here now that the College Cup is over (hat tip to Indiana for claiming the crown this season).
I wanted to start off this week with an update on the Generation adidas class for this year.
Indiana beat Georgetown in the NCAA Division One Men's Soccer tournament, but the game of the tourney was the Georgetown-Maryland semifinal. That was the news, but the bigger event may be that college coaches are hearing the national critique of their value and they are getting defensive.
Tell them to give me a call," he said of the many pundits who have predicted college soccer’s eventual irrelevance.
The NCAA Tournament is down to four teams, and after a slew of upsets, we are left with two teams expected to be in Alabama for the College Cup semifinals, and two teams that rode impressive Cinderella runs to the Final Four.
Can LA convince Gyasi Zardes to sign a HGP deal this year? (CSU Bakersfield Athletics Mark Nessia)
Everyone loves the big boards that come out this time of the year. The MLS SuperDraft is less than two months away and while there is still a MLS Cup to be played this weekend, many teams are gearing up for the College Cup finals to take place the following week.
Though the 2012 MLS season isn't even over yet, the 2013 MLS Draft is just two months away and teams are in full scouting mode as they put the finishing touches on scouting reports and breakdowns of the talent available when the draft convenes in Indianapolis in January.
Gyasi Zardes has ties to LA but could go overseas instead.
We are at the final list for the 2013 MLS SuperDraft prospects. Good timing too since Turkey day is tomorrow and I probably won't be blogging a whole lot until next week. Next week I may start putting some of these players in more of an order or a board if you will.
Scott Caldwell has progress very nicely at Akron. (Photo via Akron Athletics)
We're nearly done with our early lists for the 2013 MLS SuperDraft prospects. Yesterday we tackled the defenders and last week we took a quick look at the few goalkeepers that may be available in January.
Today we're going to move up the field a bit to examine the midfielders.
London Woodberry is one of the best defensive prospects in the country. (UM Athletics/TJ Root)
This will hopefully be a busy week full of SuperDraft posts on here from me. The College Cup continues on this week as we move into the third round action. Some quality players with MLS dreams saw their Cup goals go away this past weekend with a few upsets across the board.
After more than five years of waiting, the SBI Podcast is finally here.
We have put off running a podcast for some time but now we will be featuring a regular twice-weekly podcast co-hosted by myself and Garrett Cleverly (@azkicksit on Twitter).
The 2013 Generation adidas class moved a step closer toward completion on Friday with the addition of another top college star.
Indiana University sophomore standout Eriq Zavaleta has signed a Generation adidas deal and will be available in the 2013 MLS Draft, sources confirmed to SBI on Friday.
Dylan Mares, one of the best attacking midfielders in college soccer, will be switching schools this winter, leaving behind a strong program for the defending national champions.
Mares is leaving Louisville to transfer to Indiana University. The redshirt sophomore confirmed the transfer to SBI late Monday night.
It took eight years, but Indiana University finally added their eighth NCAA men's soccer championship, and they did it in a year when few outside of Bloomington could have seen it coming.
The Hoosiers ended the regular season with just one win in five matches, losing in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, but rather than doom them, that late-season slide helped them regroup and come together in time to put together a championship run.
Georgetown goalkeeper Tomas Gomez saved Maryland's fifth and final penalty kick attempt to help the Hoyas win a thrilling College Cup semifinal in PKs and book Georgetown's first trip to the NCAA Final.
The Hoyas will face Indiana in Sunday's College Cup Final after the Hoosiers held off Creighton, 1-0, in Friday's second semifinal.
Two big semifinal games today followed by an even bigger final later this weekend. Gotta love the College Cup format as it showcases four really good teams with three big games.
Creighton tackles Indiana while Georgetown and Maryland square off. Four really talented teams folks and this is a three-game weekend that I am super excited for.
Freshman midfielder Christian Blandon scored an 89th-minute winner to propel Creighton to a 1-0 victory against UConn in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals on Sunday.
Blue Jays senior Jose Gomez set up the winner with a cross from the right flank that Blandon deposited past UConn goalkeeper Andre Blake to book Creighton's second straight trip to the College Cup semifinals.
Creighton and Indiana went into their Sunday NCAA Round of 16 matches as considerable underdogs against higher seeds, but both teams delivered upsets that have shaken up the NCAA Tournament.
Creighton eliminated Akron in penalty kicks while Indiana rode an overtime game-winner from Eriq Zavaleta to eliminate No.
UConn playmaker Carlos Alvarez and Maryland scoring leader Patrick Mullins were the headliners on a list of 15 semifinalists for the 2012 MAC Hermann Award for best college soccer player.
Akron midfielder Scott Caldwell and Notre Dame teammates Dillon Powers and Ryan Finley were other top players who will be in the running for the honor, which will be announced in January.
The NCAA Tournament Round of 16 will feature two marquee rematches from the regular season as we draw closer to identifying the four teams that will head to Alabama for the College Cup semifinals.
No. 1 seed Notre Dame faces a very familiar foe in Indiana in one of Sunday's more high-profile match-ups.
Fairleigh Dickinson continued their improbable run in the NCAA Tournament going on Sunday, knocking off Atlantic-10 champion and No. 8 seed Saint Louis, 2-1, to secure one of the shock results of the weekend and book their place in the Round of 16.
Senior Jack McVey headed home the game-winning goal three minutes into overtime to give FDU their second upset in four days after starting the tournament with a surprising 1-0 victory against Big East stalwart St.
Defending champion North Carolina will begin their quest for a repeat as NCAA champions when they take on Cinderella story Maryland-Baltimore County in Sunday's NCAA Tournament second round action.
The Tar Heels are the No. 9 seed in the tournament, but are still among the picks to potentially win it all, and they will need to knock off a UMBC side riding high after their penalty kick shootout victory against Old Dominion in the first round.
Don Norton, Jr. reflects on his time coaching with former Haverford College head coach Joe Amorim, the all-time leader in coaching wins for the oldest college soccer program in the country.
Rosie Malone-Povolny (Marquette) and Keara Thompson (UW-Milwaukee) were rivals during their college soccer careers in Milwaukee.
Now professional players, the midfielders will be teammates in Norway.
Malone-Povolny and Thompson both signed with Medkila IL, which finished second in the First Division last season to earn promotion to the Toppserien for the second time in three years.
Some light developmental/academy news for you this morning. Yesterday was the big "Letter of Intent" day for college soccer, among other sports. While it's usually a big day for American football (held on a separate day), it's becoming increasingly more important to soccer as well as MLS as academies begin to prepare to ship off their youth prospects to the "loving hands" of the NCAA.
James Weber (Hartford) will stay much closer to home to continue his professional soccer career.
The 20-year-old, who opted to forgo his final three years of college soccer eligibility to join Swedish Division 3 club Gullringens GoIF last summer, signed with the Milwaukee Wave of the Major Indoor Soccer League on Tuesday.
The college soccer scene is deep in hibernation as coaches focus on recruiting a 2013 Freshman class and players look forward to the upcoming spring schedule and PDL season, so it's a good time to step back and consider some of the stories and developments that could affect the Sounders Academy alumni in the upcoming year.
Thanks to Mike Donovan (@themikedonovan) for pointing out the AllWhiteKit.com Big Board.
If you are like me and know very little about women's college soccer, today's draft could be a little daunting. Luckily there are some folks out there who have been following the women's game much closer than I.
The Seattle Sounders announced Friday that the club has come to terms with University of Akron right back DeAndre Yedlin to become the franchise's first Homegrown signing.
"We are thrilled to sign DeAndre as our first Homegrown Player," Sounders owner and general manager Adrian Hanauer said in a team statement.
The Manchester Derby headlines a stacked weekend of soccer action across the globe.
Manchester United can put a hammer lock on first place in the English Premier League with a victory on Sunday against a Manchester City side that has yet to lose this season. City will also be at home for the contest, making a Red Devils victory that much tougher.
Andrew Ribeiro (Green Bay Notre Dame) will close out his college soccer career back at the NCAA College Cup.
The senior defender turned in his customary 90 minutes on the backline as eighth-ranked Creighton stunned No. 7 Connecticut 1-0 in a quarterfinal match Sunday in Storrs, Conn.
