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Soccer recruiting has changed greatly since the Porter years. Akron used to get a decent amount of top 25 to top 50 recruits from 2007 to 2010. Now, with MLS and MLS Next and foreign leagues. probably 30 out of the top 35 ranked recruits turn pro and do not go to college. Signing the 53th ranked player is an outstanding coup for zips recruiting. In the fall 2022 recruiting class, I believe that Stefan Dobrijevic and Levi Stephens are the 2 highest rated recruits. They are in the range of 89 to 92. For the fall 2021 recruiting class, I think that GK Mitchell Budler was the highest ranked recruit. Mitchell was ranked in the high 50's. I am sure that Joshua Hardin participates in many national soccer events. It would be tremendous if young Mr. Hardin could convince some other top 100 recruits to come to Akron.

No, what I meant is we had 7 true freshman play the year we made the MACC in 2017, be nice if you get to a point freshman don’t need to play unless they are special

This points out how bad the MAC has become in soccer. Marshall, WVU and Kentucky all were part of the MAC in recent years. They left because only Akron wanted to invest in an elite conference. BG plays on a sh*t field 10 yards narrower than it should be, WMU and NIU do not want to upgrade their facility nor program. Add to that the recent addition of a terrible Chicago State program and Akron finds itself in a conference that will not prepare it for the NCAA tournament nor give it any strength of schedule points for conference games.

This is a good thing if freshmen are not immediately put in the starting lineup. We will finally have upperclassmen leading the way giving the frosh a chance to learn and develop. However, I see the possibility of freshmen Kilbane, Golden or Clark seeing playing time this year. But, only Golden is a true freshman so I think the analysis above may be accurate. Go Zips!!!

I'd like to contribute more, but the reality is with the transfers and new staff, I have no effin clue. I think Harper, Jones, and Robinson are probably locks to start on DL. Threatt at CB. Martin somewhere at DB, and some mix of Bubba/Jesloard/Terry starting at LB. Terry not being in the 2 deep would really surprise me.

Just finished watching this YouTube interview. Wow! Coach Joe has hired some fantastic staff. I defy anyone to watch this interview and not come away thinking our program is destined for excellence. I want to do everything I can to keep Joe and his staff here for as long as possible. I can't wait for the fall. we will not win 'em all, but this team will make us proud. In Joe We Trust!

To @Zipmeister's question I was also going to go out on a limb and guess McCoy. 😂 He's already a full grown man 😳