Zip_ME87

FIVE QUESTIONS HEADING INTO THE 2018 MLS COMBINE (Goal.com, Ives Galercep) ...WHO IS THE TOP PICK? There is no Cyle Larin in the 2018 draft, a player nobody can pass on. If you quiz a half dozen MLS officials you might get a half dozen different responses on who they would take with the top pick. LAFC currently holds the No. 1 selection and is believed to be leaning toward Akron defender Joao Moutinho. He and Michigan speedster Francis Atuahene are considered the most likely to go with the top pick, though a team coveting Stanford central defender Tomas Hilliard-Arce could be tempted to make an offer for the clear-cut best center-back prospect. Will LAFC trade the first pick in the team's history? Let's not forget that Bob Bradley once dealt the first overall pick (in 2006 while at Chivas USA) and landed Sacha Kljestan and Jason Hernandez from the New York Red Bulls, who selected Marvell Wynne at No. 1. Bradley isn't the sentimental type, so if the right offer comes along, LAFC will take it. ... WHERE ARE THE CENTER BACKS? ...How many will go in 2018? We might only see one — Hilliard-Arce — if Moutinho is projected as a left back, which is the widely held belief. The challenge is going to be figuring out which of the rest of the central defender prospects is worth considering. Realistically speaking, there may not be another central defender taken besides Hilliard-Arce in the first round, or even in the first half of the second round. ...

On page 48 of the Combine book... MULTIPLE PLAYERS SELECTED IN FIRST ROUND FROM SAME SCHOOL In the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, 13 players were selected from just six schools – the most multiple selections from the same schools in draft history. In 2011, the University of Akron broke every record for previous MLS drafts when it had five players selected in the first round – all in the first eight selections overall. Wake Forest University had held the record with four selections in the first round of the 2010 SuperDraft. On eight occasions, three or more players from the same school have been selected in the first round, last occurring twice in the 2016 SuperDraft (Georgetown University; University of North Carolina). ... 2011 SuperDraft Akron (Darlington Nagbe, Perry Kitchen, Zarek Valentin, Kofi Sarkodie, Michael Nanchoff)

I do not understand why Stuart Hothusen was not invited. Horrible.

At that link for the Combine articles above, there is a pdf (downloadable) Combine Book. Very nice. This is on page 3 TOM FITZGERALD AWARD LEADING SCORER IN MLS PLAYER COMBINE 2005: Luke Kreamalmeyer (Bradley University) 2005: Marcus Storey (University of North Carolina) 2006: Brian Plotkin (Indiana University) 2006: Jorge Flor (Oral Roberts University) 2007: John Cunliffe (Fort Lewis College) 2007: Jared Kent (Old Dominion University) 2008: Eric Brunner (Ohio State University) 2008: George Josten (Gonzaga University) 2009: Stefan Frei (University of California) 2009: Peri Marosevic (University of Michigan) 2010: Amobi Okugo (UCLA) 2010: Andrew Hoxie (College of William & Mary) 2011: Jalil Anibaba (University of North Carolina) 2011: Joao Plata (Ecuador; Youth International) 2012: Casey Townsend (University of Maryland) 2012: Ethan Finlay (Creighton University) 2013: Kyle Bekker (Boston College) 2013: Stefano Pinho (Brazil) 2014: Steven Birnbaum (University of California) 2014: Victor Chavez (UCLA); 2015: Christian Volesky (SIU Edwardsville) Schillo Tshuma (University of Maryland) 2015: Christian Volesky (Southern Illinois Univ - Edwardsville) 2016: Tsubasa Endoh (University of Maryland) 2016: Chris Hellman (Lynn University) 2017: Jonathan Lewis (University of Akron); Cameron Iwasa (University of California, Irvine) 2017: Jonathan Lewis (University of Akron); Zeiko Lewis (Boston College)

Combine Match schedule. (same link as my previous post) It appears these will be streamed on the web. (Something to do besides shoveling snow on Saturday) Match Schedule Saturday, Jan. 13 12:30 pm ET: Nemeziz vs. Predator STREAM 2:30 pm ET: X vs. Tango STREAM Monday, Jan. 15 12:30 pm ET: Nemeziz vs. X WATCH 2:30 pm ET: Predator vs. Tango WATCH Wednesday, Jan. 17 10 am ET: X vs. Predator WATCH 12 pm ET: Tango vs. Nemeziz WATCH

Combine rosters, schedule Go Team Tango and Team Predator Team Tango (Blue) #18: GK - Eric Dick (Butler) #46: D - Tristan Blackmon (Pacific) #48: D - Brandon Bye (Western Michigan) #44: D - Niko de Vera (Akron) #50: D - Tomas Hilliard-Arce (Stanford) - Signed senior #51: D - Joao Moutinho (Akron) - Generation adidas #53: D/M - AJ Paterson (Wright St.) #40: M - Pablo Aguilar (Virginia) #41: M - Pau Belana (Akron) #45: M - Jose Carrera-Garcia (California) #49: M - Harry Cooksley (St. John's) #52: M - Edward Opoku (Viriginia) - Generation adidas #43: M - Oliver Shannon (Clemson) #42: M/F - Chris Mueller (Wisconsin) - Signed senior #47: F - Arthur Bosua (Columbia) #54: F - Afonso Pinheiro (Albany) #58: F - Mac Steeves (Providenc) #55: F - Alan Winn (North Carolina) Team Predator (Red) #12: GK - Jeff Caldwell (Virginia) #67: D - Cory Brown (Xavier) #62: D - Alex Bumpus (Kentucky) #64: D - Justin Fiddes (Washington) #68: D - Markus Fjortoft (Duke) #72: D/F - Mark Segbers (Wisconsin) #73: D - Nate Shultz (Akron) #74: M/D - Thomas Vancaeyezeele (Charleston) #60: M - Mo Adams (Syracuse) - Generation adidas #61: M - Rafael Andrade Santos (VCU) #63: M - Manuel Cordeiro (Akron) #70: M - Xavier Gomez (Omaha) #66: F - Jon Bakero (Wake Forest) - Signed senior #65: F - Sam Gainford (Akron) #69: F - Giovanni Godoy (UC-Irvine) #71: F - Jordan Jones (Oregon St.) #75: F - Albert Ruiz (Florida Gulf Coast) #76: F - Leon Schwarzer (San Francisco)

Gass: Five players to watch at the 2018 adidas MLS Player Combine 4. Joao Moutinho (Defender/Midfielder, Akron) A product of the Sporting CP youth academy, Moutinho was a part of an international-heavy Akron squad. He played as a left-footed, left-sided center back during most of his time in college, displaying great technique and a good range of passing. It will be fascinating to see if he will be moved farther up the field during the Combine to show off his skills at central midfield or perhaps even at left back.

EDIT: Fun listen...The stuff about the moped accident and going to play college soccer at Akron, the references to LeBron and Romeo Travis, whose name Steve doesn't say but we Akron fans know, the discussion about Darlington Nagbe, the comments about Caleb Porter...fun stuff. http://www.natebowling.com/podcast/2018/1/7/ep-24-twenty-years-from-now-yallwill-all-claim-you-loved-colin-kaepernick-and-other-musings-steve-zakuani-color-analyst-seattle-sounders 2:00: Steve summarizes the backstory of his youth that begins in the Congo (then Zaire) and life in English Council Estates (projects) in Tottenham. American soccer saved his life. Steve found that, in America, one could play soccer and go to a university. He was on this way to the University of Akron (where Lebron is from and we find out more about that at 45:00.)... ...Hot Take 5 Your thoughts on the Sigi Experiment in LA. Your thoughts on Darlignton Nagbe moving to Atlanta. What’s up with Caleb Porter? In reference to the US Men’s National Team: if I make you technical director of US Soccer, what do you do? Who are the soccer writers who you read first, who do you trust? Who is doing good work? Just before the 8 minute mark he starts talking about Akron.

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The LA Galaxy secured a steely reinforcement for their midfield on Monday, signing Perry Kitchen after acquiring his MLS rights from D.C. United. ... ... “Perry has proven himself to be a top midfielder in Major League Soccer during his time with D.C. United,” said LA Galaxy head coach Sigi Schmid in statement provided by the team. “He has continued to progress during his time in Europe and we are confident he can bolster our midfield. At only 25 years old, Perry is already an MLS veteran and will be a great addition to the LA Galaxy on and off the field.” A hard-edged, box-to-box dynamo, the Indianapolis native was a key contributor in D.C. from 2011-2015, starting at least 30 games every season as the anchor of the Black-and-Red midfield. ... ... Drafted by D.C. with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft after a sterling NCAA season at Akron, Kitchen notched 10 goals and 10 assists in 158 regular-season MLS appearances, earning the attention of the US national team staff during Jurgen Klinsmann’s tenure. ...

Updated again 2018 Zips in MLS Summary Darlington Nagbe ... Atlanta United (another MLS club that now has a former Zip on its roster) Dillon Serna ... Colorado Rapids Wil Trapp ... Columbus Crew Darren Mattocks ... DC United Perry Kitchen ... LA Galaxy Evan Bush ... Montreal Impact Teal Bunbury, Scott Caldwell ... New England Revolution Saad Abdul-Salaam, Jonathan Lewis ... NYCFC Richie Laryea ... Orlando City Adam Najem ... Philadelphia Union Zarek Valentin ... Portland Timbers Ben Zemanski ... Free Agent Kofi Sarkodie, Chris Korb ... Out of Contract

On that, I will say that Ben Speas is considered UNC, not Akron, since he transferred to UNC and went from there to the pros. I do not recall the details on Pena, but I think he also transferred for his final collegiate season(s). Nothing against Ben or Fernando. In fact, Ben Speas was always and still is one of my favorites, especially being a local boy. I wish he had not transferred.

I thought about this more and continue to struggle with it. Akron Men's Soccer currently does not recognize Victor as one of our players in the pros, and, thus, I feel I should do the same and not include him in my list. I like Victor, He's always been nice to me, and when he played with the Zips, he was an asset to our team. However, I respect our coaches who do an awesome job and the have earned and deserve that respect. To this day, I do not know what Victor did to be dismissed from the team; he has never told me, and I won't ask our coaches or his teammates because that is something that should stay within the team. I trust that our coaches did what they had to for the good of our program; I know they did a lot for Victor in recruiting him and playing him at Akron. It could not have been an easy decision for them to dismiss him from the team. Whatever happened, it was not so bad that Victor could not graduate. He did, and he is a fellow UA Alumnus. I hope he does well and that somehow can eventually make amends However, in addition to whatever he did to be dismissed, he hurt our program by not being there for the remainder of his senior season. Who knows how far that team would have gone, but I think we all know that team was better on the field with Victor than without him.

He's still listed in the Zips Media Guide 2013, 2014, 2015. So, yes.

Wil Trapp called into USMNT 2018 January Camp https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2018/01/08/14/55/20180108-news-mnt-sarachan-calls-30-player-roster-to-national-training-center-for-2018-january-camp

If past procedures hold true, there will not be an announcement until the new recruiting class is announced in February. My guess is that is by NCAA rule. I would think that new (to UA), qualified student-athletes may be enrolled in the Spring Semester but not officially part of the team until the signing period/letters of intent (which occurs in early February).

Erie’s Kahsay Ready to Impress at NPSL Player Showcase ...Now, Kahsay hopes to turn his passion for the sport into his life's work. He will get an opportunity at the fourth annual NPSL Player Showcase at Austin-Tindall Park in Kissimmee, Fla. Jan. 13-15 in front of professional scouts and coaches. A junior at the University of Akron, Kahsay was pleasantly surprised when he heard he had been invited to the showcase. His goal? "Just go in there, perform as best as I can," he said. "Maybe score a couple of goals. That's the plan." ... ...Now, he wants to make the most of that opportunity. After college and the NPSL, Kahsay wants play professionally. ...

CORRECTION: The GoZips.com article stated: Developing players for the next level has become commonplace for the Akron staff as 32 Zips have gone on to play professionally either in Major League Soccer, USL or overseas since 2006, including No. 1 overall pick Steve Zakuani in 2009, and No. 2 overall picks Darlington Nagbe in 2011 and Darren Mattocks in 2012 - just to name a few. UPDATE: I give up...USL, NASL, MLS, overseas, here are the Zips who have played professionally since 2005, of whom I know. (NCFC was NASL last season; so, I don't know whether GoZips.com is counting Ruhaak or Radjen nor do I really care.) 2007 1. Sinisa Ubiparovic (NYRB, Montreal Impact, Ottawa Fury, Indy Eleven) RETIRED 2009 2. Steve Zakuani (Seattle Sounders) GA RETIRED 3. Evan Bush (Montreal Impact [NASL & MLS]) 2010 4. Teal Bunbury (Kansas City Wizards/Sporting KC, NE Revolution) GA 5. Blair Gavin (Chivas USA, New England Revolution, Seattle Sounders, Atlanta Silverbacks, Portland Timbers 2) GA RETIRED 6. Ben Zemanski (Chivas USA, Portland Timbers) 2011 7. Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers, Atlanta United) GA 8. Perry Kitchen (DC United, Heart of Midlothian, Randers FC, LA Galaxy) GA 9. Kofi Sarkodie (Houston Dynamo, San Jose Earthquakes) GA 10. Zarek Valentin (Chivas USA, Portland Timbers) GA 11. Michael Nanchoff (Vancouver Whitecaps, Portland Timbers, Tampa Bay Rowdies) GA 12. Anthony Ampaipitakwong (San Jose Earthquakes, Buriram United, Bangkok United) 13. Chis Korb (DC United) 2012 14. Darren Mattocks (Vancouver Whitecaps, Portland Timers, DC United) GA 2013 15. Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids) HG 16. DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders, Tottenham Hotspur, Sunderland AFC, Newcastle United) HG 17. Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew) HG 18. Chad Barson (Columbus Crew, FC Linköping City) HG 19. Scott Caldwell (New England Revolution) HG 20. David Meves (Portland Timbers, Des Moines Menace, Ft Lauderdale Strikers, Puerto Rico FC) RETIRED 2014 21. Bryan Gallego (Portland Timbers) HG RETIRED 22. Eric Stevenson (NYRB, FC Cincy) 23. Aodhan Quinn (Philadelphia Union, Louisville FC, FC Cincy, Orange County) 24. Reinaldo Brenes (Sporting KC, Deportivo Saprissa, Deportivo Belén Fútbol Club) 25. Zac Portillos (Des Moines Menace, Tampa Bay Rowdies) 26. Robbie Derschang (Austin Aztecs, Harrisburg City Islanders, Arizona United) RETIRED 2015 27. Saad Abdul-Salaam (Sporting KC, NYC FC) 2016 28. Richie Laryea (Orlando City) GA 29. Jake Fenlason (Orlando City-B) 2017 30. Adam Najem (Philadelphia Union) HG 31. Jonathan Lewis (NYC FC) GA 32. Brad Ruhaak (North Carolina FC) 33. Danilo Radjen (Houston Dynamo, NY Cosmos) If you go back to 2005, there is a 34th: 34. Cameron Knowles (Real Salt Lake, Portland Timbers [NASL], Montreal Impact) RETIRED GA - is/was a member of Generation Adidas HG - MLS Home Grown EDIT: BTW, All but 4 of these players were recruited under Caleb Porter and/or Jared Embick. Ken Lolla recruited Knowles, Ubiparipovic, Bush, and Zemanski. CP convinced Zemanski to remain committed.

http://isnsoccer.com/news/2018/01/06/akrons-joao-moutinho-named-to-2018-generation-adidas-class/ ...Developing players for the next level has become commonplace for the Akron staff as 32 Zips have gone on to play professionally either in Major League Soccer, USL or overseas since 2006, including No. 1 overall pick Steve Zakuani in 2009, and No. 2 overall picks Darlington Nagbe in 2011 and Darren Mattocks in 2012 – just to name a few. Nagbe was part of a draft class that set MLS draft day records for most players drafted from a single school in the first round (5) and overall (8).

I believe this is the correct list of the 12 Akron Generation Adidas players: 2009 (1) Steve Zakuani 2010 (2) Teal Bunbury, Blair Gavin 2011 (5) Perry Kitchen, Darlington Nagbe, Michael Nanchoff, Kofi Sarkodie, Zarek Valentin 2012 (1) Darren Mattocks 2016 (1) Richie Laryea 2017 (1) Jonathan Lewis 2018 (1) Joao Moutinho Underline indicates those players still on rosters in MLS or participating in 2018 MLS Draft. Hopefully Perry Kitchen returns to MLS and Kofi is able to sign on with another team.

From Joao’s Instagram account

College Soccer News 1st 2018 MLS Mock Draft... https://collegesoccernews.com/index.php/articles/1140-2018-mock-draft That would be great to see Joao Moutinho playing in front of Evan Bush.