TennZip

very happy to see Richie getting off to a good start in Orlando http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orlando-city-lions/os-orlando-city-new-0205-20160204-story.html

if you go to the zips msoc twitter.....page, they have 8 absolutely classy top notch photos that say Please help us welcome Jesus Perez to the Zips' Men's Soccer Program. @ZipsMSoc...one each for Emmanuel, Nick, Tor, Jonathan, etal they are very impressive. I just wish that some proofreading had been done. The bottom of each photo says ARKON Mens Soccer 2010 National Champions folks, we are AKRON.....not ARKON

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/mens-soccer:-top-intl-signees-to-watch_aid38818 another article with very positive comments about our 2 additions from Canada. I am also very glad to see that Jeremy Pollard is on campus now and will get to participate in the spring games,

I believe that I have welcomed most of the new players...except for a few... Welcome to Jackson Crawford, Jeremy Pollard and Jonathan Lewis. This looks like a phenomenal class. Great job by Jared, Leo Chappel and Ger Coppinger. When Jared received his contract extension, Anthony Ampaipitakwong (AMPAI) tweeted something to the effect ......"offensive genius"....smart move by Akron. I have to agree wholeheartedly with Ampai. Akron soccer is in excellent shape.....with this coaching staff and the returning players and these exciting additions. Go zips. WE ARE AKRON.

http://www.gozips.com/sports/msoc/2015-16/releases/20160204q0ymc6 I thought that I would start a new topic for this official news release "This is an extremely talented class," Embick commented. "Leo Chappel and Ger Coppinger have done a great job in putting this class together. They possess all the attributes we seek in Akron Zip soccer players; technical ability, soccer IQ, speed and power. These players are proven winners and show a great desire to be the best and they will bring that competitive fire to our team from their first session." "I believe that our dedicated fans will love watching these young players mesh with the returners. As a coach, it is exciting to know that I have even more weapons to use, more line-up combinations and tactical variety to attack our opponents with. We brought these players in to play our attacking brand of soccer, to help us get back to the College Cup, and ultimately to help win our 2nd star."

long 23 minute video....if you go to the 13;20 mark in the video...a columbus crew academy coach talks about Sinneh Kamara. They show 2 photos of Sinneh and list him as a midfielder. http://www.columbuscrewsc.com/post/2016/02/03/national-signing-day-academy-player-development-standouts-announce-college

two tweets from top drawer soccer writer Travis Clark.....today 2nd tweet Not sure of his next step, but obviously looking to turn pro. Question is where. Travis Clark ‏@travismclark 5h5 hours ago Lost in the Signing Day shuffle, I've been told that @ZipsMSoc midfielder Adam Najem won't be back for his senior season. my comments- I would have loved to see Adam back in the fall...but I wish him much success in the pros. Thank you, Adam for 3 great years as a Zip.

from the same article from top drawer soccer... snippet from the section on us-canada pipeline And on the men’s side, Akron dipped north of the border to grab Reggie Laryea and Marcel Zajac, both of whom are top quality recruits.

a premium article from top drawer soccer...lists the big winners from signing day http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-soccer-articles/big-winners-from-signing-day-2016_aid38807 I will post small snippets from the article...there were 4 winners listed....ucla women, akron men, college teams in the nc research triangle and the us-canada soccer pipeline part of the akron section: The cavalry is coming. Few men’s programs - if any - had a better Wednesday than the Zips, who threw up a fence around their recruits and snagged all of them. Chicago Magic studs Jesus Perez and Emmanuel Sabbi were the big names. Sabbi is one of the best forwards in the U.S. YNT system and Perez is a possession center mid with promise for days. The Zips also signed Laryea’s little brother Reggie and a huge, earth-shaking commit from Seattle Sounders defender Nicholas Hinds, one of the best in the academy.

tweet from Sigma FC #NationalSigningDay @SigmaFC Marcel Zajac & Reggie Laryea sign w/ @ZipsMSoc & Corey Marques signs w/ @GCU_MSOC Welcome to Akron, Mr. Zajac and Mr. Laryea

http://www.columbuscrewsc.com/post/2016/02/03/national-signing-day-academy-player-development-standouts-announce-college the crew news release...shows Kamara as a member of player development the bio above...references an uncle inspiring him. There is a somewhat famous Kamara that plays for the Crew???

a new name for us to investigate....Welcome to Akron, Sinneh Kamara Crew SC Player Dev ‏@CrewSCPlayerDev 1h1 hour ago Sinneh Kamara has officially committed to University of Akron @ZipsMSoc #CrewSC #NLI

Welcome to Mr. Perez and Mr. Sabbi(credit to ME87 for finding this tweet)...there is a nice picture on twitter of the 2 future zips...but I can;t get it to copy right now tweet from Will Parchman of Top Drawer soccer Rich -> Richer. Super-possession CM Jesus Perez & YNT superforward Emmanuel Sabbi sign for Akron.

great news for Akron....Adding a top 20 recruit like Nicholas Hinds and it is always great to add a goal keeper from the Seattle Sounders family. Tor and Nicholas, zips nation is very glad to glad to have you join the Zip soccer family.

not directly Akron related.....but it sure impacts Akron....as most of the top male recruits do not end up going to college 24 of the top 25 women recruits commit to ACC or PAC-12 schools...but 15 of the top 25 men....are not going to colleg 2nd tweet from Travis Clark On the flip side, 15 of the Top 25 boys recruits have signed pro contracts and aren't going to college. Travis Clark ‏@travismclark 7h7 hours ago Twenty-four of our top 25 #D1WSOC recruits are committed to either @pac12 or @ACCWSoccer programs.

tweet from Zip soccer recruit Alex Mapp....he had a soccer ball in his tweet but that is not copying over. Alex Mapp ‏@AMAPP18 Today is the day.. Dreams to reality #GoZips Welcome Alex to the finest soccer program in the land. Looking forward to seeing you on the field at Cub Cadet Field.

http://sbisoccer.com/2016/02/sbi-spotlight-valentin-chasing-new-american-dream-after-european-stint excellent feature on Zarek from soccer by Ives

http://buchtelite.com/30233/showcase/orlando-city-selects-ua-midfielder-richie-laryea-with-no-7-pick-in-mls-superdraft/ nice quotes from Richie and Adam

from ztvsports twitter ZTV Sports ‏@ZTVsports 1m1 minute ago Adam Najem has been dismissed from his trial run with RC Deportivo B

very nice tweet from Richie Laryea Good luck in the upcoming MLS season to our latest MLS draft pick, Richie Laryea! Akron Zips M Soccer added, Richmond Laryea @RichieLaryea_ Big thanks to @ZipsMSoc's coaches and my teammates!And to the @TheAKROWDIES best fans in college soccer! #FearTheRoo

http://www.timbers.com/post/2016/01/30/caleb-porter-ben-zemanski-nat-borchers-timbers-tucson-jan-30-2016 2 minute and 46 second news report from Timbers training camp. Caleb talks first....and then former Stowite Ben Zemanski is interviewed around 1 minute mark. They then talk with the timber with the impressive beard and then Ben comes back to talk around 1:46

ZTV (zip tv) twitter posted this on Jan. 28 Adam Najem is currently on a test run with Real Club Deportivo La Caruña of La Liga (from what we can gather)

I certainly don't know much about international soccer teams and I am not sure what it means to be on trial at Depor B. That being said, the international team would get a highly skilled, tenacious competitor and a super smart, nice young man if they sign Adam. I know that Adam and the other Akron star players have dreamed of pro soccer for their entire lives. Adam has done so much for Akron soccer during his 3 years at Akron that I hope that he gets to realize his dream and receives a very nice contract from this team. Adam has been a great student and has always conducted himself with class on the soccer field and I sincerely wish him the best. Selfishly, as a Zip fan...I would love to see Adam back on Cub Cadet field in the fall so he can complete his degree and lead his friends and teammates to a 2nd star.

http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index.ssf/2016/01/portland_timbers_sign_coach_ca.html with zipsnation being down for a little while, I would expect that most have already seen the article about Caleb's extension... well deserved

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-soccer-articles/2016-boys-img-academy-150-final-update_aid38748 this main article is free on top drawer soccer... you have to be a premium member to see the list of 150 they have added the two Akron recruits from Canada to the list Emmanuel Sabbi moved up from #21 in the rankings to #12 in the rankings However, it would be very misleading to say that top drawer soccer thinks that Emmanuel Sabbi is the 12th best player entering college soccer next year. None of the top 8 ranked players are shown as going to college. The #4 ranked athlete is Benjamin Swanson, a midfielder from Grove City, OH. Swanson signed with the columbus Crew when he was a high school junior. The #7 player is a defender from PA and he has already signed with a pro team in England. I think that the 9th and 11th ranked players have announced a college choice so Emmanuel Sabbi is actually the 3rd highest ranked player to announce a college commitment for fall 2016. With homegrown contracts, most of the top 10 ranked players look like they will bypass college they no longer show Nicholas Hinds as a UNC recruit...they list him as an Akron recruit...he was 19th in last ranking...now #20 in the final ranking Reggie Laryea shows up as #37 in their rankings...they list him as a midfielder... Marcel Zajac shows up as #116 in the rankings...they show him as a midfielder... Jesus Perez was 129 in the previous ranking....shows up as 136 in this ranking I am very encouraged by this article. Jared Embick and his staff always work very hard in recruiting and Akron's aggressive attacking style was obviously very attractive to this group of future student athletes. It looks like this list has mostly American soccer players...with some Canadians on the list. The Australian goalkeeper (that Travis Clark had identified as an Akron commit) is not eligible for this list of 150. I also did not see Jon Lewis's name on the list of 150 although he sounds like an outstanding soccer player. Looking forward to hopefully learning more about these young men on or around signing day (Feb. 3rd). Looking forward to spring and fall 2016. Keep up the good work, Coach Embick.