Final: 1/13/2011
UPDATED: 1/2/2011
After watching 100 live college soccer games this year, supplemented by another 52 games on tape, composed of 118 different college teams, here is my assessment of the seniors, international invitees and Generation Adidas underclassman. My rankings take into account the values of GA, international status and general assessment of the skill and how each player might fit into a MLS team.
Players that I haven’t seen are generally ranked lower than players that I have seen. I’m from the East coast – so it’s easier for me to see teams in the East. However, I’ve seen UCI, Sacramento State, SMU, Bradley, Cal-Northridge, Cal, San Diego, Tulsa and Drake live. I was unable to see some teams live, I’ve only seen on tape (e.g., Notre Dame, SIUE, Michigan, South Carolina, UCSB). The combine will supplement my prior observations and fill the gaps where needed.
Washington, Cal-Bakersfield and SD State are three teams that I regret not being able to see.
In addition to ranking each player sequentially, I’m assigning a letter grade using the following scale:
A=Can’t miss prospect. Should easily make the roster and may get time with the first team in 2011. By the end of the year, could be an impact player.
B=Likely to make the team. Could make roster, may take a year or more to get to the first team.
C=Probably not going to make the team. Has significant barriers to overcome. A very select few may eventually make it, but it would need to be a perfect storm (multiple injuries, playing out of their heads, fortuitous bounces, etc.).
D=Extremely unlikely to make a team.
F=No shot.
Within each grade, I’ve ranked each player.
This is a work-in-progress. I will be tweaking the rankings through the combine and I as review tape.
Below, I’ve broken out my rankings for midfielders. I’ll follow this with rankings of forwards and over-all. Enjoy!
| # | Pos | Grade | Name | College | Combine? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MF | B | Perry Kitchen | Akron | GA |
| 2 | MF | B- | Levi Houapeu | UMBC | Combine |
| 3 | MF | B- | Michael Farfan | UNC | Signed-Combine |
| 4 | MF | B- | Ashley McInnes | Tulsa | Combine |
| 5 | MF | B- | Ryan Kinne | Monmouth | Combine |
| 6 | MF | C+ | Daniel Keat | Dartmouth | Combine |
| 7 | MF | C+ | Michael Nanchoff | Akron | GA-Combine |
| 8 | MF | C+ | Junior Burgos | Cal Poly | Combine |
| 9 | MF | C+ | Hector Jimenez | California | Combine |
| 10 | MF | C | Cole Grossman | Duke | Combine |
| 11 | MF | C | Anthony Ampaipitakwong | Akron | Combine |
| 12 | MF | C | Nathanial Baako | William & Mary | |
| 13 | MF | C | Dylan Leslie | St Mary’s | |
| 14 | MF | C | Servando Carrasco | California | Combine |
| 15 | MF | C | Alex Caskey | Davidson | Combine |
| 16 | MF | C | Mathues Braga | PSU | Combine |
| 17 | MF | C | Paolo Cardozo | combine | |
| 18 | MF | C | Robby Lynch | Evansville | |
| 19 | MF | C | JC Banks | UWGB | Combine |
| 20 | MF | C | John Bayron Sosa | UMKC | |
| 21 | MF | C | Jarad vanSchaik | Portland | |
| 22 | MF | C- | Ernesto Carranza | Sacramento | Combine |
| 23 | MF | C- | Stephen McCarthy | UNC | Signed-Combine |
| 24 | MF | C- | Matt Marcin | Providence | Combine |
| 25 | MF | C- | Ben Arikian | UMass | |
| 26 | MF | C- | John Rooney | combine | |
| 27 | MF | C- | Sammy Boateng | Marshall | |
| 28 | MF | C- | Lebogang Pila | St. Peter’s | Combine |
| 29 | MF | C- | Billy Cortes | Maryland | Combine |
| 30 | MF | C- | Matt Gold | OSU | Combine |
| 31 | MF | C- | Konrad Warzycha | OSU | Combine |
| 32 | MF | C- | Piero Bellizzi | Northwestern | |
| 33 | MF | C- | Fernando Cabadas | Sacramento | |
| 34 | MF | C- | Lucas Paulini | VCU | |
| 35 | MF | C- | Spencer Thompson | Michigan State | |
| 36 | MF | C- | Levi Tesch | Niagara | |
| 37 | MF | C- | Tadeu Terra | St. John’s | |
| 38 | MF | C- | Doug Rodkey | Maryland | |
| 39 | MF | C- | Joao Plata | combine | |
| 40 | MF | C- | Khadim Diouf | San Diego State | |
| 41 | MF | C- | Matt Armstrong | New Mexico | |
| 42 | MF | C- | Jeff Leach | Colgate | |
| 43 | MF | C- | Ross Kelly | Coastal Carolina | |
| 44 | MF | D+ | Charlie Campbell | Louisville | Combine |
| 45 | MF | D+ | Brett Allen | St. Bonaventure | |
| 46 | MF | D+ | Jason Gorskie | Penn | |
| 47 | MF | D+ | Jeff Ricondo | Michigan State | |
| 48 | MF | D+ | Andres Cuero | Charlotte | |
| 49 | MF | D+ | Thomas Drake | Clemson | Combine |
| 50 | MF | D+ | Kekoa Osorio | SMU | |
| 51 | MF | D+ | Josh Moran | Creighton | |
| 52 | MF | D+ | Ben Sippola | Butler | Combine |
| 53 | MF | D+ | Marco Mangione | Towson | |
| 54 | MF | D+ | Mario Rios | Iona | |
| 55 | MF | D+ | Romeo Kabanda | Gardner-Webb | |
| 56 | MF | D+ | Eric Cava | Clemson | |
| 57 | MF | D+ | Gregory Balicki | Rhode Island | |
| 58 | MF | D+ | Evan Slusser | Virginia Tech | |
| 59 | MF | D+ | Martin Rivas | combine | |
| 60 | MF | D+ | Kevin Sawchak | UAB | |
| 61 | MF | D+ | Robert Cavener | Central Ct. | |
| 62 | MF | D+ | Stefan Lundberg | Duquesne | |
| 63 | MF | D+ | Karl Reddick | BC | Combine |
| 64 | MF | D+ | Alex Kouznetsov | Adelphi | |
| 65 | MF | D+ | Duke Ogega | Houston Baptist | |
| 66 | MF | D+ | Allen Lomax | UNC Wilmington | |
| 67 | MF | D+ | Michael Aquino | Adelphi | |
| 68 | MF | D+ | Steve Covino | Siena | |
| 69 | MF | D+ | Brayan Martinez | Seton Hall | Combine |
| 70 | MF | D | Clarke Bentley | Virginia Tech | |
| 71 | MF | D | Drew Cost | PSU | |
| 72 | MF | D | Eddie Dines | Loyola-MD | |
| 73 | MF | D | Ryan Thomas | Stanford | |
| 74 | MF | D | Jamie Davin | American | |
| 75 | MF | D | Dustin McCarty | UNC | Combine |
| 76 | MF | D | Seth C’deBaca | Georgetown | |
| 77 | MF | D | Loukas Tasigianis | Penn | |
| 78 | MF | D | Josue Soto | SMU | Combine |
| 79 | MF | D | Josh Boemecke | San Jose State | |
| 80 | MF | D | Joe O’Rourke | Towson | |
| 81 | MF | D | Jon Okafor | Brown | Combine |
| 82 | MF | D | Hunter Christiansen | Tulsa | |
| 83 | MF | D | Sergio Castillo | Creighton | |
| 84 | MF | D | Jake Van Yahres | VCU | |
| 85 | MF | D | Kyle Pateros | Butler | |
| 86 | MF | D | Ian Cameron | Mercer | |
| 87 | MF | D | Marlon Ganchozo | combine | |
| 88 | MF | D | Matt Butler | Marshall | |
| 89 | MF | D | Kyle Miller | Holy Cross | |
| 90 | MF | D | Brad Keller | Washington | |
| 91 | MF | D | Sterling Copeland | Oral Roberts | |
| 92 | MF | D | Tommy McCabe | Bucknell | |
| 93 | MF | D | Mathew Uy | Fairfield | |
| 94 | MF | D | Kevin Okapal | St. Bonaventure | |
| 95 | MF | D | Gray Bailey | UC Irvine | |
| 96 | MF | D | John Scherr | Delaware | |
| 97 | MF | D- | Michal Mravec | UAB | |
| 98 | MF | D- | Steven Amaya | Hartwick | |
| 99 | MF | D- | Branko Gavric | Charleston | |
| 100 | MF | D- | John Tardy | St. John’s | |
| 101 | MF | D- | Alex Chi | Harvard | |
| 102 | MF | D- | Chris Anzalone | SIUE | |
| 103 | MF | D- | Kieran Rice | James Madison | |
| 104 | MF | D- | Brad Franks | Elon | |
| 105 | MF | D- | Sean Morris | Seattle | |
| 106 | MF | D- | Eric Detzel | Mount St Mary’s | |
| 107 | MF | D- | Mike Deasel | Loyola-MD | |
| 108 | MF | D- | Justin Fojo | Charleston | |
| 109 | MF | D- | Dane Roberts | Furman | |
| 110 | MF | D- | Randy Roy | SIUE | |
| 111 | MF | D- | Michael Cunningham | Hartwick | |
| 112 | MF | D- | Vincent Ocampo | Loyola-Marymount | |
| 113 | MF | D- | Daniel Ankrah | Loyola-MD | |
| 114 | MF | D- | Neil Shaffer | Robert Morris | |
| 115 | MF | D- | Adrian Ortiz | Valparaiso | |
| 116 | MF | D- | William Kos | Loyola University | |
| 117 | MF | D- | Andrew Eppelsheimer | Wofford | |
| 118 | MF | D- | Jorge Ramirez | IPFW | |
| 119 | MF | F | Dan Shannon | UMBC | |
| 120 | MF | F | Jared Harris | Temple | |
| 121 | MF | F | Ryan Farquharson | New Mexico | |
| 122 | MF | F | Dominique Yahyavi | Stanford | |
| 123 | MF | F | Pepe Carotenuto | Columbia | |
| 124 | MF | F | Daniel Roberts | UNC Wilmington | |
| 125 | MF | F | Adam Costello | Colgate | |
| 126 | MF | F | Jamil Devers | Howard | |
| 127 | MF | F | Stephen Macurdy | Lafayette | |
| 128 | MF | F | Collin Harrison | Gonzaga | |
| 129 | MF | F | Anthony Colaizzi | Marquette | |
| 130 | MF | F | Luis Mojica | Northern Illinois | |
| 131 | MF | F | Troy Blewitt | Butler | |
| 132 | MF | F | Steven Sassano | Appalachian State | |
| 133 | MF | F | Paulo Bonfim | Wofford | |
| 134 | MF | F | Tolle Staffanson | Quinnipiac | |
| 135 | MF | F | Brian Harding | VMI | |
| 136 | MF | F | Brent Hooper | Villanova | |
| 137 | MF | F | Jon Rzepka | Wisconsin | |
| 138 | MF | F | Anthony Tagliaferri | Siena | |
| 139 | MF | F | Andrew Weis | Loyola University | |
| 140 | MF | F | Kyle Luetkehans | Vermont | |
| 141 | MF | F | Nate Ohmer | IUPUI | |
| 142 | MF | F | Scott Zobre | Binghamton | |
| 143 | MF | F | Scott Raymonds | UWGB | |
| 144 | MF | F | Matt Schroeder | Coastal Carolina | |
| 145 | MF | F | Ed Walugembe | Seattle | |
| 146 | MF | F | Anthony Han | George Mason | |
| 147 | MF | F | Eric Meyer | Yale | |
| 148 | MF | F | Lucas Swertloff | Northwestern | |
| 149 | MF | F | Ricky Dorrego | San Jose State | |
| 150 | MF | F | Chico Lugo | NJIT |
Dec 22, 2010 at 5:47 am
Curious about Ampaipitakwong – many have him pegged as a potential first overall. Why are you so low on him?
Dec 23, 2010 at 12:15 pm
I’ve watch Amp live 14 times over the past 4 years including an early game at WF featuring Zakuani. I love his passing skill – his vision is special. However, I’m skeptical that he’ll be successful with the physical nature of MLS. Additionally, he’s going to need to improve his defensive responsibility.
Jan 12, 2011 at 11:12 pm
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