Major League Soccer today announced the initial list of 54 college seniors from 33 Division I schools who have been invited to participate in the 2008 adidas MLS Player Combine. The annual player combine will be held at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Jan. 11-15, 2008.
The coaching and management staffs of all 14 MLS teams will be in attendance to scout talent at the 2008 adidas MLS Player Combine, which concludes three days before the 2008 MLS SuperDraft. The 2008 MLS SuperDraft will be held on Friday, Jan. 18, 2008 in Baltimore, Md.
The list of invitees is highlighted by seven seniors who are semifinalists for the 2007 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, NCAA soccer's equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. Leading the way is the 2006 award winner Joseph Lapira (Notre Dame), and Andy Iro (UC Santa Barbara), Julius James (University of Connecticut), Stephen King (University of Maryland), Peter Lowry (Santa Clara), Julian Valentin (Wake Forest University) and Michael Videira (Duke University). The 2007 MAC Hermann Trophy finalists will be announced on Dec. 14, 2007 and the winner is announced on Jan. 11, 2008.
The initial list of players for this year's combine was determined by a select panel of Division I college coaches representing all conferences who nominated and voted for players in conjunction with MLS coaches. Youth players from the Generation adidas program will join additional collegiate players from NCAA Division II and III schools, NAIA schools and Division I alternates to finalize the 2008 adidas Player Combine. These players will be announced in the upcoming weeks.
The 2008 adidas MLS Player Combine will separate all players into four teams and feature two games per day at Lockhart Stadium on Jan. 12, 13, and 15. Each team will be led by an experienced Division I coach and will be assigned a youth coach, to be named at a later date. Former MLS coach and current assistant head coach at Duke University Mike Jeffries has been selected to coach Team Predator PowerServe. Ed Kelly, head coach at Boston College for the past 20 seasons, will coach Team adiTunit. Bobby Muuss, in his first season as the head coach at Denver University after six years as the top assistant coach at Wake Forest University, will lead Team adiPure. Tim Lenahan, head coach of Northwestern University has been chosen to coach Team Trofeo.
The Sheraton Yankee Trader Hotel will serve as the official headquarters of the adidas MLS Player Combine and the host hotel for players and coaching staffs.
Following are the names of the 54 players selected, broken down by position and by school:
2008 ADIDAS MLS PLAYER COMBINE LIST BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (5):
Dominic Cervi (University of Tulsa); Brian Edwards (Wake Forest University); Andrew Kartunen (Stanford University); Casey Latchem (Ohio State University); Steve Sandbo (Southern Methodist University);
DEFENDERS (19): Scott Bolkan (Stanford University); Matthew Britner (Brown University); Eric Brunner (Ohio State University); Adrian Chevannes (Southern Methodist University); Sean Franklin (California State University Northridge); Matt Hatzke (Santa Clara University); David Horst (Old Dominion University); Andy Iro (University of California - Santa Barbara); Julius James (University of Connecticut); Jonathan Leathers (Furman University); Rauwshan McKenzie (Michigan State University); Ryan Miller (University of Notre Dame); Brandon Owens (University of California - Los Angeles); Andre Sherard (University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill); Julian Valentin (Wake Forest University); Yomby William (Old Dominion University); David Worthen (University of North Carolina - Greensboro); Mike Zaher (University of California - Los Angeles); Geoff Cameron (University of Rhode Island);
MIDFIELDERS (23): Jeremy Barlow (University of Virginia); Eric Burkholder (University of Tulsa); El Hadj Cisse (North Carolina State University); Hugh Cronin (North Carolina State University); Pavle Dundjer (University of Illinois - Chicago); Joe Germanese (Duke University); Brian Grazier (Saint Louis University); Pat Healy (Towson University); Andrew Jacobson (University of California); George Josten (Gonzaga University); Stephen King (University of Maryland); AJ Kulp (Old Dominion University); Peter Lowry (Santa Clara University); Ryan Maduro (Providence College); Pat Phelan (Wake Forest University); David Roth (Northwestern University); Shea Salinas (Furman University); Luke Sassano (University of California); Ben Shuleva (Southern Methodist University); Dan Stratford (West Virginia University); Michael Videira (Duke University); Andy Wright (University of West Virginia); Cesar Zambrano (University of Illinois -Chicago);
FORWARDS (7): Ely Allen (University of Washington); Xavier Balc (Ohio State University); Ryan Cordeiro (University of Connecticut); Kevin Forrest (University of Washington); Joseph Lapira (University of Notre Dame); Sherron Manswell (Boston College); Lukasz Turnicz (University of Rhode Island)
ADIDAS MLS PLAYER COMBINE LIST BY SCHOOL
Boston College
Sherron Manswell
Brown University
Matthew Britner
California State University - Northridge
Sean Franklin
Duke University
Joe Germanese
Michael Videira
Furman University
Jonathan Leathers
Shea Salinas
Gonzaga University
George Josten
Michigan State University
Rauwshan McKenzie
North Carolina State University
El Hadj Cisse
Hugh Cronin
Northwestern University
David Roth
Old Dominion University
David Horst
Yomby William
AJ Kulp
Ohio State University
Casey Latchem
Eric Brunner
Xavier Balc
Providence College
Ryan Maduro
Rhode Island University
Geoff Cameron
Lukasz Tumicz
Saint Louis University
Brian Grazier
Santa Clara University
Matt Hatzke
Peter Lowry
Southern Methodist University
Ben Shuleva
Steve Sandbo
Adrian Chevannes
Stanford University
Andrew Kartunen
Scott Bolkan
Towson University
Pat Healy
University of California
Andrew Jacobson
Luke Sassano
University of California - Los Angeles
Brandon Owens
Mike Zaher
University of California - Santa Barbara
Andy Iro
University of Chicago - Illinois
Pavle Dundjer
Cesar Zambrano
University of Connecticut
Julius James
Ryan Cordeiro
University of Maryland
Stephen King
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Andre Sherard
University of North Carolina - Greensboro
David Worthen
University of Notre Dame
Ryan Miller
Joseph Lapira
University of Tulsa
Dominic Cervi
Eric Burkholder
University of Virginia
Jeremy Barlow
University of Washington
Ely Allen
Kevin Forrest
Wake Forest University
Brian Edwards
Julian Valentin
Pat Phelan
West Virginia University
Dan Stratford
Andy Wright
