Patrick Nyarko will celebrate his 22nd birthday on the Lockhart Stadium soccer field Tuesday and then in a plane ride back home to Blacksburg, Va., later that night.
As for a present, no need to wrap what he truly wants.
"To be the first pick (in Friday's MLS SuperDraft) would be excellent," said Nyarko, a 6-0, 165-pound forward and a native of Kumasi, Ghana. "I wouldn't need any other gift. To go first or even in the top three would be something out of this world."
Nyarko, who said he will wear his favorite black suit when he attends the draft in Baltimore, has heard rumors that he will be drafted high, possibly going No. 1 to the San Jose Earthquakes.
"But everyone has told me that the draft order could change because of trades," he said. "I am just keeping my fingers crossed."
Nyarko said he will call his family in Ghana -- including his father Dominic Osei Nyarko, his mother Rosemary Asiamah and his two younger sisters -- as soon as he gets word that he has been drafted.
Nyarko may also want to call another person who has been very important in his life -- Oliver Weiss, the head coach at Virginia Tech.
Weiss, a native of Germany who went to high school and college in the U.S., has turned Virginia Tech into a national power since arriving in 2002. This past season, the former North Carolina assistant coach took the Hokies to their first-ever NCAA College Cup final four.
The key has been Weiss' international recruiting. The 2007 team had four natives of Germany, one from England, one from Canada and Nyarko, who was the runner-up for the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy, given to the nation's best college soccer player.
Nyarko had never heard of the Hermann Trophy -- or Virginia Tech -- before Weiss came to Ghana on a recruiting mission in 2005.
"I was preparing to go to college in Ghana when I met Oliver," Nyarko said. "When he explained the whole program, I figured this was a great opportunity that I shouldn't pass up. My parents were totally supportive. They felt it was the right choice."
Nyarko's adjustment to Virginia Tech was helped by the fact that there were other students from Ghana on campus when he arrived. His teammates, he said, are "some of the best people I've ever met" and also assisted in the transition.
Nyarko -- and much of the world -- received a jolt on April 16, 2007, when a Virginia Tech student killed 32 people in a campus shooting before committing suicide. It is the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.
Nyarko and his teammates were safe, however.
"We were having a practice on campus when it happened," he said. "We didn't know anything about it. After practice, we were told what happened and kept in the locker room until it was safe."
Meanwhile, the horrific news had traveled quickly to Ghana, where Nyarko's family members were frantic with worry.
"They were trying to call me to see if I was OK, but all the phone lines were jammed up," Nyarko said. "They were really nervous. But when I finally reached them on the phone, everything calmed down."
But Nyarko, who said Ghana is "one of the most peaceful countries in the world", was badly shaken up by the loss of life and also the numerous students who were injured.
"I had never been around anything like that," he said. "I was still shocked for days."
Perhaps helping Nyarko cope with the tragedy is the fact that he is a psychology major. He needs one more year to graduate.
"Even though I am starting my pro career in soccer, I am going to do whatever it takes to graduate," said Nyarko, who would like to work one day as a sports psychologist. "I haven't figured out yet how, but I will do everything I can."
Nyarko has already done just about everything possible as an athlete at Virginia Tech. He was named the Atlantic Coast Conference's freshman of the year in 2005, first-team All-ACC in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and first-team All-America in 2007.
In 2007, he had the only goal in a 1-0 playoff win against Old Dominion. In the next game, Nyarko scored again as Tech knocked off two-time NCAA champion Connecticut 1-0. That win landed the Hokies in the NCAA semifinals, where they finally lost, 2-0 to Wake Forest.
Soon after that game, he decided to turn pro one year early. Nyarko is one of nine members of the Generation adidas Class of 2008, a development program that identifies and nurtures the elite youth soccer talent in the United States. While signing signed MLS contracts before completing their NCAA eligibility, Generation adidas players receive educational grants to further their college education.
"I talked to Oliver (Weiss), and he wanted me to stay for my senior year," said Nyarko, who had 31 goals and 24 assists in 57 college games, including 48 starts. "But I felt that the time was right for me to go.
"Who knows? Maybe next year I wouldn't have had such a good season. I decided that the opportunity had presented itself, and I needed to take advantage. But it was really hard to leave my teammates behind."
Nyarko will have new teammates soon -- perhaps even in San Jose.
Walter Villa is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
