Jason Garey knows it's not about where you're from, it's where you're headed -- and big things appear on his horizon.
The 6-foot striker from Gonzales, La., might be from a relative soccer wasteland, but in his past three seasons at the University of Maryland, he established himself as one of college soccer's finest goalscorers.
It's a role he hopes to fill in Major League Soccer, and all signs are that he's not going to last long in Friday's MLS SuperDraft in Philadelphia.
He's already signed an MLS contract and is looking forward to joining his new teammates, whoever they might be, and putting in some hard work.
"I hope to get a good situation, get a chance to play, get a chance to learn a lot," said Garey, who won the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy and first-team NSCAA All-America honors after leading Maryland to the NCAA Division I title last month. "I look at it as if I'm a freshman in college all over again. I have to learn about the league, how to play in this league, and just work hard and do my best."
It's a formula that has taken him from Gonzales, about a half-hour's drive from Baton Rouge, to Maryland, where he played on four NCAA College Cup final four teams, and now to The Home Depot Center, where he's stuck on the sideline nursing a hip-flexor injury during the 2006 adidas MLS Player Combine.
"I want to get out there and play," Garey said. "It's not a bad injury, but if I go out there and pull it a little further, they say I might not be able to do preseason (with an MLS team). All the coaches have seen me play enough, and they say, 'Don't worry, just be ready for preseason.'
"I want to be ready for that. I want to go into that full-bore and not have anything hold me back."
Garey's work ethic has been primed since childhood. His father, Rick, a youth soccer coach, built a soccer field in the backyard, and Jason and his sister, Melissa, "went out there and played every single game," Jason said. "The hard work, that's what's carried us."
Jason made his mark at St. Amant High School, where he was a three-time All-Louisiana player and the state's MVP as a senior, and in the Region III Olympic Development Program pool. Melissa went further, playing for the U.S. under-17 national team and becoming a focal point of Texas A&M's national-best freshman class in 2004.
"She was trying to score more goals than me this year," Jason said, "but she came up short."
Melissa Garey managed to find the net just 19 times for Texas A&M. Her big brother scored 22 for Maryland, to go with 22 his junior season and 13 as a sophomore.
He won every important national player of the year award, but the individual honors paled next to the national championship trophy the Terrapins captured by beating New Mexico in the title game at Cary, N.C.
"That capped it all off," Garey said. "Having an opportunity to go (pro) after my junior year -- I probably could have gone onto MLS after that -- but losing in the semifinals three years in a row really spurred me. I wanted to come back with the rest of the seniors and finish it off, and we were fortunate to do that and win a national championship.
"We were in a groove (at season's end). A lot of us had been there for a while, and we had a lot of experience in (big) games. There weren't a lot of nerves, and we knew exactly what we had to do to get the job done. We played a lot of good teams, but I think we were the best team all year, and we finally proved it."
The championship was the first for Maryland since 1968, and its importance for alumni wasn't lost on Garey.
"We heard from all these guys, Abe Thompson and Scott Buete and all these guys in MLS now who built it up -- Taylor Twellman and Danny Califf, who were on the first team that went to the final four in a while. And it was all building up to this year, and I think we have a chance to win it again next year.
"(Coach) Sasho (Cirovski has) built that program into being one of the best in the nation, up there with Indiana and UCLA. It's a testament to him. He built that program from being nothing in the early '90s to being at the top of college soccer this year."
Cirovski must make do without several key players from that team. Joining Garey at the Combine are Chris Lancos, one of the top right backs available in the draft; center back Kenney Bertz; and versatile Terrapins captain Michael Dello-Russo.
Garey and his sister might be the best soccer players Louisiana has produced, certainly the best from Gonzales.
"I think we're pretty much it," he said. "If you want to talk about other sports -- football, baseball, basketball -- it's different, but as far as soccer goes, I think (Nebraska-born MLS career goalscoring leader) Jason Kreis is the only other person from Louisiana. But I think he moved there in high school, so I don't know if it really counts.
"We followed similar paths. He went to Duke in the ACC, and I went to Maryland - so if I have the success he had, that would be amazing."
Veteran soccer reporter Scott French is an assistant sports editor at the Los Angeles Daily News. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
