Real Salt Lake have signed UCLA midfielder and former RSL-Arizona academy player Jose Hernandez to a Homegrown contract, club general manager Craig Waibel announced at a town hall meeting on Monday.
First reported by Matt Montgomery at the RSL Soapbox blog, the signing was confirmed by an RSL spokesperson to MLSsoccer.com on Wednesday.
Hernandez, 20, played two years at UCLA, earning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors in 2015 and being named Pac-12 Co-Player of the Year and earning an All-America third-team nod this year. He recorded five goals and six assists in 20 games for the Bruins, following 11 goals and four helpers in 2015.
Prior to his time at UCLA, the 5-foot-6 midfielder played for the RSL-Arizona academy, earning US Soccer Development Academy U-18 West Conference Player of the Year honors in the 2014-15 season. He’ll be the seventh Homegrown Player on RSL’s roster, joining Danilo Acosta, Jordan Allen, Lalo Fernandez, Justen Glad, Sebastian Saucedo and Ricardo Velazco.
