NEW YORK --
Major League Soccer has announced the initial list of 65 college seniors from 45 Division I schools who have been invited to participate in the 2009 adidas MLS Player Combine. The annual player combine will be held at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Jan. 9-13, 2009. The game schedule for the player combine is also included below.
The coaching and management staffs of all 15 MLS teams will be in attendance to scout talent at the 2009 adidas MLS Player Combine, which concludes two days before the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. At the 2008 MLS SuperDraft 43 of the 56 players drafted participated in the 2008 adidas MLS Player Combine; 12 combine players were selected in the first round. The 2009 MLS SuperDraft will be held on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009 in St. Louis, Mo.
The list of invitees is highlighted by eight players who are semifinalists for the 2008 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, NCAA soccer's equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. The MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalists invited to the player combine include Wake Forest University's Sam Cronin and Marcus Tracy, Michigan State University's Doug DeMartin, Duke University's Mike Grella, Creighton University's Andrei Gotsmanov, University of California-Santa Barbara's Chris Pontius, Indiana University's Brad Ring, and UNC Charlotte's Chris Salvaggionne. The 2008 MAC Hermann Trophy finalists will be announced on Dec. 12, 2008, and the winner is announced on Jan. 9, 2009.
The initial player list 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 2009 adidas Player Combine. The final player list and team assignments will be announced in the coming weeks.
The 2009 adidas MLS Player Combine will separate all players into four teams and feature two games per day at Lockhart Stadium on Jan. 10, 11 and 13. 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. Santa Clara University Head Coach, Cam Rast has been selected to coach Team adidas Tiro. Caleb Porter, a former MLS player and current head coach of Akron, will coach Team Predator PowerSwerve. Entering his ninth season at Providence University, former MLS player Chaka Daley will lead Team adiTunit. University of Notre Dame Head Coach Bobby Clark will lead Team adiPure.
The Sheraton Yankee Clipper Hotel and the Harbor Beach Marriott will serve as the official headquarters of the adidas MLS Player Combine and the host hotel for players and coaching staffs.
Media interested in securing credentials for the 2009 adidas MLS Player Combine should contact MLS Sports Communications Manager Stephen Rodriguez at 212-450-1227 or stephen.rodriguez@mlsnet.com.
The game schedule and the 65 players selected, broken down by position and by school are included below:
MLS PLAYER COMBINE GAME SCHEDULE
All games are open to the public. All times eastern and schedule is subject to change.
Saturday, January 10
2:30 PM Predator PowerSwerve vs. adiTunit (Lockhart Stadium)
4:30 PM adiPure vs. adidas Tiro (Lockhart Stadium)
Sunday, January 11
3:00 PM adiTunit vs. adidas Tiro (Lockhart Stadium)
5:00 PM Predator PowerSwerve vs adiPure (Lockhart Stadium)
Tuesday, January 13
9:15 AM Predator PowerSwerve vs adidas Tiro (Lockhart Stadium)
11:15 AM adiPure vs adiTunit (Lockhart Stadium)
2009 ADIDAS MLS PLAYER COMBINE LIST BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (7): Chris Brown (Boston College); Evan Bush (University of Akron); Steward Ceus (University of Albany); Alec Dufty (University of Evansville); Neal Kitson (St. John's University); Milos Kocic (Loyola College); Sean Milligan (Dartmouth College)
DEFENDERS (20): Lyle Adams (Wake Forest University); Calum Angus (Saint Louis University); Trevor Banks (Old Dominion University); Darius Barnes (Duke University); Rhett Bernstein (Brown University); Matt Besler (Notre Dame University); Evan Brown (Wake Forest University); Oscar Castillo (University of Connecticut); Chris Clements (University of Tulsa); AJ Delagarza (University of Maryland); Paul Gerstenberger (Boston College); David Hertel (Michigan State University); Wes Knight (College of Charleston); Otto Loewy (Winthrop University); Yohance Marshall (University of South Florida); Ryan Mirsky (Southern Methodist University); Babjide Ogunbiyi (Santa Clara University); Kyle Russell (Coastal Carolina University); Seth Sinovic (Creighton University); Jack Traynor (Notre Dame University)
MIDFIELDERS/FORWARDS (38): Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe (George Mason University); Quincy Amarikwa (University of California-Davis); Brandon Barklage (Saint Louis University); Josh Boateng (Liberty University); Graciano Brito (Quinnipiac University); Pav Castenada (Duke University); Aaron Clapham (University of Louisville); Raphael Cox (University of Washington); Sam Cronin (Wake Forest University); Dylan Curtis (University of California-Davis); Doug DeMartin (Michigan State University); Jokul Elisabetarson (University of North Carolina-Greensboro); Michael Fucito (Harvard University); Andrei Gotsmanov (Creighton University); Mike Grella (Duke University); Alex Grendi (University of Pennsylvania); Juan Guerra (Florida International University); Jeffrey Harwell (Southern Methodist University); Bryan Irwin (University of Portland); Richard Jata (Campbell University); George John (University of Washington); Keum Sung Kim (Loyola University); Michael Lahoud (Wake Forest University); Ryan Maduro (Providence College); Patrick Murray (Furman University); Kyle Patterson (Saint Louis University); Nick Perra (University of California-Santa Barbara); Chris Pontius (University of California-Santa Barbara); Matt Poole (University of Virginia); Akeem Priestley (University of Connecticut); Daniel Revivo (Winthrop University); Tosaint Ricketts (University of Wisconsin-Green Bay); Brad Ring (Indiana University); Chris Salvaggionne (University of North Carolina-Charlotte); Jordan Seabrook (University of South Florida); Marcus Tracy (Wake Forest University); Nick Zimmerman (James Madison University); Graham Zusi (University of Maryland)
ADIDAS MLS PLAYER COMBINE LIST BY SCHOOL
Boston College
Chris Brown
Paul Gerstenberger
Brown University
Rhett Bernstein
Campbell University
Richard Jata
Coastal Carolina University
Kyle Russell
College of Charleston
Wes Knight
Creighton University
Andrei Gotsmanov
Seth Sinovic
Dartmouth University
Sean Milligan
Duke University
Darrius Barnes
Mike Grella
Pav Castaneda
Florida International University
Juan Guerra
Furman University
Patrick Murray
George Mason University
Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe
Harvard University
Michael Fucito
Indiana University
Brad Ring
James Madison University
Nick Zimmerman
Liberty University
Josh Boateng
Loyola College
Milos Kocic
Loyola University
Keum Sung Kim
Michigan State University
Doug DeMartin
David Hertel
Old Dominion University
Trevor Banks
Providence College
Ryan Maduro
Quinnipiac University
Graciano Brito
Saint Louis University
Calum Angus
Brandon Barklage
Kyle Patterson
Santa Clara University
Babajide Ogunbiyi
Southern Methodist University
Jeffrey Harwell
Ryan Mirsky
St. John's University
Neal Kitson
University of Akron
Evan Bush
University of Albany
Steward Ceus
University of California - Davis
Quincy Amarikwa
Dylan Curtis
University of California - Santa Barbara
Nick Perera
Chris Pontius
University of Connecticut
Oscar Castillo
Akeem Priestley
University of Evansville
Alec Dufty
University of Louisville
Aaron Clapham
University of Maryland
AJ Delagarza
Graham Zusi
University of Norte Dame
Matt Besler
Jack Traynor
University of North Carolina - Charlotte
Chris Salvaggione
University of North Carolina - Greensboro
Jokull Elisabetarson
University of Pennsylvania
Alex Grendi
University of Portland
Bryan Irwin
University of South Florida
Yohance Marshall
Jordan Seabrook
University of Tulsa
Chris Clements
University of Virginia
Matt Poole
University of Washington
Raphael Cox
George John
University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
Tosaint Ricketts
Wake Forest University
Lyle Adams
Evan Brown
Sam Cronin
Michael Lahoud
Marcus Tracy
Winthrop University
Otto Loewy
Daniel Revivo
