Darwin Jones Chooses UW, Five Sounders Academy Players Now Huskies
by Jeremiah Oshan on Feb 6, 2012 10:51 AM PST
in Sounders: Academy, U23 PDL and Reserves
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Darwin Jones was among the Seattle Sounders' recent cuts from preseason training camp, but that doesn't mean he'll be going very far. The 19-year-old has joined the University of Washington's 2012 recruiting class, giving the Huskies four Sounders Academy products in this class alone. Jones will be accompanied by Michael Gallagher, Ian Lange and Dom Dismuke. Along with Drew White, who will be entering his sophomore season at UW, the Huskies will have five Sounders Academy players on the 2012 team.
The addition of Jones is particularly noteworthy. When the list of commitments was originally released last week, Jones' name was not included. Jones spent last season at Highline Community College, where he led the team with 15 goals and 10 assists.
"In my opinion, Darwin is likely the best attacking player entering college soccer next year," UW coach Jamie Clark said in a school release. "He has electric pace and great feet, which makes him a very tough matchup defender. He had a great season with Highline CC last year and before that was a standout for the Seattle Sounders Academy. He has big shoes to fill with the departure of Brent Richards, but I believe he's ready to make a big impact. "
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What do the Sounders have to do to keep him as a player they can add to the roster if they choose to…aka avoid the draft ?
Is it train him so many minutes per year ? Or is it, once you have trained him for a certain amount of time, he is yours ? Or maybe once they go to college, you are done, they are draft eligible (except for petitioning MLS for exceptions )
he needs to keep training with sounders
if he plays on u23 team, that would probably suffice.
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by Jeremiah Oshan on Feb 6, 2012 11:07 AM PST up reply actions
How much training is required?
Or is that not a defined quantity?
Nos audietis in somniis
Nos audietis in altum
by Seattle Coug on Feb 6, 2012 11:42 AM PST up reply actions
Off hand, I don't know
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, MLS editor SB Nation. Follow me on Twitter. You'll Never Yacht Alone.
by Jeremiah Oshan on Feb 6, 2012 11:55 AM PST up reply actions
Based on this article, 30 games and/or practice sessions during their 4 years of college to remain eligible
Here is the link to Goal.com’s story about the HGP rules.
It’s the most comprehensive detailing of the rule I have found. It is much more detailed than what I have found on MLS’s website.
Full quote (emphasis added)
Each club sends a list of 18 to 20 potential prospects in four separate age groups (U-14, U-16, U-18 and U-23) to the league office on a quarterly (or, in some cases, more frequent) basis. The players included on that list must be in the club’s youth development system at the time (and presumably located within its home territory – generally defined as within a 75-mile radius of the home stadium plus any additional territory granted to the team) and may not include any U.S. youth internationals who were not involved in the club’s academy program prior to their inclusion with the national team.
All players must take part in a combination of 80 games or practice sessions before departing for college in order to establish their eligibility for a Home Grown contract. Once they leave for school, they must participate in a minimum of 30 games or practice sessions (usually with the first team, but not always) during their four years in order to maintain their connection to the club. No player may feature in a competitive first-team game without spending at least one season under the club’s auspices, even if an exception is made to include them under the Home Grown rule.
by CMC_Stags on Feb 6, 2012 2:40 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
My gut feeling
I have a feeling, the reverse is true, too. UW giving the Sounders a boost. Probably a you scratch my back, I will scratch yours. They are recruiting the same guys and no one, ok almost no one, is going to NOT go to college, so they might as well work together.
If the Sounders don’t push the NCAA’s blood pressure up with the boundaries they test, they are fools.
Hopefully this makes the Huskies more than a “some good players, but second fiddle” team and lets the Sounders get guys like George John.
Hopefully
I have no clue what Clark is like as a coach (and I’ll admit to not following college soccer much), but it’d be nice if we could get an NCAA powerhouse going in Seattle (heck, I don’t particularly care if it’s at UW or Seattle U, with Fewing and his Sounders connections).
In a lot of ways it has some similar potential to GU bball
in that there are soccer fans (a decent amount of Sounders fans) on the E side who don’t have a pro team to follow. If GU could attract some solid players, they could be the biggest soccer team in town. Doesn’t seem like it’s close to happening ATM.
Considering that we start training them so early
I’d say UW benefits more from us than we do from them at the moment. The presence of the U23 team encourages continual development locally. If they stay locally at UW or Seattle U, they should be able to join the U23 team sooner in the PDL season.
Just for fun
My top 5 Academy alumni:
Darwin Jones
DeAndre Yedlin
Jamael Cox
Nick Palodichuk
Troy Peterson
Herman has to be close, too
Though he didn’t get any PT at Santa Clara last year behind Klasila
Nos Audietis
Injured
Ryan had an achilles issue in the middle of the summer and the recovery went into the season for Santa Clara. That’s not to say he would have seen time if he were healthy. However, I do think he would have seen some time. Ryan has all the raw talent and god-given ability, we’ll have to see what he does with it.
My assessment of the 5 I listed was factoring in more than just on field abilities, I’m factoring in mentality and work ethic as well.
Troy Peterson is the kind of player that could easily play 10 years in MLS, simply because of his love of the game, work ethic and mentality. Of course it helps he’s a fantastic player as well.
by coulterchris on Feb 6, 2012 12:37 PM PST up reply actions
Will he get in?
Does anyone know if Darwin was at Highline because he didn’t qualify academically or if he was a full qualifier out of high school? I have seen the UW football and basketball teams have many issues getting players from CC and Juco admitted to UW and cleared by the NCAA. I hope that won’t be an issue in this case.
Darwin did have to work on his academics at Highline. If Jamie Clark is commenting on him, I’d imagine they’ve got him locked-in now.
by coulterchris on Feb 6, 2012 12:39 PM PST up reply actions
Maybe, maybe not
In football it happens pretty much every year that they have a player from a CC or Juco either not get admitted or not get cleared. Last class it was Antavius Sims. He was raved about by Sark at the signing day presser, but didn’t play last year as he wasn’t cleared by the NCAA. He finally got cleared last month. I hope Darwin does what is needed to get eligible. He sounds like a fun player to watch.
Coaches can comment once the LOI is signed
academic qualification isn’t confirmed until after the end of the school year generally.
Nos audietis in somniis
Nos audietis in altum
Coming from a local CC will help
The Counselors at Highline will be more familiar with the academic requirements at UW and he should be in a better position to get admitted.
So what does the year round look like for these guys?
I’m assuming something like Fall with UW, January on preseason trial, and the rest of the year with the U-23s?
College Spring Soccer exists
though it may not soon
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
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It's going to be fun being able to track his development on the Pac 12 network.
If they get enough potential future Sounders on the UW team, I would expect the ratings for UW soccer games to go way up. And if they eventually start to develop into a powerhouse team, then I’d expect the attendance to go way up as well.
by Mind of no mind on Feb 6, 2012 10:09 PM PST reply actions
It's a start
It certainly would be nice if the best players remained in state which is something that has not happened in the past. Problem is still that the guys who are national team players or who are nationally ranked will able to play almost anywhere and who wouldn’t want to play at a place like UCLA, Akron or North carolina?
That happens in every sport for all but 1% or less of colleges
and is likely why players like Palodichuk, Okoli and Yedlin are not at Washington schools. Kovar from this year’s Academy is headed to Stanford though, and that’s not a purely soccer based decision.
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart | Follow Dave on Twitter @bedirthan
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