More On The 2008 MLS Combine List...

Ok folks, I've had some time to digest the list of MLS Combine invitees. First off, here is the list posted with what I have on the players in my database. Most will look familiar to you, but the info on the end of the line for each player is what I call their honors. A player will have honors listed if they have been in my database to this point. Every year I miss some guys, and those are the players with no data at the end of the line.

F - Ely Allen - Washington - 2003 ESP, 2004 3rd All-Freshman Team, 2007 TDS 1st Team TOS

M/F - Xavier Balc - Ohio State - 2002, 2003 NSCAA All-American, 2006 Big Ten All-Conference, 2007 1st Team All Big Ten, 2007 Big Ten POTY, 2007 TDS 1st Team TOS, 2007 TDS POTY

MF - Jeremy Barlow - Virginia -

D - Scott Bolkan - Stanford - 2003 ESP All*Star, 2004 McDonald's High School All-American, 2004 SA #8 recuit, 2007 TDS 1st Team TOS

D - Matt Britner - Brown - 2006 CSN 3rd Team Pre-Season All American

D - Eric Brunner - Ohio State - 2003 ESP, 2006 Big Ten All-Conference, 2007 CSN Pre-Season 3rd Team All-American, 2007 MAC pre-season Hermann Trophy watch, 2007 1st Team All Big Ten, 2007 TDS 3rd Team TOS

M - Eric Burkholder - Tulsa -

D/M - Geoff Cameron - Rhode Island -

GK - Dominic Cervi - Tulsa -

DF - Adrian Chevannes - SMU - 2002-2003 US U-17 Residency, 2007 TDS 3rd Team TOS

M - Ryan Cordeiro - Connecticut - DL 1st Group, 2007 TDS 3rd Team TOS

D - Hugh Cronin - NC State - 2002 Gatorade North Carolina Player of the Year, 2003 North Carolina Player of the Year, 2003 ESP, 2003 Adidas High School All-American

M - Pavle Dundjer - Illinois - Chicago - DL 1st Group

GK - Brian Edwards - Wake Forest - 2007 TDS 3rd Team TOS

F - Kevin Forrest - Washington - 2006 Pac-10 POTY, 2006 CSN POTW, 2006 CSN 2nd Team All-American, 2007 CSN 1st Pre-Season 1st Team All-American, 2007 MAC pre-season Hermann Trophy watch, 2007 CSN POTW

D/M - Sean Franklin - Cal State Northridge - 2007 US U-23, 2007 All PDL Team

F - Joe Germanese - Duke - 2003 ESP, 2004 3rd All-Freshman Team

M/F - Brian Grazier - St. Louis - 2002 - 2003 US U-17 Residency, 2002 ESP, 2003 Parade Magazine All-America, U.S. U-17 National Team

MF - El Hadj Cisse - NC State -

D - Matt Hatzke - Santa Clara -

M - Pat Healy - Towson -

D - David Horst - Old Dominion - 2005 Big Ten Freshman Honors, 2006 PDL TOTW (2), 2006 All PDL Team, 2007 All PDL Team, 2007 CSN Pre-Season 2nd Team All-American, 2007 MAC pre-season Hermann Trophy watch, 2007 TDS 2nd Team TOS

D - Andy Iro - UCSB - 2005 3rd Team All-American, 2004 1st All-Freshman Team, 2006 CSN 1st Team Pre-Season All American, 2006 pre-season Herman Watch, 2006 CSN 1st Team All-American, 2006 NSCAA/adidas All-America Team 2nd Team, 2006 SA MVP, 2007 CSN 1st Pre-Season 1st Team All-American, 2007 MAC pre-season Hermann Trophy watch, 2007 TDS 2nd Team TOS

M - Andrew Jacobson - California - DL 1st Group, 2007 TDS 1st Team TOS

D - Julius James - Connecticut - Trinidad and Tobago U-17, 2005 2nd Team All-American, 2004 1st All-Freshman Team, 2006 CSN 1st Team Pre-Season All American, 2006 pre-season Herman Watch, 2006 Hermann Trophy Semifinalist, 2006 Big East All-Conference, 2006 Big East Defensive POTY, 2006 CSN 1st Team All-American, 2006 NSCAA/adidas All-America Team 1st Team, 2007 CSN 1st Pre-Season 1st Team All-American, 2007 MAC pre-season Hermann Trophy watch, 2007 TDS 1st Team TOS

F - George Josten - Gonzaga - 2007 CSN Pre-Season 2nd Team All-American, 2007 MAC pre-season Hermann Trophy watch, 2007 CSN Playmaker

GK - Andrew Kartunen - Stanford -

M - Stephen King - Maryland - US U-15 & U-16 Teams, 2003 ESP, 2004 2nd All-Freshman Team, 2006 pre-season Herman Watch, 2006 CSN POTW, 2006 Hermann Trophy Semifinalist, 2007 CSN 1st Pre-Season 1st Team All-American, 2007 MAC pre-season Hermann Trophy watch, 2007 CSN POTW, 2007 TDS 1st Team TOS

M - A.J. Kulp - Old Dominion - 2003 ESP

F - Joseph Lapira - Notre Dame - 2004 Gatorade Louisiana Player of the Year, 2006 CSN POTW (3), 2006 SA POTW (2), 2006 Hermann Trophy Semifinalist, 2006 Hermann Trophy Final 3, 2006 Big East All-Conference, 2006 Big East Offensive POTY, 2006 MAC Hermann Trophy Winner, 2006 CSN 1st Team All-American, 2006 NSCAA/adidas All-America Team 1st Team, 2006 SA MVP, 2006 SA POTY, 2007 CSN 1st Pre-Season 1st Team All-American, 2007 MAC pre-season Hermann Trophy watch, 2006 Big East All-Conference

GK - Casey Latchem - Ohio State -

D - Jon Leathers - Furman - DL 1st Group, 2007 US U-23 Tour, 2007 TDS 2nd Team TOS

M - Peter Lowry - Santa Clara - 2002 NSCAA All-American, 2003 ESP, 2004 3rd All-Freshman Team, 2007 US U-23, 2007 CSN Pre-Season 2nd Team All-American, 2007 MAC pre-season Hermann Trophy watch, 2007 CSN POTW, 2007 CSN Playmakers, 2007 TDS 1st Team TOS

M - Ryan Maduro - Providence - 2003 ESP, 2006 Big East All-Conference, 2006 NSCAA/adidas All-America Team 1st Team, 2007 CSN Pre-Season 2nd Team All-American, 2007 MAC pre-season Hermann Trophy watch

AM - Sherron Manswell - Boston College -

D - Raushawn McKenzie - Michigan State - DL 1st Group

D - Ryan Miller - Notre Dame - DL 1st Group, 2007 TDS 3rd Team TOS

D - Brandon Owens - UCLA -

D - Pat Phelan - Wake Forest - 2002 - 2003 ESP, 2004 2nd All-Freshman Team

M - David Roth - Northwestern - 2003 ESP, 2004 2nd All-Freshman Team, 2006 Big Ten All-Conference, 2006 SA MVP, 2007 CSN Pre-Season 2nd Team All-American, 2007 MAC pre-season Hermann Trophy watch, 2007 1st Team All Big Ten, 2007 TDS 1st Team TOS

M - Shea Salinas - Furman - DL 2nd Group

GK - Steve Sandbo - SMU - 2002 - 2004 U-17 Residency, 2003 Youth World Championships, 2006 US U-20, 2007 US U-20 World Cup

D - Luke Sassano - California -

CB - Andre Sherard - UNC - 2006 PDL TOTW (1), 2006 CSN 2nd Team Pre-Season All American, 2006 ACC All-Conference, 2007 CSN Pre-Season 2nd Team All-American, 2007 MAC pre-season Hermann Trophy watch

M - Ben Shuleva - SMU -

M - Dan Stratford - West Virginia - DL 2nd Group

F - Lukasz Turnicz - Rhode Island - Rhode Island

D - Julian Valentin - Wake Forest - 2006 US U-20, 2006 U-20 Milk Cup, 2006 SA POTW, 2006 ACC All-Conference, 2006 CSN 2nd Team All-American, 2006 NSCAA/adidas All-America Team 2nd Team, 2006 SA MVP, 2007 US U-20, 2007 US U-20 World Cup, 2007 CSN 1st Pre-Season 1st Team All-American, 2007 MAC pre-season Hermann Trophy watch

M - Michael Videira - Duke - 2003 Parade and McDonald’s All-America teams, 2003 U.S. U-18 and U-20 National Teams, 2004 1st All-Freshman Team, 2005 semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy, 2006 CSN 1st Team Pre-Season All American, 2006 pre-season Herman Watch, 2006 Hermann Trophy Semifinalist, 2006 ACC All-Conference, 2006 CSN 1st Team All-American, 2006 NSCAA/adidas All-America Team 3rd Team, 2006 SA MVP, 2007 CSN 1st Pre-Season 1st Team All-American, 2007 MAC pre-season Hermann Trophy watch, 2007 TDS 2nd Team TOS

D - Yomby William - Old Dominion - Old Dominion

D - David Worthen - UNC Greensboro - 2002 ESP, US U-16 Team

M - Andy Wright - West Virginia - 2006 Big East All-Conference, DL 2nd Group, 2007 TDS 2nd Team TOS

D - Michael Zaher - UCLA - 2002 - 2003 ESP, US U-18 Team, 2004 #21 on Soccer America's Top 25 recruits list, 2004 McDonald's All-American, 2003 NSCAA/adidas All-American, 2007 CSN Pre-Season 3rd Team All-American, 2007 TDS 3rd Team TOS

M - Cesar Zambrano - Illinois - Chicago - DL 2nd Group


Here is a little bit of a key for my honors listed above: "DL" is a friend of FCTP who alerted me to those players (I had some of them already but DL helped me out, if you want to hear more from DL lobby for him in the comments to start contributing to the blog.) "TDS" = Top Drawer Soccer. "CSN" = College Soccer News

We've already heard after my last post some outrage that Matt Allen wasn't included in the list. Players who miss the combine will have to work that much harder to make a MLS team. They may go the USL route and they may get a tryout with a specific team. All is not lost for them, but they'll have to work harder. Anyone else you're surprised didn't get an invite?

Here are some guys I was looking to get invited, but didn't:

Matt Allen - Creighton - GK
Kraig Chiles - San Jose State - MF
Mike Graczyk - New Mexico - GK
Abimbola Pedro - George Washington - F
Yannick Reyering - Virginia - F
Jamil Roberts - Santa Clara - D
Simon Schoendorf - South Florida - M

This is when the MLS draft season really heats up. Enjoy it folks!