OK, watching the US U-17s playing N.Zealand to a dreary tie, and doing it down a man -- the man that was put out is US team captain Marc Pelosi, who is a '12 and is rated the #4 prospect in the country by College Soccer News. He is not committed anywhere yet. Interestingly enough, the guy that CSN has as the #1 in the country, Michael Gamble from Columbia, MD/Baltimore Bays, a verbal to Wake Forest -- any "commit" here is a verbal -- is not on the U-17 roster selected by Wilmer Cabrera. I don't know the story on that: is he injured, too old, or did Cabrera just not pick him? Among the top players that are on the roster, few have committed: Andrew Souters picked Akron, Zachary Carroll stayed home (Michigan) etc., so there is a lot of talent out there.
As to the guys Maryland has in the fold, Dakota Edwards (Sayville, NY/Albertson) is rated #74 overall by CSN and is rated #16 among defenders; forward Donovan Fraser (Dix Hills, NY/Albertson FC) is #88 overall; and midfielder Ntokozo Tshuma of Bethesda SC is #117.
Some prime regional talent has gone elsewhere: #9 ranked Louis Rendon from Chesterfield, VA went to Duke; #26 Malcolm Harris of Damascus, MD is listed as verbal to Univ. of Denver; #34 overall, goalie Andrew Harris from Baltimore also to Wake.
The 2013 class list on CSN has no reported early verbals, but there are a couple of locals to keep your eye on in their Top 25 and all are midfielders: Collin Martin of Chevy Chase and the DC United youth program is #13 in the class overall; #14 Nicko Corrivau of Potomac, MD/Bethesda SC; and #15 Patrick Foss of Chantilly, VA and DC United youth.
Again, the credentials of the '12 recruits for Maryland are not stellar, as we have seen in the past -- no U-17s for example -- but I would say it is still early, there is stil a lot of talent out there -- surprising to me that more people have not committed at this point and I am not sure why. Probably means we will have a busy fall. Plus, this is one survey; I haven't taken a close look at TopDrawer or some of the other online stuff, so this is all speculative.
As to the guys Maryland has in the fold, Dakota Edwards (Sayville, NY/Albertson) is rated #74 overall by CSN and is rated #16 among defenders; forward Donovan Fraser (Dix Hills, NY/Albertson FC) is #88 overall; and midfielder Ntokozo Tshuma of Bethesda SC is #117.
Some prime regional talent has gone elsewhere: #9 ranked Louis Rendon from Chesterfield, VA went to Duke; #26 Malcolm Harris of Damascus, MD is listed as verbal to Univ. of Denver; #34 overall, goalie Andrew Harris from Baltimore also to Wake.
The 2013 class list on CSN has no reported early verbals, but there are a couple of locals to keep your eye on in their Top 25 and all are midfielders: Collin Martin of Chevy Chase and the DC United youth program is #13 in the class overall; #14 Nicko Corrivau of Potomac, MD/Bethesda SC; and #15 Patrick Foss of Chantilly, VA and DC United youth.
Again, the credentials of the '12 recruits for Maryland are not stellar, as we have seen in the past -- no U-17s for example -- but I would say it is still early, there is stil a lot of talent out there -- surprising to me that more people have not committed at this point and I am not sure why. Probably means we will have a busy fall. Plus, this is one survey; I haven't taken a close look at TopDrawer or some of the other online stuff, so this is all speculative.