Conference USA Soccer - 2008 Mens Recruiting

Conference USA mens soccer looks for a big year in 2008 as Tulsa burst back onto the national scene last year and a young South Carolina squad grows up.  Throw in traditional national power SMU and Conference USA looks poised for a solid year.

Alabama-Birmingham
UAB men's soccer head coach Mike Getman announced the signing of two standout players for the 2008 season. Forward Babayele Sodade (Windsor, Canada) and midfielder Chris Williams (Pearl, Miss.) are both standout players who are set to join the Blazers next season.

"We only graduated one player from 2007 so we were able to be extremely selective in our recruiting," Getman said. "Chris and Babayele give us two players who can step in and help us right away. I am very pleased with this small but talented group."

 Babayele Sodade from Windsor, Canada and Windsor FC
 Chris Williams from Pearl, Miss. and Mississippi Fire

University of Central Florida
The rebuilding is in full swing for UCF and second year coach Bryan Cunningham. Look for the team to be much more dangerous in 2008 Conference USA play.  "I am extremely elated with this recruiting class," Cunningham said. "Countless hours were poured into every one of these players to ensure that we are getting great soccer players and great people. Character was a point of emphasis and I am confident that each of these young men possesses great character. This is a very well-balanced recruiting class in which we addressed every position on the field. Each of these players will be relied on to compete right away."

 Zach Bove   MF Sicklerville, NJ and FC Delco
 Cameron Cooksey  F Marietta, Ga. and Concorde Fire
 Joe Crowley   MF Chadds Ford, Pa. and FC Delco
 Korey Daigle MF Suwanee, Ga and Atlanta Fire
 Jesse Derksen GK Glen Rock, Pa. and Super Nova
 Kyle Ellis   MF  Bear, Del. and FC Delco
 Chris Feigenbaum  MF Fayetteville, Ga. and AFC Lightning
 Kevan George  MF Decatur, Ga. and Concorde Fire
 Matt Heffernan  D Camp Hill, Pa. and FC Delco
 Matt Hoskins D  Cumming, Ga. and Atlanta Fire

Kentucky
 The Wildcats suffered a down year last season after losing important players to the pro ranks.  Hopefully the program can rebound and have another run like they did in 2006.  To date no information on Kentucky's 2008 recruits has been released, but Soccermgul has learned that Greg Goldbach from Reston FC in Virginia will be in the fall class.

 Greg Goldbach from Reston FC

Marshall University
The Thundering Herd return nearly there full roster from the 2007 season and look for bigger things in 2008.  "Losing only a couple of players to graduation, we were quite selective in our recruiting class," coach Bob Gray said. "We found what we were looking for: this small group of signees has the ability to make an impact on the program and the community as each of them has had academic success and are proven to be well-rounded young men."

 Devin Perkins of Strictly Soccer FC
 Aaron Dini from Winchester, KY 
 Klye Sniatecki of Buffalo United
 Marco Franca
 Christiam Campero
 Jorden Hilgefort from Hebron, KY
 Daniel Withrow

University of Memphis
The Tigers look for bigger and better in 2008 after a solid 10 win 2007 season, but a first round exit in the Conference USA Tournament, which ultimately cost them any chance of an NCAA bid.  University of Memphis men's soccer coach Richie Grant  signed  ten players to be added to the roster for the 2008 season. This is the largest signing day class in Grant's tenure at Memphis.  "I'm real excited about the group," Grant said. This class has it what takes athletically and academically to make the program better. I would also like to compliment Nick Glaser on his hard work throughout the recruiting process."

 Jason Brooks from Tulsa, OK 
 Dale Calvert from Indianapolis, IN and Westside United
 Cody Gibson from Spring, Tx and Houston Texans
 Elias Groft from Portland, Tn 
 Brad Jacobs from Franklin, Tn and Tennessee FC
 Jordan Leedle from Franklin, Tn and Tennessee FC
 Cody McCoy from Knoxville, Tn and Knoxville FC
 Chris Porter from Flowood, Ms and Mississippi Fire
 Thomas Shannon from Broken Arrow, OK and Tulsa SC

SMU
The Mustangs were in the top twenty for the whole season in 2007, but once again crashed out early in the NCAAs.  It looks like Coach Hyndman is bringing in new blood to try to go deeper into the playoffs as SMU signed a whopping 15 players for fall 2008.

"I am extremely excited about the 2008 class," Hyndman said. "We've got quite a few players coming in - more than we've ever had - and this class has a chance to be special, to be one of the best classes in the history of SMU soccer."

Hyndman said that the on-field talent of the incoming players is matched only by their character and priorities off the field.   "Not only are these guys good soccer players, but they're also good people, and that's a very high priority for us," Hyndman said. "This is the kind of class that will help us compete for the national championship in 2008."

Joe Cooper of Dallas, Tx and Dallas Texans
 Diogo deAlmeida of Arlington, Tx and Dallas Texans
 Eric Corbin from Yorba Linda, Ca
 Marc Darling from Tucson, Az and Tucson Soccer Academy
 Brian Farkas from Plano, Tx and Dallas Texans
 Zach Funk from McKinney, Tx and Andromeda
 Payton Hickey from Plano, Tx and Dallas Texans
 Guy Logan from Ashton, Md
 Kevin McMullen from Turnersville, NJ and FC Delco
 Nima Naderi from Carrollton, Tx and Andromeda
 Arthur Ivo of Arlington Oakridge and Dallas Texans
 Ryan Rosenbaum from Washington DC and Reston FC
 Adam Still of Colleyville, Tx and Dallas Texans
 Chad Vandegriffe from St Louis, Mo and Scott Gallagher

South Carolina
Despite playing an extremely young squad last year the Gamecocks fought hard and produced some nice results.  Look out for this team in 2008, especially with the quality recruiting class coach Mark Berson has signed.  

"We are absolutely delighted with this recruiting class," South Carolina head coach  Berson said. "Both the playing ability and the quality of character of these young men are outstanding and we are confident this class will help our team in the near term. We wanted to build on the two excellent classes we have had in the last two years. I think our staff, particularly coach Molinary, has done an outstanding job. We addressed our positional needs on the field for the coming year and we did so with some talented young men. We have a very young and talented team returning from last year, and with the addition of these new Gamecock players we look forward to the future."

 Danny Cates d/mf from Irmo, SC D/MF and Lexington United 89
 Hunter Howayeck from Jacksonville, Fl and Futsoc USA Enigma
 Luke Berson d from Columbia, SC and Lexington United 89
 David MacVane mf from Saratoga Springs, NY and NY Kosmos
 Stephen Morrissey mf from Franklin, TN and Tennessee FC
 Daniel Lynch d from Irmo, SC and Lexington United 89
 Ross Power gk from Columbia, SC and Lexington United 89
 Brandon Tarr mf/f from Knoxville, TN and Tennessee FC

Tulsa
Tulsa Hurricane Head Men's Soccer Coach Tom McIntosh announced  the signing of four high school players and one junior-transfer to National Letters-of-Intent during the early signing period. The 2008 freshman class includes Mason Gist, Blaine Gonsalves, Austin Neil and Benjamin Pettit, while Jonathan Medcalf is a junior-transfer.

"These guys are a great start to our recruiting class," McIntosh said. "They are going to be able to step in and fill some holes created with the graduation of our four seniors, and make an immediate impact. Not only are these four players very good competitors on the field, they all have excellent character and are very good students academically."

 Mason Gist from Flower Mound, Tx and Solar SC
 Blaine Gonsalves f/md from Ewa Beach, Hawaii 
 Jonathan Medcalf f transfer from Providence
 Austin Neil F from Broken Arrow, OK and Tulsa SC
 Benjamin Pettit d from Broken Arrow, OK