College to Professional
This article covers players who have played at the collegiate level with categories including, but not limited to, players who currently play or have played in Europe or other places abroad, current MLS players whether they were drafted or have signed homegrown deals, players selected for various national teams, and a few current college players.
Introduction
Now that I finally have some more time, I want to provide a deep dive into the reasons why college players should be taken more seriously by clubs both domestic and international, and especially by fans, because they often have negative opinions about the MLS SuperDraft and the collegiate level as a whole. I also want to convey the amount of opportunities or potential pathways that exist for current and future college players.
Three months after the last draft, the debate about the value of draft picks has already resurfaced after Ralph Priso was traded to Vancouver Whitecaps for two first round picks and a third round pick in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft, and $150k in GAM. Many fans scoff at the idea of draft picks, but the opportunities are substantial, and that’s not really even a matter of opinion at this point, it’s factual.
The Colorado Rapids have taken the MLS SuperDraft seriously over the past couple of years, and there are a few other clubs that noticeably scout the collegiate level based on the players they have brought into their organizations. Within the past two years alone, Moïse Bombito and Kimani Stewart-Baynes (Maryland) have already been called up to the Canadian National and Canadian U20 National Teams, respectively.
Former college players are everywhere. The importance of draft picks seems to be overshadowed by big money transfers, but some clubs can’t spend as freely as the others. I asked a Director of Scouting within the MLS for his opinion on the importance of draft picks and he said, “Any time you can turn a college draft pick into a contributing roster player, it’s beneficial for the organization as a whole, especially with the salary cap regulations.”
In an effort to explain the value of the SuperDraft following the reports of the Ralph Priso deal, MLS Insider Tom Bogert pointed to a shortlist of players that were drafted over the past few years. The names mentioned included Duncan McGuire (Creighton – Orlando City), Moïse Bombito (New Hampshire – Colorado Rapids), Patrick Schulte (Saint Louis – Columbus Crew), Roman Celentano (Indiana – FC Cincinnati), Dani Pereira (Virginia Tech – Austin FC), Daryl Dike (Virginia – West Brom), Jack Maher (Indiana – Nashville SC), Henry Kessler (Virginia – New England Revolution), and Alistair Johnston (Wake Forest – Celtic).
The list is obviously far deeper than just that. Where do I even begin?
Sold to Europe
…probably with Europe since most fans in the United States judge the quality of a player based on whether or not they have played in Europe.
Arguably some of the biggest names when it comes to former college players that are playing in Europe, or have played in Europe recently, include a couple of the players mentioned above in Daryl Dike and Alistair Johnston. Another member of the Canadian National Team, Tajon Buchanan, made a recent switch from Club Brugge to Inter Milan in early January. Buchanan played two seasons at Syracuse University, tallying 12 goals and 6 assists in 2,614 minutes, before getting drafted by New England Revolution as a Generation Adidas player in 2019. With New England, he appeared 67 times. After an impressive 2021 season, he was sold to Club Brugge for €6.43m.
…and what about other Canadian National Team players who fit this trend? That would be Cyle Larin and Richie Laryea. Larin attended the University of Connecticut before being drafted by Orlando City in 2015. He went on to play three seasons in the MLS en route to being sold to Turkish giant Beşiktaş for €1.85m. Laryea signed with Nottingham Forest during the winter transfer window in 2022 for a fee of €909k, but after a couple of loan spells back in the MLS, he rejoined Toronto FC. He went to the University of Akron and was also drafted by Orlando City in 2016.
Two of the most famous names that followed this path because of the U.S. based viewers of the English Premier League would have to be Tim Ream and Jack Harrison.
Ream, who is now basically a legend within U.S. Soccer, has been playing in England since 2012. Being so long ago, maybe people have forgotten that he attended Saint Louis University, and was drafted by New York Red Bulls in 2010 where he played two MLS seasons. He was sold to Bolton Wanderers in 2012 for €3.1m and joined Fulham in Summer 2015.
Harrison, who attended Wake Forest University, is currently with Everton on loan from Leeds United. He landed with New York City FC after the 2016 MLS SuperDraft. Two seasons later, he was sold to Manchester City for €4m where he was immediately loaned to Middlesbrough and Leeds, ultimately being transferred to Leeds for €12.8m in July 2021.
To make sure these figures were also added into this article, Daryl Dike departed Orlando City for €8.63m in January 2022, while Alistair Johnston was sold from CF Montréal to Celtic for €3.5m in the following January. Duncan McGuire, the most recent of the Orlando City forwards to garner European interest, was set to join Blackburn Rovers this winter before the deal fell through.
Hadji Barry was drafted by Orlando City in 2016 out of the University of Central Florida, but is mostly known for his career in the USL Championship where he scored 81 goals in 156 appearances. The Colorado Springs Switchbacks sold him to Modern Future FC in the Egyptian Premier League for €500k in October 2022.
Vancouver Whitecaps recently sold former Saint Louis University forward Simon Becher to Danish 1st Division side Horsens for €400k.
Not bad business for a handful of lousy drafted college players though…
If you couldn’t tell, Orlando City is another one of those clubs that has taken the draft seriously. Within their front office and technical staff, Ricardo Moreira and Luiz Muzzi are highly respected among their peers around the league, and in reference to the draft, Muzzi said, “We think there’s a lot of talent. Everybody's always talking about the draft and college, and we think that college is a part of our system and we have to give value to our system. There are a lot of good players in college. There are a lot of great programs out there.”
Though it was a free transfer, Orlando City also took Chris Mueller in the 2018 draft, who signed with Hibernian in July 2021. Mueller went to the University of Wisconsin and is back in the MLS with the Chicago Fire.
Some players haven’t needed to enter MLS through the SuperDraft before finding their way to Europe. They do so by way of a Homegrown Player contract after having been affiliated with an MLS Academy during their youth.
Wake Forest University attracts many of these MLS academy players. A notable name for this category is Mark McKenzie, who they had for their 2017 season. The USMNT center back signed a deal with the Philadelphia Union after one season in Winston-Salem and was sold to KRC Genk in 2021 for €5.45m. In his rookie season with the Union (2018), his center back partner was Auston Trusty, who nearly joined the Tar Heels at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2016. Trusty has spent the last two seasons playing in England’s top two tiers between Birmingham City and Sheffield United.
Reggie Cannon played one season at UCLA before signing a homegrown deal with FC Dallas. He played two seasons in the MLS and departed for Portuguese top tier club Boavista for €2.50m, playing three seasons in the city of Porto. He’s now in his first season with Queens Park Rangers.
Everybody probably knows the story of USMNT goalkeeper Matt Turner. He went undrafted out of Fairfield University and signed for the Revolution in 2016. After a loan spell with the Richmond Kickers, he made 111 appearances for the Revs, and was sold to Arsenal for €5.90m.
Thor Úlfarsson was selected by Houston Dynamo out of Duke University in 2022, and two months ago, the Icelandic forward completed a transfer to the Hungarian top flight for an undisclosed fee. He plays for Debreceni VSC.
I know it wasn’t a transfer, but Seattle Sounders star Jordan Morris had a loan opportunity with Swansea that was cut short due to an ACL injury he sustained. Morris had won a National Championship with Stanford under legendary college coach Jeremy Gunn in 2015. Morris was even called up for international duty by Jürgen Klinsmann while he was still in college. He became the first college player to score for the USMNT in over 20 years with his first goal coming on April 14, 2015 against Mexico. That same year, he won the MAC Hermann Trophy, which is given to the top player in college soccer. If you’re a fan of American football, it’s the Heisman Trophy of college soccer. A current loanee is former Virginia Cavalier Aboubacar Keita. On the books with the Colorado Rapids, Keita is on loan with Bohemians in the Irish top tier.
Free Agents to Europe
Chicago Fire’s Andrew Gutman attended Indiana University and had originally signed for Celtic in the Scottish Premiership straight out of college. He didn’t end up making a first team appearance and ultimately returned to MLS after loans with Charlotte Independence and FC Cincinnati. He also won the MAC Hermann Trophy in 2018.
Another MAC Hermann Trophy winner (2016) who has played over four seasons in Scotland is former Wake Forest midfielder Ian Harkes. The 28 year old is currently back in the MLS with New England Revolution, but he featured for Dundee United in the Scottish Championship and Premiership levels from 2019-2023.
Revolution teammate Matt Polster also had an opportunity with a Scottish Premiership side when he played with Rangers in 2019/20. As for his college story, he started every single match during his four years at Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville (SIUE), amassing 7,132 career minutes. Drafted in the same year as Cyle Larin, Chicago Fire took Polster 7th overall in 2015, just behind former Syracuse University and current D.C. United goalkeeper Alex Bono.
During the same time as Matt Polster’s stint in Europe, Sporting Kansas City’s Khiry Shelton also had a European opportunity with SC Paderborn 07, before returning to Kansas City in 2020. Shelton attended Oregon State and was drafted 2nd overall in 2015 by New York City FC.
Scottish clubs apparently must like American midfielders from the MLS because Perry Kitchen signed with Heart of Midlothian back in Spring 2016 where he was named club captain before transferring to Randers FC (Danish Superliga) the following summer. The former Akron Zip played one college season before signing a Generation Adidas contract ahead of the 2011 draft.
More recently, former Colorado Rapids and Charlotte FC attacker Andre Shinyashiki has found a home in the Azerbaijan Premier League with Neftçi. The 2019 MLS Rookie of the Year had an incredible senior season at the University of Denver, scoring 28 goals in 21 appearances. He was later drafted by the Colorado Rapids in 2019. Another interesting move was from the 3rd overall pick that year. Santiago Patiño signed a deal a few days ago for an opportunity with Ho Chi Minh City FC in the Vietnamese top division. Patiño went to Florida International University and most notably scored 26 goals in his 48 appearances with San Antonio FC across the three most recent seasons.
Donovan Pines departed D.C. United this January for EFL League One’s Barnsley FC. Heading into the last several games of the season, the Tykes currently sit fifth in the table and could have a chance at promotion via the play-offs if they keep up the results. Pines attended the University of Maryland.
After rejecting contract offers from the Portland Timbers, Jacob Montes went on trial with Crystal Palace, where he signed a one-year deal before making two loan moves to Belgium. In 2022, Montes signed with Brazilian club Botafogo, which if you didn’t know, is also under American ownership with John Textor. The Nicaraguan National Team midfielder played four seasons with Georgetown University from 2017-2020.
Dominique Badji became a free agent after the 2023 MLS season. He has been in the MLS ever since he was drafted in the 4th Round. After playing for the Colorado Rapids, FC Dallas, Nashville SC, and FC Cincinnati, Badji just signed with Turkish second division side Bandırmaspor in late January, where Austin FC’s Moussa Djitté is currently loaned. Badji went to Boston University.
Currently the leading scorer in the Israeli Premier League with Maccabi Haifa, Haiti National Team forward Frantzdy Pierrot attended Coastal Carolina University and was drafted by the Colorado Rapids in 2018. Pierrot didn’t end up signing a contract, opting for an opportunity with Mouscron in the Jupiler Pro League. The almost 29 year old has also played in France during his career and has scored 21 international goals in 28 caps for Haiti.
João Moutinho has had an interesting path. He grew up in Sporting CP’s academy in Lisbon, later finding his way to Ohio where he played one season with the University of Akron in 2017. Moutinho became LAFC’s first ever draft pick as a Generation Adidas player. At the end of the 2022 MLS season, he signed a contract with Spezia where he has played at the Serie A and B levels. Competing against Sporting CP in Liga Portugal is another former Orlando City attacker Benji Michel. He signed for F.C. Arouca this January on a free transfer. They are currently seventh in the table. Michel attended the University of Portland.
There are probably at least a few lesser known examples of players like Eduvie Ikoba, Wilmer Cabrera Jr. and O’Vonte Mullings as well. After being a late round draft pick in 2019, Ikoba ended up without a contract from FC Dallas. The former Dartmouth College forward is currently playing in the K League 2 with Seoul E-Land and has played in the Hungarian and Slovakian first divisions as well as the Portuguese second division. Last summer, Wilmer Cabrera Jr. joined Greifswalder FC in the fourth tier of Germany. He was a Colorado Rapids and IMG Academy product, a Butler Bulldog from 2019-2022, and was then drafted by Chicago Fire before signing a contract with Real Cartagena in Colombia. Cabrera didn’t appear for the Colombian second division side, having been loaned to the now defunct Rio Grande Valley FC Toros upon signing. Mullings went to Florida Gulf Coast University and was then drafted by New York Red Bulls where he had 6 goals and 11 assists in two seasons with NYRB II. The Canadian fullback recently made a move to Akademisk Boldklub in Denmark.
In 2019, it was Clemson’s Robbie Robinson and Campbell’s Thibaut Jacquel at the top of the goal scoring list for NCAA Division I. In that year, Robinson was the MAC Hermann Trophy winner. He’s been with the Inter Miami organization since being drafted. Jacquel was drafted by FC Dallas, but then signed for CS Fola Esch in the first tier of Luxembourg after one season with North Texas SC. The Frenchman scored 12 goals in 15 outings during the 2021/22 season in Luxembourg and has since moved back to his home country to play for US Thionville Lusitanos.
Leaving Early for Europe
Some players avoid the SuperDraft and leave the college ranks early in order to sign professional contracts in Europe as well.
New Zealand National Team defensive midfielder Joe Bell left the University of Virginia after three seasons for an opportunity with Viking FK in Norway’s top tier. The 2019 ACC Midfielder of the Year has also played for Bröndby IF in the Danish Superliga after being sold by Viking in 2022 for €1.10m. He has since returned to Viking following a transfer in Summer 2023.
Dante Polvara was highly successful at the collegiate level during his time with Georgetown University. He earned multiple conference midfielder of the year awards as well as the MAC Hermann Trophy in 2021, making him the second MAC Hermann Trophy winner in recent years to play in the Scottish Premiership. Polvara has been with Aberdeen FC since January 2022. In his freshman season, the Hoyas won the NCAA National Championship. I might as well sneak in another MLS player who has played for Aberdeen FC while I’m here. Jon Gallagher was drafted by Atlanta United and then went on loan to the Scottish Premiership during the 2019/20 season. Returning to the MLS in the summer of 2020, he made the move to Austin FC for their inaugural season where he has been playing ever since. The Irish all-rounder attended Notre Dame University. He was also an MLS All-Star selection in 2023.
Zack Steffen left the University of Maryland after two seasons when he secured a contract with SC Freiburg in December 2014, which kicked off a career that has included seasons with Columbus Crew, Fortuna Düsseldorf, Manchester City, Middlesbrough, and now with the Colorado Rapids.
In 2022, Nathan Opoku played one season with Syracuse University before signing with Leicester City. He’s now on loan with OH Leuven in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League, a club that’s also owned by King Power International Group.
There’s also a 21 year old center forward by the name of Kahveh Zahiroleslam who attended Yale University for the 2021 and 2022 fall seasons. After scoring 13 goals in 1,640 combined minutes in the Ivy League, he signed a deal in the Jupiler Pro League with Sint-Truiden. So far this 2023/24 season, he has made 18 appearances, scoring 5 goals and providing an assist.
Brendan Hines-Ike initially signed a contract with Örebro SK to play in the Swedish Allsvenskan back in 2016 where he stayed for three seasons before being sold to KV Kortrijk in the Jupiler Pro League. Having been selected in the 3rd round of the 2016 MLS SuperDraft, Hines-Ike finally returned to the United States with D.C. United in 2021. Last month, he joined Austin FC after three seasons in the nation’s capital. Hines-Ike attended both Creighton and South Florida.
Parting ways with the University of Wisconsin early in 2017, Sam Brotherton made some headlines when he initially signed with Sunderland AFC, making a handful of appearances with the U23 team. During high school, he made four starts for New Zealand’s 2015 FIFA U20 World Cup team. Recently retired, he made most of his club appearances back in his home country, but had also played a few seasons in the USL Championship.
For readers that are familiar with the German Bundesliga, you might remember Borussia Dortmund legend Neven Subotic. He retired in 2021, having won two Bundesliga titles with Dortmund, appearing 263 times. Less commonly known, Subotic actually spent most of his youth in the Tampa Bay area and played for one of my favorite ECNL club organizations Braden River SC and IMG Academy before playing at the University of South Florida from 2004-2006. He left the Bulls to sign a professional contract with FSV Mainz 05. Growing up in the Mainz 05 U17 and U19 teams was Gordon Wild, who attended USC Upstate and Maryland from 2015-2018. He led the nation in scoring in 2015 as a freshman. Since graduating, he has played in the MLS and USL Championship before going back to Germany to play with MSV Duisburg, 1.FC Bocholt, and TuS Bövinghausen in the lower leagues.
During those same years as Subotic, Maurice Edu was playing with the University of Maryland. Edu, though out of category on this section, was drafted by Toronto FC and appeared 38 times before being sold to Rangers for €4.00m in 2008.
One of the earlier modern examples was none other than Oguchi Onyewu. The European traveler had played in France, Belgium, England, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain before ending his playing career with the Philadelphia Union in 2017. Onyewu played two seasons for the Clemson Tigers.
I won’t go into depth on all of the other college players from the past that have played in Europe, but it’s a list that includes Claudio Reyna, Ben Olsen and Jeff Agoos (Virginia), Clint Dempsey and Ricardo Clark (Furman), Steve Cherundolo (Portland), Brian McBride (Saint Louis), Michael Parkhurst (Wake Forest), and Nat Bochers (Denver). Brad Friedel, Frankie Hejduk, Cobi Jones and Carlos Bocanegra all attended UCLA. In case anybody is wondering, Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Bobby Convey, and DaMarcus Beasley didn’t attend college. They signed contracts out of IMG Academy. Eddie Pope (North Carolina) and Pablo Mastroeni (North Carolina State) didn’t make their way to Europe in their club career, but are worth mentioning. Rival to Mastroeni’s Real Salt Lake, current Colorado Rapids coach Chris Armas attended Adelphi University before having over 300 MLS appearances as a player. He won the U.S. Open Cup four times and the MLS Cup once for the Chicago Fire.
Three time MLS Cup Champion Omar González went to the University of Maryland. He had a loan opportunity with 1. FC Nürnberg that ended soon after it began due to injury, but he also played abroad in Mexico with Pachuca where he won the Concacaf Champions League and a Liga MX Clausura title.
Another globetrotter in the world of soccer is Deshorn Brown, who went to Central Florida. The Jamaican international was drafted by the Colorado Rapids in 2013 before being sold to Vålerenga IF in Norway for €450k and then sold the following summer to the recently dissolved Shenzhen FC for €1.00m. Since 2017, he has played in Spain, India, and most recently in the Thai League 2.
Homegrown Signees with College Experience
I asked the Director of Scouting to provide insight on why MLS academy players who appear to be on their way towards signing Homegrown Player contracts end up going to college, and he said, “The NCAA helps prepare some players looking to turn professional because of the physically demanding schedule combined with a certain level of intensity in those games that can help them more easily acclimatize to a professional environment.”
If you’ve ever been to a college game, those characteristics are usually evident. In many conferences, it’s very competitive and there aren’t often “easy wins” at that level. The season is short and every game matters.
Given the reasoning above, and having seen some MLS NEXT Pro games in the past, the physicality and intensity of the college game appears to better serve the development for 18-22 year olds. There are a lot of very good coaches and training facilities at the college level as well. Some coaches have even gone on to coach for professional clubs.
But overall, it’s still just a preference thing for upcoming youth players. Due to the shortness of the college season and the ability for NEXT Pro players to be in and around the first team, some players may want to be in a more professional environment. This is also why you see a player like Nate Worth leave the MLS academy level to play professionally in the USL Championship as a 16 year old rather than sticking around until college and then going professional. Wake Forest’s Camilo Ponce will join Worth after having left the college level after only two seasons to sign a professional contract with FC Tulsa a little over a week ago.
Back on topic with this section, if you take the time to look through current rosters, you’ll likely notice that there are a lot of players who have joined the school via recognizable academies.
Clubs like New York Red Bulls and Columbus Crew often have top academy players in college. This winter, Roald Mitchell left Wake Forest to return to New York Red Bulls as he signed a Homegrown Player contract, forgoing the remainder of his eligibility. Mitchell made his MLS debut on February 25th.
Another guy that left college early to sign a Homegrown Player contract was Peter Stroud in January 2023. He attended Duke University. Interestingly enough, Stroud also made his MLS debut on February 25th, an exact year prior to Mitchell, before making 25 appearances in his rookie season. At 16 years old, Stroud went to West Ham United to play with their U18 and U23 teams. His brother Jared Stroud, six years his senior, was drafted in 2018 by New York Red Bulls. The former Colgate graduate has also played for Austin FC, St. Louis City, and now D.C. United, where he has looked really good for Troy Lesesne’s side. Also new to D.C. United this year is Aaron Herrera, formerly of the University of New Mexico. Herrera originally came into the MLS by way of a homegrown deal with Real Salt Lake, appearing 136 times. Following only one match with the USMNT, Herrera has since chosen to represent the Guatemalan National Team after making 6 appearances last summer between international friendlies and the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup.
Seb Berhalter attended North Carolina for one season in 2019 before signing a Homegrown Player contract with the Columbus Crew. The 22 year old has now been with the Vancouver Whitecaps organization since 2022. Also attending North Carolina recently, Matt Edwards left Chapel Hill this winter to sign a contract with Atlanta United 2 after three seasons.
Alex Muyl and Derrick Etienne Jr. both signed homegrown deals with the New York Red Bulls at the conclusion of the 2015 NCAA season. Muyl had attended Georgetown for three years, while Etienne was with the University of Virginia for one. Muyl has scored in the Concacaf Champions Cup a few weeks ago and in the MLS a few days ago to start his 2024 season. Etienne has made over 40 appearances for the Haitian National Team. He scored in the 2020 MLS Cup Final to secure the title and he was also a USL Cup champion with New York Red Bulls II in 2016.
Earlier, I mentioned Dante Polvara’s National Championship with the Georgetown Hoyas back in 2019. You know who else was on that team? Columbus Crew homegrown players Will Sands and Sean Zawadzki. Will Sands’ twin brother James didn’t attend college, but was a homegrown signee for NYCFC and has done a loan spell with Rangers in Scotland. Dylan Nealis was also on that team. Nealis is now with New York Red Bulls after being drafted by Inter Miami 3rd overall in 2020. His older brother Sean, also with the New York Red Bulls, was the club captain last season. He went to Hofstra University and was a 2nd Round pick. He played at Georgetown a few years after Polvara, but Jack Panayotou left the Hoyas after one season to sign a homegrown deal with New England Revolution in 2023. Still only 19 years old, Panayotou won a U19 MLS NEXT Cup Championship in the summer leading up to college before playing alongside Jacob Murrell for their freshman season.
Aidan Morris was also a homegrown signee in 2020. The Columbus Crew midfielder only played one season at the University of Indiana. Starting in both MLS Cup Finals in 2020 and 2023, the highly regarded young talent has already won the competition twice, with the second trophy coming only three weeks after his 22nd birthday. A teammate from the 2020 MLS Cup winning season was Gyasi Zardes, who also won the competition with LA Galaxy in 2014. Robbie Keane scored the extra time winner after Zardes netted the first goal of the game. The former Galaxy homegrown player attended Cal State Bakersfield and is with Austin FC.
Draft Picks in the MLS
Many of the core players to MLS rosters had played in college, so again, the negative connotation towards college players doesn’t make sense to me.
Two of the league legends, Darlington Nagbe and Teal Bunbury both attended the University of Akron together, and each of them won the MAC Hermann Trophy in consecutive years. Bunbury won it in 2009 and Nagbe won it in 2010. Following their time, Minnesota United captain Wil Trapp also attended the University of Akron to play for Caleb Porter, who has coached in the MLS with the Portland Timbers, Columbus Crew, and now with New England Revolution.
MLS fans and front offices alike consider Cristian Roldan one of the top value players in the league. The Pico Rivera native apparently turned down the opportunity to be a part of the LA Galaxy academy in his youth and during high school, he was awarded Gatorade National Player of the Year honors. Recently drafted by D.C. United, another recipient of that award, Jacob Murrell, made his MLS debut last week against FC Cincinnati. Murrell left the Georgetown Hoyas after two seasons to pursue his professional career. It was the same story for Roldan. He was with the University of Washington for two seasons before being drafted by the Seattle Sounders where he’s already a club legend of sorts at the age of 28. Roldan has won two MLS Cups and a Concacaf Champions Cup, and with the USMNT, he has won three Concacaf Gold Cups. The Seattle Sounders also feature younger brother Alex Roldan, a four year starter at Seattle University before being drafted. Alex has represented the Salvadoran National Team ever since the 2021 Gold Cup, while routinely captaining the side.
Several notable central defenders also came from college programs. Walker Zimmerman attended Furman University in 2011-2012, Miles Robinson came into the MLS with a Generation Adidas contract when he was drafted from Syracuse University in 2017 and St. Louis City SC’s Tim Parker played for St. John’s University. Jack Elliott started all but one game in his three years at the University of West Virginia. He has gone on to win the MLS Supporters’ Shield in 2020 and is on track to surpass 250 appearances for the Philadelphia Union this season. New England’s Andrew Farrell is within the top 25 players with the most minutes played in the MLS and he went to the University of Louisville. Matt Hedges went to Butler and North Carolina.
San Jose Earthquakes currently employ a couple of players that came into the league during Miles Robinson’s draft year. Captain Jackson Yueill has appeared almost 200 times for his club and has won two trophies within his 16 caps for the USMNT. He played for UCLA and also signed a Generation Adidas contract. Jeremy Ebobisse was drafted out of Duke University and has been with the Earthquakes since 2021. Growing up in the Bay Area, Nick Lima went to college in Berkeley and signed a homegrown deal with San Jose in 2017. He was recently brought into the New England Revolution team to cover for Brandon Bye as he works his way back from an ACL surgery. Bye is actually one of my favorite former college players. He stood out in 2016 during his All-MAC First Team junior season. He ended up impressing a lot of scouts at the combine ahead of the 2018 MLS SuperDraft as well and was selected 8th overall as a result. On the opposite flank is DeJuan Jones, who grew up about an hour away from Bye. The former Michigan State Spartan is in his sixth MLS season and represented the United States during last year’s Concacaf Gold Cup.
With all the eyes on Inter Miami lately, everybody probably knows Drake Callender. He was college teammates with Nick Lima at the University of California, Berkeley in 2016. In the goalkeeper group with Callender at Cal was Jonathan Klinsmann, who is currently in the Italian Serie C with Cesena FC.
Naturalized Julian Gressel appeared on the same Concacaf Gold Cup team as DeJuan Jones. He played at Providence before joining Atlanta United in 2017, where he went on to have an MLS Rookie of the Year recognized season under Tata Martino. Gressel recently reunited with Martino at Inter Miami.
Representing the Canadian National Team during that Concacaf Gold Cup was Dayne St. Clair (Maryland – Minnesota United), Richie Laryea (Akron – Toronto FC), and Zac McGraw (Army – Portland Timbers).
Colorado Rapids captain Keegan Rosenberry was another Georgetown alumnus. Other Rapids first team players Jonathan Lewis, Jasper Löffelsend and Lalas Abubakar attended college as well. Out of high school, Lewis joined EFL League One side Bradford City AFC before returning to the U.S. to attend the University of Akron. Löffelsend notably won the ACC Defensive Player of the Year award twice during his time at the University of Pittsburgh. He made 33 appearances in his rookie season in 2022 with Real Salt Lake. Abubakar went to the University of Dayton.
Selected by the Vancouver Whitecaps in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft, midfielder Eliot Goldthorp also has history with Bradford City AFC. He made his senior debut for the club in an EFL Trophy match back in 2018 before having a highly successful college career at Hofstra. He signed a contract with Vancouver’s NEXT Pro team a few weeks ago.
Hassani Dotson entered the MLS in 2019 as a draft pick out of Oregon State University. He has spent his career solely with Minnesota United so far. UCLA’s Frankie Amaya was the 1st overall pick in 2019 to FC Cincinnati. After two seasons in Cincinnati, he made a transfer to New York Red Bulls where he’s in his fourth season. Both are represented by the same agency as Vancouver Whitecap Tristan Blackmon, who was a four year starter at the University of the Pacific until 2017. Whitecap teammate Brian White attended Duke University.
In the same draft class as Blackmon, Montréal’s Mason Toye came into the league with Minnesota United after only one year as an Indiana Hoosier. He won the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award and made it to the College Cup Final. In last season’s U.S. Open Cup Final, Houston Dynamo won the competition over Inter Miami with Andrew Tarbell as their goalkeeper. Tarbell played his college soccer with Clemson.
Fabian Herbers has had a decent career in MLS so far. Now in his ninth season, the 2024 campaign is off to a hot start with 2 goals and an assist in the first four games. He played in college at Creighton University.
Some of the other players around the MLS include FC Cincinnati’s Corey Baird who won three straight National Championship titles with Stanford University, Ian Murphy (Duke – FC Cincinnati), Jackson Ragen (Michigan – Seattle Sounders), Brandon Servania (Wake Forest – Toronto FC), Calvin Harris (Wake Forest – Colorado Rapids), Omir Fernandez (Wake Forest – Colorado Rapids), Paul Marie (Florida International – San Jose Earthquakes), Tom Barlow (Wisconsin – Chicago Fire), Nkosi Tafari (UConn/Seattle – FC Dallas), Kyle Hiebert (Missouri State – St. Louis City SC), Oliver Semmle (Marshall – Philadelphia Union), Josh Bolma (Maryland – New England Revolution) and Mauricio Pineda (North Carolina – Chicago Fire).
There’s even a Biological Engineering graduate of Cornell University who appeared 31 times for Real Salt Lake last season across all competitions. That would be hybrid midfielder fullback Emeka Eneli. Jamaican National Team and Vancouver Whitecaps fullback Javain Brown played at the University of South Florida. He was called up to the Jamaican U20 team as well during college.
All but one of the players on the top ten list of MLS appearances went to college. Nick Rimando (UCLA), Dax McCarty (North Carolina), Jeff Larentowicz (Brown), Kevin Hartman (UCLA), Chad Marshall (Stanford), Drew Moor (Furman/Indiana), Kei Kamara (Cal State Dominguez Hills), and Chris Wondolowski (Chico State). Darlington Nagbe is tenth, but he’ll continue to move up the rankings as an active player. Kyle Beckerman is second on the list, but he was another USMNT player to originally sign a contract straight from the IMG Academy.
Also, just think about that for a minute… The most successful goal scorer in the MLS went to an NCAA Division II program. Wondolowski ended his MLS career with 169 goals. Also from the Division II level, Kei Kamara sits third all-time with 143 goals. In fourth is Jeff Cunningham (South Florida) with 134. Landon Donovan and Jaime Moreno are second and fifth, but didn’t attend college.
Headed Back Home
I’m sure there are plenty of international players back in their home countries after having attended a college in the United States.
One of the most interesting examples would probably be David Zalzman. The native Venezuelan grew up representing the U17 National Team and started each of the three matches during the 2013 U17 World Cup where he played against a young Aleksandr Golovin in the group stage. In his youth leading up to that World Cup, he was with Barcelona’s youth academy. He eventually attended the University of Memphis from 2015-2018 and started every game in his last three seasons before being the last player selected in the 2019 draft. Zalzman returned home to Venezuela and has been playing in the Liga FUTVE ever since. In 2022, he was teammates with LAFC’s David Martínez at Monagas SC. He’s now with Metropolitanos FC.
Another old favorite from the days in Colorado, Dennis Castillo attended Virginia Commonwealth University before getting drafted in 2016. Castillo started every game for the Rams throughout his four year college career (7,523 minutes) and he won the A-10 Conference Defensive Player of the Year in his senior season. After a few professional seasons in the United States, he ended up returning to the top tier in Costa Rica where he has played for Pérez Zeledón, and now Sporting F.C. Syracuse University won a National Championship in 2022 with team captain Amferney Sinclair, who is also back in his native Costa Rica with top tier Puntarenas FC. He returned in January after spending time with Real Monarchs last year. Primera División veteran Mynor Escoe’s younger brother Marcos is currently attending Virginia Tech after making several appearances for Herediano’s first team as an 18 year old.
Representing the Guatemalan National Team with D.C. United’s Aaron Herrera is Rodrigo Savaria and Nicolás Samayoa. Both were teammates at Florida Gulf Coast University. Savaria was drafted 19th overall by Gregg Berhalter when he was in charge at the Columbus Crew in 2016, and Samayoa was picked in the fourth round of the 2018 draft. Savaria ended up going on two loan spells away from Columbus, one of which to Swedish side IK Frej Täby, before heading back to Guatemala City to play for Comunicaciones where he has appeared nearly 200 times. Savaria was a part of the starting eleven that beat the Colorado Rapids in the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 in 2022. Samayoa has also been with Comunicaciones since 2019, but is currently on loan in the Romanian SuperLiga with FC Politehnica Iași.
Returning home to Greece to play in the Super League, former First Team All-American and four year starter at Georgetown Giannis Nikopolidis signed with A.E. Kifisia F.C. last summer. He was originally drafted by New York Red Bulls.
As discussed, it’s quite common for Canadian players to attend colleges in the United States. Two examples of Canadians returning to the increasingly popular Canadian Premier League are HFX Wanderers Daniel Nimick and Mohamed Omar. Nimick went to the University of Western Michigan from 2019-2022 after spending several years with Leeds United’s academy. He was the first player from the Newfoundland and Labrador province to sign for a CPL club, and in his rookie season, he was named to the CPL Best XI. Kyle Bekker was also selected. He went to Boston College, played a couple of years with Toronto FC in the MLS, and has now been in the CPL with Forge FC for over five seasons. After attending Notre Dame University, Mohamed Omar was also drafted into the MLS, but was then signed by HFX Wanderers in 2022. He has since moved back down to the U.S. to play for the USL Championship’s San Antonio FC. Speaking of HFX Wanderers, they just added former Creighton University and Vermont Green FC midfielder Giorgio Probo as well as Marshall University’s 2020 National Championship winner Vitor Dias. The Brazilian was a First Team All-American award recipient and the Philadelphia Union’s Oliver Semmle was the goalkeeper for that National Championship winning team. Also a relatively new addition to the CPL, another former First Team All-American Callum Montgomery joined Cavalry FC last winter. The defender earned the selection in his senior season at UNC Charlotte. 2020 Second Team All-American Noah Jensen went to Oakland University, and the 24 year old Oshawa area native is now on his third season with Forge FC.
Jon Bakero, once at Wake Forest University, currently plays back home in his native Catalonia with Lleida Esportiu in the Segunda Federación. He made a handful of appearances for Toronto FC before three solid seasons with USL Championship’s Phoenix Rising. Bakero has also played in the Bulgarian top tier. He’s another one of the MAC Hermann Trophy winners, securing the award in 2017.
Achille Robin became another one of my favorite college players back in 2019 after he had a standout season at Bowling Green State University. The Frenchman ended up transferring to the University of Washington for his last collegiate season in 2021 and was then drafted by the Seattle Sounders. He played one season with Tacoma Defiance before heading back home to France to play for US Saint-Philbert-de-Grand-Lieu. Ryan Sailor was his college teammate for that lone year with the Huskies and he has been with the Inter Miami organization since being drafted in the same year as Robin.
This past season, three notable international players, in my opinion, decided to leave college early to play professionally back home in Europe. Notre Dame forward Eno Nto signed a contract with Derby County U21, while SMU winger Alexander Petræus caught on with Fremad Amager in the Danish 2nd Division. Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year and University of Central Florida midfielder Saku Heiskanen went back to his native Finland to play in top tier Veikkausliiga. He signed with IF Gnistan.
Danish defender Simon Wæver arrived at Indiana University after a freshman year at Evansville from the Lyngby BK U19 team. He was drafted by Toronto FC in 2020, but ended up going back to Denmark. The 28 year old is now with 1st Division club Sønderjyske Fodbold. Alexander Petræus was also a U19 player at Lyngby BK before attending Southern Methodist University. Recently, the new Philadelphia Union signing Sanders Ngabo arrived from Lyngby BK.
Drafted in 2021 by Nashville, Sondre Norheim was the captain and a four year starter for Syracuse University. He didn’t end up signing a contract and went back to Norway to play in the second tier with Bryne FK. Norheim has since made over 100 appearances with the club.
Hugo Kametani isn’t currently playing in his home country of Japan, but I want to mention his story briefly as well. After being awarded a Third Team All-American designation in 2020 during his time at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, Kametani stuck around for a season to play professionally with USL League One’s Union Omaha for the 2022 year. Before transferring to Nebraska-Omaha, he won a NJCAA Division I National Championship with Pima Community College and was named Junior College Division I National Player of the Year in 2018 by the United Soccer Coaches organization. Since the start of 2024, Kametani has scored 6 goals and contributed 5 assists for Nagaworld FC in the Cambodian Premier League. Another former college player is also in that league. Nick Taylor attended the University of New Mexico, Southern Methodist University, and the University of Central Florida until 2021. He played one season with Orlando City B before signing with Preah Khan Svay Rieng FC last year and has represented the Cambodian National Team.
Current College Players
There are plenty of players that are currently in college, who have come from MLS and USL academies. I could go on all day, but I will limit this section to a few examples.
One of my favorite current stories within the NCAA is Sam Williams at North Carolina. As an academy player, he set a record for playing over 2,000 minutes in the USL Championship with New York Red Bulls II. Just now having had his 19th birthday, the midfielder has already played over 3,000 college minutes in two seasons for the Tar Heels, and he’s a captain of the team. Tate Johnson is another young player to keep an eye on at North Carolina. He made his professional debut as a 16 year old for Tampa Bay Rowdies in the USL Championship and is now with Crown Legacy FC.
Ahead of their 2024 season, Wake Forest have attracted Philadelphia Union defender Daniel Krueger and FC Cincinnati forward Ryan Belal. They will join other players who have spent time in MLS academies such as Cooper Flax and Prince Amponsah (New York City FC), Bo Cummins (New York Red Bulls), Alec Kenison (Columbus Crew), Vlad Walent and Pariss Mitchell (Colorado Rapids), Cristian Escribano and Pranav Dubroff (FC Dallas), and Ryan Fessler (Sporting Kansas City). Ever since Bobby Muuss took over in 2015, the Demon Deacons have enjoyed a very consistent run of success. They currently have 37 former players who are now professional across 8 different leagues.
Portland Timbers have a few really good former academy players in college right now. Mitch Ferguson helped lead Notre Dame to a National Championship appearance this past season. He was the youngest ever player to start for Portland Timbers 2. Cole Cruthers has been solid in his first two seasons at Rutgers, winning a Big East Conference Freshman of the Year award in 2022.
Joining Marcos Escoe at Virginia Tech is incoming transfer C.J. Coppola from Saint Louis University. Coppola has trained with both first and second teams at Minnesota United. He was the leading scorer on their U19 team during the MLS NEXT League for 2021/22.
San Jose Earthquakes academy forward Tomo Allen is joining the Stanford Cardinal this year. Allen will join Zach Bohane, who was recently drafted by the Philadelphia Union. Former U17 USMNT player Will Reilly (Atlanta United) is also on the team that includes Jackson Kiil, a California born forward who has already played abroad in England and Switzerland at the youth levels. He has apparently spent some time with Columbus Crew as well.
Mentioned above, there’s another point to be made with Nto, Petræus, and Heiskanen as examples as well. People either forget, or they don’t realize, that a lot of the international players who come to the United States to attend college have grown up in notable academies.
Saku Heiskanen was a member of Hoffenheim’s U17 and U19 teams before moving to Orlando for the 2023 season. Eno Nto grew up with Derby County.
Even down in the NCAA Division II, there are examples like Rodrigo Parafita Bestilleiro. The Spanish defender grew up in the RC Deportivo de La Coruña academy and within his two seasons at Franklin Pierce University (2022-2023), he started every match, the team never experienced a loss with a combined record of 47-0-3, and they won two National Championships. On the other side of defense for the 2022 title winning season was Bernardo Prego who ended up transferring to Providence in 2023. He’s currently with Vermont Green during their U.S. Open Cup run, having just beat a USL League One side in the First Round. All but one of the players at Vermont Green is a college player. A current teammate of his told me, “He’s one of the best players I’ve ever played with.” Prego was a member of the Sporting CP academy in Lisbon before joining Franklin Pierce. Signed in January by the Seattle Sounders, Braudilio Rodrigues was also a member of that team.
During his first three seasons at Harvard University, Alessandro Arlotti was selected for the Ivy League First Team each season, and in 2023, he was awarded Offensive Player of the Year. Arlotti was in the AS Monaco academy and represented Italy during the U17 World Cup and UEFA U17 Championship in 2019.
2006 World Cup winner Marco Materazzi’s son Davide plays for James Madison University, who made it to the Third Round of the NCAA National Championship tournament this past season. He was draft eligible in 2024.
Bryce Blevins spent a few years of his youth with the Liverpool FC academy (2013-2016). Heading into his final year at the University of Michigan, he has been a mainstay in the Wolverine lineup as a central midfielder throughout his college career. He’ll be a free agent at the end of the fall season. Penn State’s Freddie Bell made 32 appearances with the Crystal Palace U18 team before heading to Happy Valley. Nittany Lion teammate Matthew Henderson played in Rangers’ youth system and was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team in 2022.
There are quite a bit of college players who have represented their country at the U17 and U20 levels.
Wake Forest goalkeeper Jonah Mednard recently played in three Concacaf Under-20 Championship qualifying matches for Haiti’s U20 National Team. Sidney Paris was just called up for the latest Puerto Rican National Team roster for the Concacaf Nations League. Mednard will eventually take over for Wake Forest starter Trace Alphin as he heads into his senior season. The veteran goalkeeper was draft eligible in 2024, so he will be able to sign with any club when he graduates. Alphin was called up to the U17 USMNT in 2018 for international friendlies and has trained in Denmark with FC Helsingør. FC Cincinnati 2 new man Amir Daley from Duke University also made U17 USMNT appearances around the same time. He scored in his MLS NEXT Pro debut a handful of days ago.
Most recently of University of Portland, Samory Powder was called up to Trinidad and Tobago's senior team to participate in their preliminary training camp ahead of the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup. The free agent versatile wide player has had a great deal of success in the NCAA and USL League Two especially. North Carolina State’s Vusumzi Plamana represented the U17 and U20 South African National Teams as well. Recently the second highest in goals and assists for 2023 National Champions Clemson behind MAC Hermann Trophy winning teammate Ousmane Sylla, Alex Meinhard has represented the U19 Estonian National Team. Before arriving in the United States to play at the college level, Meinhard scored 40 goals in 105 appearances in the Estonian second tier. Sylla ended up signing with the team that drafted him, Houston Dynamo, despite having interest abroad.
There are just a crazy amount of examples of college players having international experience. It’s quite impressive. Maybe with more time, I’ll do a follow-up that talks more about those players.
Head-to-Head
Domestically, there’s not much of a divide between college programs and second and third tier professional clubs. This spring season alone, here are some of the results when they have gone head-to-head…
Richland College v. Austin FC 2 (2-2)
James Madison University v. Richmond Kickers (1-0)
University of Portland v. Vancouver Whitecaps 2 (3-0)
University of Portland v. Pacific FC (2-1)
West Virginia University v. Pittsburgh Riverhounds (2-0)
Clemson University v. Crown Legacy (2-2)
UNC Charlotte v. Crown Legacy (4-0)
College of Charleston v. Charleston Battery (2-1)
Furman University v. Greenville Triumph (1-1)
Elon University v. Carolina Core (1-1)
Conclusion
Pretty much every college player that I’ve talked to in the past few months has been interested in playing abroad one day. With some of the examples throughout this article, I could see a world where international scouts follow the college level more extensively and eventually sign more of these players. It’s clear that quite a few countries scout the North American soccer landscape already, like Scotland, Denmark, and Belgium especially. I could even see college players having opportunities in Asia, South and Latin America as well if the clubs were open to it.
For reference, at the top end, there are MLS and USL Championship caliber players within the college level. Then the bulk of the players probably hover around the USL Championship and USL League One levels, so second and third tier leagues around the world should be a natural transition in theory. From there, who knows what they can ultimately achieve. The added training and opportunities can result in career trajectories like that of Buchanan, Harrison, and Ream, or any of the long list of players with successful careers in the MLS.
There are definitely professional level players throughout the college level. You just have to take the time to scout them properly.
More to come…
Note: Transfer fees were provided by Transfermarkt.