GREENSBORO, NC – UNC Greensboro senior defender David Worthen is among 54 graduating players that have been invited to participate in the 2008 adidas MLS Player Combine. The annual player combine will be held at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, from Jan. 11-15, 2008.
The 54 players represent 33 institutions. The coaching and management staffs of all 14 MLS teams will be in attendance to scout talent at the 2008 adidas MLS Player Combine, which concludes three days before the 2008 MLS SuperDraft. The 2008 MLS SuperDraft will be held on Friday, Jan. 18, 2008 in Baltimore, MD.
The list of invitees includes seven players who are semifinalists for the 2007 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, NCAA soccer's equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. Leading the way is the 2006 award winner Joseph Lapira (Notre Dame), and Andy Iro (UC Santa Barbara), Julius James (University of Connecticut), Stephen King (University of Maryland), Peter Lowry (Santa Clara), Julian Valentin (Wake Forest University) and Michael Videira (Duke University).
The initial list of players for this year's combine was determined by a select panel of Division I college coaches representing all conferences who nominated and voted for players in conjunction with MLS coaches. Youth players from the Generation adidas program will join additional collegiate players from NCAA Division II and III schools, NAIA schools and Division I alternates to finalize the 2008 adidas Player Combine. These players will be announced in the upcoming weeks.
Worthen, a native of Morehead City, NC, who will graduate from UNCG this spring with a degree in biology, earned All-Southern Conference honors four times with the Spartans. He appeared in 86 matches at UNCG, starting 85 of them. During his time at UNCG, the Spartans advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 16 three times. The Spartans won two Southern Conference Tournament titles and three SoCon regular season crowns in his four seasons with an overall record of 62-23-5 during that span.
Last year, Worthen’s former teammates Randi Patterson and Scott Jones attended the MLS Combine. Patterson was eventually drafted by New York, while Jones was selected by FCS Dallas.
Two other Southern Conference players were selected to attend. Furman’s Jonathan Leathers and Shea Salinas were also among the 54 invitees. Leathers and Worthen are two of 19 defenders invited to the camp.
The 2008 adidas MLS Player Combine will separate all players into four teams and feature two games per day at Lockhart Stadium on Jan. 12, 13, and 15. Each team will be led by an experienced Division I coach and will be assigned a youth coach, to be named at a later date. Former MLS coach and current assistant head coach at Duke University Mike Jeffries has been selected to coach Team Predator PowerServe. Ed Kelly, head coach at Boston College for the past 20 seasons, will coach Team adiTunit. Bobby Muuss, in his first season as the head coach at Denver University after six years as the top assistant coach at Wake Forest University, will lead Team adiPure. Tim Lenahan, head coach of Northwestern University has been chosen to coach Team Trofeo.
The Sheraton Yankee Trader Hotel will serve as the official headquarters of the adidas MLS Player Combine and the host hotel for players and coaching staffs.
AGATE
2008 ADIDAS MLS PLAYER COMBINE LIST BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (5): Dominic Cervi (University of Tulsa); Brian Edwards (Wake Forest University); Andrew Kartunen (Stanford University); Casey Latchem (Ohio State University); Steve Sandbo (Southern Methodist University);
DEFENDERS (19): Scott Bolkan (Stanford University); Matthew Britner (Brown University); Eric Brunner (Ohio State University); Adrian Chevannes (Southern Methodist University); Sean Franklin (California State University Northridge); Matt Hatzke (Santa Clara University); David Horst (Old Dominion University); Andy Iro (University of California - Santa Barbara); Julius James (University of Connecticut); Jonathan Leathers (Furman University); Rauwshan McKenzie (Michigan State University); Ryan Miller (University of Notre Dame); Brandon Owens (University of California - Los Angeles); Andre Sherard (North Carolina); Julian Valentin (Wake Forest University); Yomby William (Old Dominion University); David Worthen (UNC Greensboro); Mike Zaher (University of California - Los Angeles); Geoff Cameron (University of Rhode Island);
MIDFIELDERS (23): Jeremy Barlow (University of Virginia); Eric Burkholder (University of Tulsa); El Hadj Cisse (North Carolina State University); Hugh Cronin (North Carolina State University); Pavle Dundjer (University of Illinois - Chicago); Joe Germanese (Duke University); Brian Grazier (Saint Louis University); Pat Healy (Towson University); Andrew Jacobson (University of California); George Josten (Gonzaga University); Stephen King (University of Maryland); AJ Kulp (Old Dominion University); Peter Lowry (Santa Clara University); Ryan Maduro (Providence College); Pat Phelan (Wake Forest University); David Roth (Northwestern University); Shea Salinas (Furman University); Luke Sassano (University of California); Ben Shuleva (Southern Methodist University); Dan Stratford (West Virginia University); Michael Videira (Duke University); Andy Wright (University of West Virginia); Cesar Zambrano (University of Illinois -Chicago);
FORWARDS (7): Ely Allen (University of Washington); Xavier Balc (Ohio State University); Ryan Cordeiro (University of Connecticut); Kevin Forrest (University of Washington); Joseph Lapira (University of Notre Dame); Sherron Manswell (Boston College); Lukasz Turnicz (University of Rhode Island)
- UNCG -