2008 Recruit?

here's a first hint at what the 2008 recruiting season might look like.

2007 NSCAA All American and youth National team defender Michelle Olivier has UofP listed as one of the 3 schools she's thinking about on her bio at
http://www.soccerincollege.com/athlete.aspx?id=FMO0880101GA

the others are Duke and Wake Forest

She'd be a great addition.

YNT standout Teresa Noyola is also reported as having an interest in Portland, along with Santa Clara, Stanford, and Yale.

The future looks bright.

There's a potential recruit in our own backyard who's already garnering national attention. She'll be just a HS junior this season 07-08.

She's Courtney Verloo of Tualatin. 6A High School Player of the Year for 2006.

She could just become the biggest local recruit to sign with the Pilots since Tiffeny Milbrett.

She'll be only a junior this fall. -- The real deal, though.

Have you seen any indication she's coming to UP?

Here's what I know (below). I had a short email conversation with Brad McCray, an Oregonian Sports Writer on one of his articles about Courtney. He wrote that UCLA had already begun courting her. Let not have another top Oregonian National Recruit...aka...Kevin Love...leave the state for UCLA!


>>> 02/11/07 4:40 PM >>>

Brad,

UCLA a major top college program? Yes, that may be true. But why even
mention UCLA when the undisputed and top college program is in Courtney's
own back yard. Need I reiterate UP's success? There's no debate as
far as NCAA National Championships goes.

Its....Portland 2...UCLA 0

I hope she decides to stay at home to represent and promote local talent
and youth programs. It would be awesome to see her play in a Pilot
uniform at Merlo Field and follow in the footsteps of Tiffeny Milbrett
and Clive Charles.

GUPhantom

----- Original Message -----
From: Brad McCray
To: GUPhantom
Sent: Sunday, February 11, 2007 6:11 PM
Subject: Re: Courtney Verloo - Tualatin HS Soccer - POY

no debating U of P as one of the nation's top programs. The significance
of mentioning UCLA was that Verloo was attracting INTEREST from a top
non-local program. Obviously, the Pilots are interested in all quality
local kids. UCLA, however, rarely recruits a Portland-area player. It
simply indicates Verloo's status as a NATIONAL recruit instead of a
regional one.


----- Original Message -----
From: GUPhantom
To: Brad McCray
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 12:17 AM
Subject: Re: Courtney Verloo - Tualatin HS Soccer - POY


Thanks for replying Brad.

I DO see and appreciate the point you had tried to convey about Courtney's rising NATIONAL recognition in the soccer world.
Wow! She's just a sophomore and already our state's POY.

Courtney stay home!....I sure hope Garrett and UP have begun seriously courting her. I mean....UCLA, North Carolina and Santa Clara always seem to sign the best national recruits and assemble the most envious classes. Since Clive's passing, Portland does well in the recruiting game but seem to concentrate on a few select players. Their scheme seems to be to surround their few prized recruits with key "role players". Many are not bluechips. Most even overlooked at a national level. But then again, I hesitate to use the word "role player" because they are fabulous players and play a vital part in the team's success. Team chemistry seems to be a more important factor in Garrett's compilation of talent.

Anyway, I loved that Portland signed some of the best local/in-state talent this year. The incoming Freshman class will be Jessica Tsao (Oregon Episcopal), Kristen Kelly (Tigard) and Frankie Lopez (Mcminnville). I heard Alex Nimo (Benson) is going to take a stab at going Pro right away? I hope he changes his mind and takes the college route first. At least take a couple of years to mature his game a little bit. That's a nice local fantasy team, don't you think? Alex and Frankie playing together on the Pilot's frontline?

Thanks again Brad!

Check out this quote from Garrett in the release for the announcement of this year's class:

“Kristen (Kelly) and Jessica (Tsao) are two of the top in-state recruits. Being local products out of the FC Portland club system is exciting. We have current players on the roster – Natalie Budge and Emily Michaelson - that had good success at FC Portland and are now integral parts of our program. We are thrilled to be able to bring the top local players to The Bluff and Merlo Field and we hope to continue that trend in the coming years."

http://www.portlandpilots.com/sports/wsoccer/release.asp?release_id=4296

Sure, it could just be platitude, but I think that the program will ALWAYS try to get the top local players if they feel like they are good enough to earn a roster spot. As much as we like to think of the program as a national one (which I agree it is... two titles in six years... 'nuff said), just a quick look at the rosters over the last few years shows that it's Oregon, Washington, California and random player here and there from other stats. That's starting to change with kids from Colorado and Utah ad Texas and I hope that continues, but I still think that UP should always look at Oregon and Washington as its home turf and not allow top-notch players to escape unless they just don't want to go to a small, private school.

And no matter what, if a local recruit is a top prospect, than there's a good chance she will be going to Merlo Field to watch some college soccer and see teams like North Carolina, Santa Clara, Notre Dame, Florida State, etc. And as we all know, nothing is a more powerful recruiting tool to our program than the incredible atmosphere created by the fans.