Recruiting Update

Check it out... UP has a verbal from Halley Kreminski, a midfielder from Idaho:

http://www.idahostatesman.com/highschoolsports/story/186881.html

I also did some internet snooping and I'm almost 100% sure we've got commitments from Charney Burke of California (she played midfield for the U-16 US national team), Michelle Olivier (a defender from Georgia, member of the US U-17 national team and the #6 recruit in the country according one list), and Danielle Brunache (defender from California, member of U-17 US National team). (make that Danielle Foxhaven, midfielder from Colorado... oops!).

Add to that one we already know about, Kassi McCluskie of Arizona (#38 recruit according to one list).

WOW WOW WOW!!! What a talented group! Lots of defenders, which will definitely be a need... I'm pretty pumped!

Kudos to the coaching staff. Now... if anyone has better internet sleuthing abilities than me, find some profiles or info about these players!

Good work, Stoney,

Halley Kreminski is probably the best player coming out of Idaho this year. She has a sister (Hannah) who is a defender for Eastern Washington

These kids are all big and fast. It looks like Lauren is recruiting clones of herself.

Yippee!!!!!! You're my hero, Stoney! I love hearing about our recruits, and they just keep getting better and better every year. And thanks, Geezer. I'll take big and fast Lauren clones any time!

Hey everyone! OK, so my internet snooping skills actually aren't very good... I think I was wrong about Danielle Brunache. But the rest of them are right!

Anyone hear anything about whether Teresa Noyola has commited to UP to replace Angie, or somewhere else, perhaps? (Wouldn't that be a dream pick up).

Some folks on another board seem to think Noyola will commit to Stanford. With the season they're having, I can see how that would be tempting.

Well, I think I can help clear up the wondering about the fifth recruit. You were close, Stoney. You just had the wrong Danielle. The five players were at the game today having their pictures taken on the field before the game. The fifth player is---

Danielle Foxhoven.

Two time player of the year in Colorado, youth National team attacking mid and sometime striker, Parade all American. She's teamed with Ellie Reed on the YNT's in the past, where they made quite a duo.

Soo... it looks like the coaches have been thinking about what to do when Angie is gone sob

you might appreciate the quote Danielle Foxhoven has on a profile page more than most--

Check out: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=105883907

stoney,
charney burk is the center mid i mentioned in another thread about who possibly could replace angie. when i talked to a very highly placed person with in the pilot family, they're eyes lite up. not only that, but charney is a tiffany milbrett look a like, an apparently she plays like her too!

Thanks for the link to the quote from Danielle Foxhoven. Got to say she and I are on the same wavelength. I'll have to have a chat with her next year about our like minds. (I truly believe great players lose big games because they lack true killer instinct. I didn't see the SC match today, but what I saw Thursday night against USD was a team in the aggregate that has killer instinct dripping from their jaws...).

Awesome finds guys. Thanks for sharing the info. Great to hear we've got commitments from a lot of Lauren Orlandos prototypes. Love that.

I attended a Tualatin HS game last week. Since it was in the neighborhood, I thought I'd check out a game with Courney Verloo. Sad to say...I didn't see what all the national rave was about. I don't know if it was because of the competition level or whatever...but she looked bored, distracted and not at all attentive to the game. It seemed like she didn't even care to be there. She spent a lot of time standing around and literally "chit-chatting" with other teammates on the bench. It was really an uninspired and sloppy technical performance. The game was against Newberg. She didn't school anyone....not once. It wasn't what I would expect from Oregon's POY. Hopefully, this isn't typical of her. HS playoffs are just around the corner. I may attend a game to see if she displays more intensity and a more business-like attitude in trying to get another state title.

I noticed before the Santa Clara game Garrett and Lauren were talking to a group of 5 or 6 girls on the field by the entrance where the team enters and leaves. They had their pictures taken together. Could these have been recruits on their visits to the school? If so it was a great game to bring them in to see, both the game itself but also the atmosphere.

I believe you saw next year's recruits having their pictures taken.

Next time, take a picture yourself and post it!

I was too far away for my camera to be effective and not fleet enough of foot to get over there before they left the field. Maybe I need to ask Santa for a better camera.

Has UP ever signed a consensus #1 recruit? Soccer Buzz, Parade, Gatorade and NSCAA? Was Tiffeny? Was Shannon? How about Christine? How was she rated as an "international" recruit?

Who's been our highest rated recruit?

Which group has been the highest rated class?

Soccer Buzz has some archives that go back a little bit. Its been interesting looking through them. We've had Top 10 classes but have never grabbed the #1-rated recruit or the #1 ranked class overall. One would think by now that the Pilot's program isn't a hard sell anymore. I went back to 1998 and saw Portland in the Top 5 only twice. Wow!!! Just think about that. I realize recruiting isn't an exact science....but despite it all...we have 2 National Championships to proudly point to! And then not excluding the many College Cup appearances on top of that. Goes to show how well our coaches evaluate players! They really have a keen sense on who would fit, develope and thrive at UP.

GO PILOTS!!

Gotta agree with you Phantom, the coaching staff does an excellent job of recruiting players who mesh with each other and create a stronger team. I used to work with a woman who was was a star high school player in Oregon. She had scholarship offers everywhere. She opted for a school in the southwest because she wanted to play in the sun. She told me she really regretted it because despite having good players, they had personality clashes that the coaches did very little to ameliorate. She said it made it no fun to play and they never reached their potential.

Team chemistry is a big consideration. Clive used to put new recruits to a vote of the players. I don't know if the current staff does that, but they surely get input.

If you come to Portland, you have to be able (and willing) to play the style of ball Portland is famous for. That often requires checking your ego at the door. UP plays to set up the opportunity, not the player. Not all players a capable of doing that.

On another thread, we're talking about POY for Angie. Don't forget she moved outside to play next to Megan, though I'm sure she would have preferred the middle. I'm sure she could have lobbied hard to compete for the middle, but she didn't. She played outside on what became probably the best midfield in history-- with three natural center mids (Queeny moved outside too). That's one of the reasons we won it all in 2005. Now she's taken over the leadership of the current team, not by scoring, but by enabling other players to play to their strengths.

I know players on a couple of NW D1 teams, and they have fine players, but a lot of energy seems to be spent bickering over playing time and positions. I don't think that's a recipe for success.

To answer the #1 recruit question, I think Shannon and Tiffeny were highly recruited. They could have gone anywhere in the country they wanted (including North Carolina) I don't know you could say they were #1. Oregon was a bit of a backwater then, and the National programs weren't as well developed (some say regimented) as they are now. There were others who were considered top notch. Justi and Frenchie certainly were. Again- times were a bit different, and recruiting was more regional everywhere. More recently, we've benefited from the championships in recruiting and have been able to recruit more widely. Scifo was UP's first East Coast recruit. This year we got one from Georgia. That didn't used to happen. Go back in time, and we would get maybe 1 or 2 players from out of state( OK, maybe Washington, too).

Christine was a different story. She wasn't eligible for most of the accolades kids normally get in the USA, but she was a player everyone was desperate for. If anyone was considered the best recruit, it certainly would have been her. I think everyone saw her as a potential ticket to a championship. Apparently, Dorrance offered her a full scholarship, which not many players get there. They often carry 35 players. She took herself out of the running pretty early in the recruiting cycle. she just decided to play for Clive from the start. At that point, there was no incentive for other coaches to tout her. But think about it-- When did she become a starting striker on her National team, 14?

There are players who were considered recruiting "mistakes". They were fine players, and went on to play elsewhere with distinction, but their temperaments didn't fit well with the rest of the team. One of those came back to play us this year as captain of her team. I recall one player who played the last game of the season for us, and came back the next fall and played an early game for an opponent as co-captain---Scored a goal on us. She wanted to play in the middle, and Clive told her the team needed her on the wing. She got her wish, eventually. But it was on another team. And she elevated that team to a level they hadn't seen before or since.

Nobody is perfect in the recruiting game. Kids are still developing and the key is to figure out how a player will develop and how they'll fit, not necessarily where they are now.

One last thing- people get focussed on who's the #1 recruit. That's often hyped by clubs who have a interest in claiming that they produce those players. It's big business, and it's as much marketing as talent.

I was sitting in the student section on sunday and i do know that there were a couple recruits sitting behind me. Who they where I have no idea.

Phantom - Thanks for the review of the Tualatin HS game you saw last week. My gut reaction after reading it was disappointment. It sure doesn't sound like this is a player who would be a great Pilots fit. She sounds immature and not at all dedicated to the ideals that make up the character of a true champion.

Perhaps you caught her on a unique night. However, I doubt that very much. Great players possess much more than just talent. They are tenacious and determined regardless of who they are playing for and against.

Every action we take is a reflection on our character. Is it alright to have a bad night, not indicative of the usual person? Certainly. But if I hear anything else along these lines again during her high school years, I don't think I would want her on the Pilots, regardless of her talent level. I care about the team and the players too much to bring in a player that doesn't share the hallmark characteristics of a Pilots Women's Soccer player. That is a very high standard, indeed!

Geezer....I really really appreciate all that background you provided. Loved that Clive put new recruits to a vote with the players? What a guy! He was so smart to open "team-building" to his players....its taking them back to the basic playground thing of picking sides!

I had heard UNC seriously courted Tiffeny...but...I didn't know about Christine. Where would the Pilots be now if they had gobbled up those 2? We're so so lucky to have had Clive's vision to build a big-time national program come to fruition at UP. I've followed the program long enough to have heard stories of recruits signing on on to play for Clive...sometimes site unseen! Colleen Salisbury's letter writing campaign. I think I remember Lindsey Huie sent in her recruiting request by e-mail. Shannon Macmillian arriving in Portland via Greyhound Bus...all the way from San Diego! The story of Lisa Sari standing in the autograph line as a youngster.

That's just a few stories that come to mind. But...yes...you must have a big heart....first and foremost....to be a Pilot! Those gals bled Purple very very early for sure....even before they had a chance to put on a Pilot jersey!

Fanatic...I was disappointed with what I saw with Courtney last week but I'm going to give her a lot of leeway yet. She's only a junior this year and won't be available until the start of the 2009 season anyway. Lots of time for the Oregon phenom to mature. She was invited to the U-16 National Team Training Camp in Florida last April. But, I'll be interested to see how she does in the state playoffs. Can she take Tualatin HS to another Championship?

GUPhantom,

I don't think Christine even went on a visit to UNC before she decided, so there probably wasn't the awareness.

Maybe you don't know how soccer recruiting works. It's 2 years ahead. Courtney is being recruited RIGHT NOW for fall of 2009. expect that she will be wrapped up by somebody by New Year's , if she hasn't already told someone where she wants to go.

There isn't really the opportunity to wait and see if she matures. Right from the start of this season, the coaches work to get the commitments for 2009. First allowed campus visit was the FLA. ST. game. and they made a big push then. Reportedly, Courtney was here for that weekend. We don't really get to bring her back in unless she comes of her own volition and on her own dime. Right after the season, coaches try to finalize the class. Then in the Spring, they start researching 2010 and 2011 players.

UP will probably have their 2009 recruits by January. I'll bet they have 3 or 4 already. Then we can spend 8 months figuring out who they are. That's about how long it took this time.

Arcane NCAA rules prohibit schools from announcing recruits before a student or their families make it public. Schools are allowed one announcement for the whole class, and it has to be in certain time periods. That NCAA handbook I keep referring to has all that information in it. I think they could have signed and announced a week or two ago, but if UP has a chance at more players, you won't hear anything until February.

Once a player goes public with an oral commitment, other schools will stop recruiting that player. It's not a rule, but it's considered smarmy to go after someone else's oral commit. A player usually has to initiate going to a different school after an oral, which is non-binding. If you are tired of recruiters, just announce where you want to go--everyone else will leave you alone.

Yeah... I wouldn't read too much into one game of watching Verloo play. From what I've heard, she's just absolutely tremendous and would be an awesome addition to the program. Even though we are definitely a national program now (pulling more and more players from outside the Northwest) I still believe that getting the best local players - as long as they have the chops to make it on the team - should be a priority. And Verloo is easily the most highly touted prospect to come out of Oregon in a long time. Can't wait to see her in Purple!!!

Geezer... nice summary of recruiting. You nailed it!

Geez - Great lesson on soccer recruiting. Feel like I just attended a class on the subject by reading your post.

I was aware that recruiting is done two years ahead. And I did see Verloo and four other junior recruits at the Florida State game. She seemed very nice. No signs of a big head or anything. I was excited that she was there.

However, Phantom's post just seemed like a red flag to me. I am certainly willing to give her lots of leeway. I certainly was not Mr. Perfect at her age, and I still am not. (Wouldn't want to be, anyway). She's just a kid, really. Just like everyone else her age. (And a few grown-ups I can think of)!

One thing I didn't quite make clear on my last post is that the announcements that will come out in February are for the fall 2008 class-- the ones we know about already.

We won't officially know about the fall 2009 class until February of 2009.

I agree witht he point that it's great to have local players on the team, as well as good to see that UP can now attract players from across the country.

The defense on Sunday was from OES, Jesuit, Corvallis, and China! OK, Steph L started off in California but you get the picture.

Seems like not long ago the recuits came almost exclusively from OR, WA, CA, and BC. Now Utah and Colorado are regularly in the mix and Sara Jackman is from Texas.