SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums College, Pro & International Soccer USC Women Sign 13 During Spring Period

Coach Shelley Smith has inked 13 players for the University of South Carolina's women's soccer program, including four that hail from the Palmetto State.

Laura Armstrong, GK
Greenwood, SC (Greenwood HS)
Greenville Futbol Club

Whitney Briggs, M/F
Alpharetta, GA
Centennial HS United Quest

Courtney Cobbs, F/M
Houston, TX (Westfield HS)
Challenge 85/86

Katie Derden, M/D
Boise, ID (Bishop Kelly HS)
Boise Capitals

Annie Galloway, M
Spartanburg, SC (Spartanburg HS)
Spartanburg FC

Kimmy Gillespie, D
Mauldin, SC (Mauldin HS)
Greenville Futbol Club

Sara Jane Harris, M/F
Inman, SC (Dorman HS)
Greenville Futbol Club

Ashley Kirk, M
Macon, GA (Stratford Acacdemy)
AFC Lightning

Stacy Maxwell, M/F
Atlanta, GA (Holy Innocents' Episcopal)
Concord Fire

Kali Neumann, D
Marietta, GA (Pope HS)
United Quest

Lexi Randazzo, F
Avon, CT (Manatee HS)
IMG Academies

Monica Sanchez, GK
Tampa, FL (Riverview HS)
Clearwater Chargers

Erin Sullivan, M
Woodhaven, CT (Aquinas HS)
Augusta Patriots

Annie Galloway is at SPARTANBURG HS NOT Dorman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the correction -- I've adjusted it in the post above. USC's website had it incorrect.

[ March 22, 2004, 07:44 AM: Message edited by: Kyle Heise ]

Glad to see 4 from SC. I believe we have more to offer in the midlands and lower part of the state if she would just take the time to look.

I am a little disappointed to see that Shelley has no active interaction with the SC Clubs or HS. And 13 freshman scares the heck out of me. What happen to all the upper-classmen. They only had 2-3 seniors last year, so where did everyone go? Not looking good for USC. You can tell a program that is in turmoil by looking at the freshmen to upper-classmen ratio each year. You have a problem if you are freshmen heavy every year.

I'll say this, I've seen both Smiths at high school games and know that they are one of the few collegiate coaches (male/female) that actually support the S.C. High School Soccer Coaches Association via membership. They would very much like to recruit SC more heavily, but have to be realistic as well. I think that they are doing a pretty good job at Carolina and will continue to do so.

13 is a lot of recruits. Looking at last yr's roster only 4 graduating seniors and only 2 rising seniors. Assuming no defections, that means 31 + players for next year.

Chapindad,

I am not sure what you mean by "having no active interaction with SC Clubs or HS" Do you mean from a recruiting standpoint she is not involved ? I wouldn't presume that, as she has just recruited 4 instate players. Do you mean she is not actively interactive with the clubs in communication/training sessions? If that is your intent, I can vouch that she and her staff have directed and participated in training sessions, held player discussion panels and campus tours for in state players.

If someone in the midlands and lower part of the state wants her to be interested in (them), maybe they should show her some interest first.

To your point about 13 freshman....I think it is exciting. Can you imagine the competition for playing time with this type of incoming talent. I agree if the situation repeated year after year, but that is not the case. Last year six signed to play for USC. I see USC selecting good kids that are high quality players and in the long run, the program will get stronger.

Chapindad,
You obviously don't know the Smiths nor have you ever attempted to have a conversation with them if you think they have no interaction with the SC club scene or local players. The Smiths consantly offer their time to the community free of charge. They don't push camp, they don't push agendas; they want SC to become a power in the SEC and be a team the community can get behind. Shelley has been a little low profile since the birth of her baby in November, but I've seen both of them at 3 or 4 contests this sping.

If you truly want them to hear what you have to say, call the soccer office at USC and talk to them. I promise they'll take your call. If you prefer email, do that. If all you really want to do is complain, then just continue posting on the message board.

BTW, did you watch any games the last few years? They took a progam that was falling apart with marginal talent and have put them on the cusp on the NCAA tournament. Most "experts" saying they missed NCAA postseason by one win each of the last two years. Considering they have never brought in a big class, I'd say they are weeding out the garden and bringing in kids they feel they can win with. We'll see??

>>I am a little disappointed to see that Shelley has no active interaction with the SC Clubs or HS.<<

Several examples of interaction...

Last night [Monday, March 22, 2004] Jamie Smith and quite a few of the USC women players were at GFC giving a clinic.

Last year, USC women's soccer team played at the Lexington fields and I believe gave a clinic afterwards.

I'm sure that there are more examples; these are just the ones of which I'm directly aware.

>>I believe we have more to offer in the midlands and lower part of the state if she would just take the time to look.<<

GFC's U-18G team is ranked #7 nationally and consists of players from all parts of the state -- each eligible player apparently gets a lot of attention from a lot of different coaches. I believe on the men's side that Aiken Fire players probably get a lot of attention and they have players from a lot of places also. Likewise MPSC's ICE seems to get attention. And so on...

Respectfully, I don't think that the bias that we see is geographic in terms of the players -- but there does seem to be a bias in terms of the clubs [and probably more, teams from clubs] from which USC, Clemson, and others are recruiting. I say this only by looking at the numbers of recruits from SC clubs.

The nature of this bias seems to be oriented around clubs that are regionally and/or nationally competitive. It seems to me that if a club wants to get the sustained attention of any college coach, then that club has to field teams that are regionally and/or nationally competitive with players eligible or near-eligible for college.

If USC does this for 4 years in row and nobody drops out will they have 52 players on their team? Will they have to take extra benches to the away games?

lpaf

lpaf,
Don't be silly. No one does this three years in a row.
Current roster includes 15 players of which one is on suspension and two are always hurt. Hence a little larger class.
Jenna Ball Defender FR Tampa, Fla.
Kimmy Criss Defender/Midfield SO Knoxville, Tenn.
M.A. Foster Forward FR Lilburn, Ga.
Erin Geldhof Defender/Midfield FR Troy, Mich.
Ashley Gosnell Forward/Midfield JR Charleston, SC
Sarah Lentz Defender RS JR Florence, S.C.
Abi Markham Midfielder SO Brentwood, Tenn.
Kirsten Seglem Midfield FR Woodbridge, Va. Lauren Skinner Midfield FR Troy, Mich.
Jessi Swaim Forward/Midfield FR Ames, Ia. Ames
Amanda Thurber Forward/Midfield SO Fayetteville, Ga.
Camille Toney Forward/Midfield SO Beavercreek, Ohio (currently on suspension)
Jackie Welch Defender SO Cape Coral, Fla.
Ashley Williams Forward JR Hanahan, SC
Stacey Zelek Defender RS SO Milford, Conn.

SCDREWABLANK:

You are right on the money. Chapindad just can't handle the fact that his daughter isn't good enough to play in the SEC. The Smithes are OUTSTANDING people and coaches. They are always around.

PS What do you think about Bert at USC?

Taking SCDREWABLANK 's roster and comparing to last year's fall roster does mean that at least 3 fall 2003 players (other than the gradutaing seniors) have elected not to come back.
There is nothing wrong or unusual about that.

1 college coach told me that over 60% of incoming freshman soccer players stop playing by their senior year. Lots of reasons of which none have to do with the coach.

Also had a D1 coach tell me the ideal # of players is 24 on a roster. Often a coach is told by AD to carry more than that so they can count towards their Title IX requirements.

Some Nashville connections said Abi Markham from Brentwood, TN is transferring to Auburn. She will not continue with soccer.

I don't know Chapindad but if he's who I think he is then I've seen at least one of his daughters play for a few years. She's a young player who has had a lot of success; but given her age she's years away from graduating high school -- so I don't think that's the issue.

As I read the issue that Chapindad raised he's saying that he doesn't perceive that the Smith's have much interaction with club/HS; to which several people have noted that the Smith's actually do have specific interaction with some clubs and HS's. I think the issue may be that the Smith's have limited perceived activity/recruiting with midland-area clubs -- and as I noted earlier, if this is true then I think that the reason for this is that midland-area clubs have not been recently a hotbed of teams that are regionally and/or nationally competitive which have players that are soon-to-be eligible for college.

I would think that one of the reasons that Eddie Crosby is trying to get the midlands clubs to work together (as he posted in another thread) is to attempt to rectify this situation.

Mark C.,
After reading yet another one of your thoughtful
and intelligent responses, I would encourage you again to consider running for a spot on SCYSA board.
S1

Chapindad,

I have to go along with other comments about the Coaches Smith. They were at Columbia Soccer Club tournament a few weeks ago with several of their players, Jackie Welch, Kimmy Criss and Ashley Gosnell (I think). They are very open to offering their time to young players. They even gave a tour to a Charlotte U10 girls team upon their request. I also saw them at the Dreher/Hammond soccer game. They are out there in the local community and are very approachable. I would also think any coach recruits first in areas where they need specific talent. They went for midfielders for the most part and two keepers which they desperately need. And who knows all of the details? Certainly there could have been midlands players who just don't want to go to USC or any school that is considered local. At that age many will just want to get away from the place they grew up, see some place new and different.

I have met the Smiths and they are doing things the right way at USC. Next year will be very important for that program and it's imperative that the Gamecocks get in the NCAA Tournament.

According to www.soccerbuzz.com, Clemson and South Carolina are ranked in the Top 25 of women's soccer recruiting classes. The Lady Tigers have three signees ranked in the nation's Top 25 individual players.

1. Texas A&M
2. Notre Dame
3. North Carolina
4. Penn State
5. Texas
-------------------
6. Clemson -- Lindsey Beam (Greer, SC), Elizabeth Jobe (Roswell, GA), Ashley Phillips (West Peabody, MA)
7. Portland
8. Maryland
9. Ohio State
10. California
-------------------
11. Villanova
12. Virginia
13. Michigan
14. Illinois
15. Santa Clara
-------------------
16. UCLA
17. Utah
18. Boston College
19. Loyola Marymount
20. Duke
-------------------
21. West Virginia
22. Vanderbilt
23. South Carolina
24. Virginia Tech
25. Florida

Previous Recruiting Class Rankings

2003
1. Santa Clara, 2. Texas, 3. UCLA, 4. Portland, 5. Notre Dame, 6. North Carolina, 7. Florida State, 8. Duke, 9. Nebraska, 10. Stanford, 11. Virginia, 12. Arizona State, 13. Florida, 14. California, 15. Southern California, 16. Indiana, 17. Tennessee, 18. West Virginia, 19. Princeton, 20. Connecticut, 21. Georgia, 22. Penn State, 23. Michigan, 24. Boston College, 25. Harvard.

2002
1. North Carolina, 2. UCLA, 3. Virginia, 4. Arizona State, 5. Boston College, 6. Connecticut, 7. Duke, 8. STanford, 9. Notre Dame, 10. Penn State, 11. California, 12. Furman, 13. Clemson, 14. Maryland, 15. Auburn, 16. Princeton, 17. Brigham Young, 18. Ohio State, 19. Nebraska, 20. Texas, 21. Rutgers, 22. Cal State fullerton, 23. Kentucky, 24. Pennsylvania, 25. Florida State.

2001
1. Virginia, 2. North Carolina, 3. Texas, 4. Santa Clara, 5. Tennessee, 6. Portland, 7. UCLA, 8. Florida State, 9. Stanford, 10. Washington, 11. Texas A&M, 12. N.C. State, 13. Southern Methodist, 14. Notre Dame, 15. Arizona State, 16. Georgia, 17. Wake Forest, 18. Florida, 19. Brigham Young, 20. Oklahoma State, 21. Boston College, 22. Southern California, 23. Duke, 24. Princeton, 25. Rutgers.

2000
1. UCLA, 2. North Carolina, 3. Stanford, 4. California, 5. Texas, 6. Penn State, 7. Santa Clara, 8. Clemson, 9. Notre Dame, 10. Boston College, 11. Portland, 12. Arizona State, 13. Florida State, 14. Miami, 15. Texas A&M, 16. Nebraska, 17. Vanderbilt, 18. Virginia, 19. Harvard, 20. Brigham Young, 21. Southern California, 22. William & Mary, 23. James Madison, 24. Hartford, 25. Washington.

1999
1. North Carolina, 2. Stanford, 3. Florida, 4. Notre Dame, 5. Portland, 6. Connecticut, 7. Harvard, 8. Texas A&M, 9. California, 10. Miami, 11. Nebraska, 12. Michigan, 13. Virginia, 14. Washington, 15. Penn State, 16. Duke, 17. Rutgers, 18. William & Mary, 19. Richmond, 20. Indiana, 21. Ohio State, 22. Northwestern, 23. Dartmouth, 24. Kansas, 25. Princeton.

1998
1. Santa Clara, 2. North Carolina, 3. Virginia, 4. Florida, 5. Connecticut, 6. Stanford, 7. Texas A&M, 8. Wake Forest, 9. James Madison, 10. Nebraska, 11. Notre Dame, 12. Washington, 13. Southern Methodist, 14. Minnesota, 15. Clemson, 16. Duke, 17. Portland, 18. UCLA, 19. Villanova, 20. Northwestern, 21. Syracuse, 22. Arizona State, 23. Georgia, 24. Florida State, 25. Bucknell.