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D.C. United signs Maryland’s White

Ethan White (ISIPhotos.com)

D.C. United's rebuilding project took another step forward on Tuesday with word that the club has signed Maryland defender Ethan White as a Homegrown Player.

A centerback/right back prospect, White had been regarded as one of the best defenders in the nation and a top MLS Draft prospect before signing with D.C. United as a product of the team's Academy system. Rated as the No. 14 draft prospect on SBI's most recent Draft Big Board, White will expected to compete for playing time right away.

White joins Andy Najar, Bill Hamid and Conor Shanosky as one of D.C. United's four Homegrown Players. D.C. United has already added midfielder Dax McCarty this off-season and also holds the No. 3 pick in the 2011 MLS Draft.

White may not be the only Maryland player heading to an MLS team as a Homegrown Player. The New York Red Bulls are seriously considering signing midfielder Matt Kassel as its own Homegrown Player.

Maryland is also set to lose goalkeeper Zac MacMath, who is prepared to leave school to begin his professional career. Terrapins forward Casey Townsend is another possible defection as he is on the MLS Generation adidas radar.

What do you think of D.C. signing White? Starting to think United can turn things around in 2011 after posting the worst record in MLS in 2010?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Cised for DC’s academy. 4 players signed in 3 years is amazing for a 15 year old club. The Red Bulls academy seems to be scooping up loads of talent in the Jersey area, which has always produced the best US players. With the return of the reserve league and additions of Portland and Vancouver, MLS should make more strides in 2011 than it did in 2010.

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  2. Ah this is a tired subject. DC United has an owner who can’t afford to fund a new stadium, and neither Virginia nor DC suits want to put up the money necessary to fund a new stadium.

    The best hope for DC United is that new owners come in and can put up the money that the DC council would like to see. Right now DC United is asking the jurisdictions to front too much money.

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  3. Now if Omar Salgado could fall to 3rd. and speking of prospects Jalen robisnson will be one to keep an eye on, dude has got game.

    More than a stadium DC needs to bring in additional ownership with $$$ and ideas as to how to move the club forward. John Henry could also use a MLS team, no?

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  4. In all fairness to DCU, they have to deal with the disfunctional DC government when it comes to getting the stadium. The club is doing everything they can to resolve this issue. But the DC government could care less about soccer and does not want to lose the sole tenant for their dilapidating RFK stadium. And it does not help that the DC government bid against themselves by dumping hundreds of millions of dollars in the pockets of baseball owners just a few years ago to attract the money losing Expos to relocate from Canada. DCU’s best bet to get their own stadium is to strike a deal with one of Northern Virginia jurisdictions. Most of their fan base is in Northern Viriginia anyway and if they get something close to metro, then most of their supporters from MD and DC would also come to the games.

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  5. Its great for American soccer in general. I hope it causes the teams who invest in academies to have major advantages. That way, eventually an academy will become essential for any competitive MLS team and not just a luxury. Exciting stuff.

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  6. Sadly it’s a catch 22 situation for us: do we invest in a stadium at the cost of our team so we lose our fan base because of a declining team OR do we invest in our team, raise the profile of the team and hope for outside investments.

    Sadly, even if were the golden child of MLS, DC is in no condition to finance a new stadium so we’re screwed for the foreseeable future. What’s important now is to keep the fans coming and that’s through the product on the field.

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  7. This is a positive for DCU and MLS. White had options in Europe, too. And in the long run youth academies in the U.S. will be good for the national team.

    While United has clearly fallen apart on the field in the last few years, and the stadium situation is well documented, it does seem that they are becoming a leader in the area of player development. Hopefully, this will help return them to league prominence.

    Vamos United!

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  8. Interesting to see college players sign as homegrown players. Go Academies and youth development. MLS is just going to keep getting better. Like it.

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  9. If DC can produce players like Najar, White, Hamid etc. and other teams can’t it will eventually catch up to other teams. It also gives teams with regional talent an advantage, i’d say Red Bull and DC are the favorites to lead the way on homegrown talent

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  10. I think a lot of homegrown talent will be signed this way. I wonder if it is a big enough effect or uneven enough to cause some teams to have advantages.

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  11. I’d like to see DC United apply some of that “innovation” towards getting a new stadium.

    Because as of right now, they’re heading towards the path extinction rather than innovation.

    I’m sure it’d be pretty disappointing for their DC supporters when the club is in another city in a matter of a few years, at this rate.

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  12. DC United is actually one club that I rather like, but I would say until this past season they have just done everything better than most clubs. When I think of innovative, I think of finding new ways to do things. In my opinion they haven’t found news ways of doing things, they have just done many things better than most clubs. Regardless, it’s great to see a team take advantage of the homegrown rule to the extent they have.

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  13. That’s kind of a silly insult. First, MLS is a very young league with almost no tradition, so almost anything any MLS team does has a decent chance of being “innovative.” For instance, when Bob Bradley brought in two Argentines on two year loans (which got around the MLS restrictions on loans at the time), that was innovative (and effectively opened the doors to foreign loans which allowed MLS to attract players like Christian Gomez and Pescadito Ruiz who otherwise might not have come here).

    Second, DCU was the first MLS team to really focus on the academy team (sending a DCU side coached by Dave Sarachan to European tournaments prior to the 1998 WC tournament). DCU was one of the first MLS sides to really take the academy seriously (and that’s shown by their record of winning 3 of 4 SUM Championships (and being a finalist in the 4th one). And while other teams have signed academy players who’ve played as subs, DCU is probably the first side to see academy players make major contributions (Graye started 20 games last year, Najar I assume you know about, Hamid battled Perkins for the starting role in goal all season until his shoulder injury).

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  14. Oh I know. I’ve been following the team in earnest for six years now. Sasho always has new bounds of talent to replace the departing, but this year was quite the exodus, much like the 2008 team that needed a year to rebuild. Of course, a rebuilding year for the Terps is still probably NCAA-tournament-seed-worthy.

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  15. It’s happened to MD before when Seitz and Edu among others left early, they will bounce back, like JoeW said it can be good for recruiting, see Kentucky Bball for an example

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  16. Sasho Cirovski has shown a remarkable ability to recruit and reload despite all of the talent that has left Maryland early. I’m convinced he’s turned it into an asset, much like outstanding college basketball programs tell HS stars “come play for me for a year or two and then turn pro–you’ve got a chance of starting. But go GenAd out of HS and you’ll sit on the bench for 3 while your body matures.” Believe it or not, Maryland certainly seems to never miss a beat recruiting-wise.

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  17. However good this move may be for DC, I can’t imagine that this move, the departure of McMath, and the possible departure of Kassel, all make Sasho Cirovski very happy.

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  18. It is when you are signing foreign players and 13 year olds and your academy has already produced a rookie of the year and a possible USMNT keeper, DC United definitely pushed the MLS foward, hate them or love them, DCs fans pushed the standard of attendance forward, DC will rise again

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  19. Great news for DCU, “awful” news for Maryland. Ethan is skilled athletically and intelligent on the field; I think he’ll develop into a regular on their backline.

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  20. MLS changed a rule a year in the 90’s to break the team up, just look at all the trophies including winning the now non existent Copa Interamericana, no team can compete with DCs trophies, they have one of the most passionate fan bases and have developed so far the most quality players from their academy, also I think you could argue that of the top 10 players all time in the MLS at least 3 or 4 are DC guys and probably 2 of the top 5 are DC guys

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  21. While I don’t know much about White, it’s nice to see that the Academy system being used (hopefully successfully). Depth in the defense will only help DC’s return to relativity.

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