With the Major League Soccer Draft just a month away, the league released the initial list of 2017 MLS Combine participants on Wednesday.
Fifty-three Division 1 players were named to the list for the combine that takes place from January 8-12 in Los Angeles, the site of this year’s Draft.
Fresh off College Cup appearances, Denver’s Reagan Dunk and Stanford’s Brian Nana-Sinkam were selected for the combine on Wednesday. Dunk, a defender, has been a finalist for the MAC Hermann trophy in each of the last two years. Nana-Sinkam is a two-time College Cup champion with the same Stanford program that produced Brandon Vincent and Jordan Morris a year ago.
Wake Forest’s Jacori Hayes was also added to the list after his performance for the Demon Deacons this season.
Among the other big names on the list are UC-Santa Barbara forward Nick DePuy, who tallied 31 collegiate goals, including a pair of double-digit goal season for the Gauchos.
Tanner Thompson, the younger brother of San Jose Earthquakes homegrown product Tommy Thompson, is one of the select Hermann Trophy semifinalists headed to the combine. The Indiana University product is joined by fellow semifinalists Wuilito Fernandes of UMass-Lowell, David Goldsmith of Butler, Providence’s Julian Gressel, Vermont’s Brian Wright as well as Dunk and Hayes.
There were a few major names left off the initial list, including Wake Forest’s Ian Harkes and UCLA’s Abu Danladi. Harkes could sign with D.C. United as a homegrown product, while Danladi would presumably be a part of the Generation Adidas class before the draft process ramps up.
Just like they have in previous years, the combine participants will be split up into four teams and play a number of matches against each other throughout the four-day combine.
Columbia’s Kevin Anderson, Seattle’s Pete Fewing, Jamie Franks of Denver and Bo Oshoniyi of Tennessee State will serve as the combine coaches.
Here’s a full list of combine invitees:
NCAA Division I College Invitees
| Name | School | Pos. | Hometown | Citizen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lalas Abubakar | Dayton | D | Accra, Ghana | GHA |
| Michael Amick | UCLA | D | Sunnyvale, CA | USA |
| Brandon Aubrey | Notre Dame | D | Plano, TX | USA |
| Kwame Awuah | UConn | M | Toronto, ON | CAN |
| Nazeem Bartman | South Florida | F | Cape Town, South Africa | RSA |
| Kyle Bjornethun | Seattle | D | Snohomish, WA | USA |
| Brandt Bronico | UNC-Charlotte | M | High Point, NC | USA |
| Russell Cicerone | SUNY-Buffalo | M/F | Bloomfield Hills, MI | USA |
| Suliman Danikeh | Maryland | D | Reston, VA | USA |
| Michael DeGraffenriedt | Louisville | D | Baltimore, MD | USA |
| Guillermo Delgado | Delaware | F | Tres Cantos, Spain | ESP |
| Nick Depuy | UC Santa Barbara | F | Irvine, CA | USA |
| Frances de Vries | Saint Francis (Penn.) | D | Christchurch, New Zealand | NZL |
| Reagan Dunk | Denver | D | Dallas, TX | USA |
| Jack Elliott | West Virginia | D/M | London, England | UK |
| Wuilito Fernandes | UMass-Lowell | F/M | Praia, Cape Verde | CPV |
| Alec Ferrell | Wake Forest | GK | Westlake, OH | USA |
| David Goldsmith | Butler | F | Bristol, England | UK |
| Jorge Gomez Sanchez | Temple | F | Talavera De La Reina, Spain | ESP |
| Julian Gressel | Providence | M | Neustadt an der Aisch, Germany | GER |
| Sam Hamilton | Denver | M | Evergreen, CO | USA |
| Niko Hansen | New Mexico | F | Sacramento, CA | USA DEN |
| Jacori Hayes | Wake Forest | M | Bowie, MD | USA |
| Joe Holland | Hofstra | M | London, England | UK |
| Walker Hume | UNC-Chapel Hill | D | San Angelo, TX | USA |
| Daniel Johnson | Louisville | M | Duluth, GA | USA |
| Aaron Jones | Clemson | D | Great Yarmouth, England | UK |
| Eric Klenofsky | Monmouth | GK | Lincoln Park, NJ | USA |
| Austin Ledbetter | SIU-Edwardsville | D | St. Charles, MO | USA |
| Zeiko Lewis | Boston College | M | Pembroke, Bermuda | BER |
| Connor Maloney | Penn State | D | Harrisburg, PA | USA |
| Napo Matsoso | Kentucky | M | Louisville, KY | LES |
| Billy McConnell | Indiana | D | Richboro, PA | USA |
| Jake McGuire | Tulsa | GK | Chino Hills, CA | USA |
| Lindo Mfeka | South Florida | M/F | Durban, South Africa | RSA |
| Robert Moewes | Duke | GK | Dortmund, Germany | GER |
| Brian Nana-Sinkam | Stanford | D | Lititz, PA | USA |
| Chris Nanco | Syracuse | F | Brampton, ON | CAN |
| Jakob Nerwinski | UConn | D | Lawrenceville, NJ | USA |
| Chris Odoi-Atsem | Maryland | D | Mitchellville, MD | USA |
| Evan Panken | Notre Dame | M | Edina, MN | USA |
| Danilo Radjen | Akron | D | Broadview Heights, OH | USA |
| Robby Sagel | Penn State | D | Las Vegas, NV | USA |
| Eddie Sanchez | Portland | M/F | Canby, OR | USA |
| Aaron Schilder | Washington | GK | Bellingham, WA | USA |
| Justin Schmidt | Washington | D | Albuquerque, NM | USA |
| Colton Storm | UNC-Chapel Hill | D | Mechanicsburg, PA | USA |
| Christian Thierjung | California | F | Dove Canyon, CA | USA |
| Tanner Thompson | Indiana | M | Loomis, CA | USA |
| Felix Vobejda | UCLA | M/D | Bielefeld, Germany | GER |
| Chris Wehan | New Mexico | M | Laguna Niguel, CA | USA |
| Jordan Wilson | Kentucky | D | Auchterarder, Scotland | UK |
| Brian Wright | Vermont | F | Ajax, ON | CAN |