MLS Academies dominante 2024 Rankings

With the growth of the MLS academies and the expansion of the scouting networks for each club, there should be no surprise that MLS academies are home to most of the players in the <a href="https://prepsoccer.com/national/rankings/boys/2024-rankings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PrepSoccer National Player Rankings for the Class of 2024</a>. [player_tooltip player_id="12547" first="Micah" last="Burton"] (Austin FC), [player_tooltip player_id="14590" first="Giorgio" last="De Libera"] (Columbus Crew), [player_tooltip player_id="7849" first="Javen" last="Romero"] (LAFC), [player_tooltip player_id="8535" first="Ronnie" last="Dalgado"] (LA Galaxy) and [player_tooltip player_id="10412" first="Tyler" last="Hall"] (Inter Miami) lead the way. De Liberia is the recent winner of the MVP award at the MLS Next U17 Cup Playoffs. There is a chance all of those players are out of the rankings in the next update. As a reminder, the PrepSoccer player rankings only considers players with amateur eligibility. Once a player signs a professional contract, they are removed from the rankings. Ransford Gyan is the top ranked player from outside of an MLS academy. The high school soccer standout was in consideration for the n<a href="https://prepsoccer.com/2022/01/national-fall-boys-poy-candidates-for-2022/">ational player of the year award after a stellar sophomore campaign for one of the top programs in the country</a>. [player_tooltip player_id="7267" first="Christian" last="Arseni Metelitsa"] is another player from outside of the MLS academy world that shows up in the top 20 of the rankings. The De Anza Force standout is one of the top defenders in the country in the 2006 age group. His competitiveness is one of his best attributes as he will not quit on a play. Finding quality left center backs from the club game is pretty rare, which makes him an even high priority target for scouts of the next level. [player_tooltip player_id="16397" first="Julian" last="Eyestone"] (FC Dallas) is the top goalkeeper from the class. Eyestone's well-rounded game makes him the best in the position. He has the physical presence to stand out on the field, but he is more than just a tall goalkeeper. He is good with his feet and connects passes with consistency, accurately. He is also smart about reading the game and makes good decisions on when to come off his line. Eyestone has a bright future. Andrew Rick from Philadelphia Union, Ryan Carney from New England Revolution, Fernando Delgado from Real Salt Lake, and [player_tooltip player_id="47350" first="Stanislav" last="Lapkes"] from Columbus Crew show how deep this position is on the national scale. They are all top talents and have qualities to suggest they should be considered as the top recruit from goalkeeper in the country from the class of 2024. [caption id="attachment_38852" align="alignright" width="300"]<img class="wp-image-38852 size-medium" src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/02/marco-300x262.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="262" /> [player_tooltip player_id="8204" first="Marco" last="Bottene"], Photo: Eric Hamilton -[/caption] [player_tooltip player_id="7955" first="Jose" last="Ponce"] (Sacramento Republic) and [player_tooltip player_id="45548" first="Roka" last="Tsunehara"] (De Anza Force) are two players from Northern California who impressed scouts during the MLS Next Cup Playoffs in June and earned enough attention to gain a spot on the list. Ponce was electric in the midfield for Republic and could be the next in line from that talent factory to reach the highest level. Tsunehara was the key piece of the De Anza Force attack that advanced far in the U16 age group at the event. He will be one to watch as a potential top player headed to the college game in a couple of years. [player_tooltip player_id="36756" first="Luke" last="Gonda"] (Sockers FC) is another player that will be of interest to college scouts in the near future. The college recruiting for men's soccer is always slower than the women's side of the game, but there are more programs being active early in their identification process and opening communication. Gonda is the type of player who could be a key addition to the right program. He is a midfielder who is clever on the ball and difficult to contain. I've never seen him play a game where he is not fouled at least three times in the first half. He is an excellent passer and still has plenty of room to grow when challenged at the next step. [player_tooltip player_id="8384" first="Nico" last="Ruiz"], Edward Smith, and [player_tooltip player_id="8204" first="Marco" last="Bottene"] are the three top talents from Boys ECNL on this list. All three were standouts during the recently Boys ECNL National Playoffs in San Diego. They will be early targets for top programs and had plenty of college coaches attending their games at the playoffs. The PrepSoccer Player Rankings will expand with the next update, as we attend more events and scout more players. Interested in being scouted for the national or state rankings, <a href="https://x.com/PrepSoccer">hit us up on social media</a>.