Although Xanders give us a good bench mark he is only as good as the tournaments he attends and the games he sees. I also believe he is often biased based on the clubs many of these kids play. However, I do believe that some of these rankings are legit.
We seem to have guys every year that go from unnoticed to big contributors to Cuse. Wasn't Joel White a walk on? What about Salcido? Kevin Rice told me several years that the only reason he was recruited was because they were scouting Donahue and thought he could be good. Maybe all of these are diamonds in the rough but I believe our coaches do have the ability to develop talent.
Interesting to hear that from Kevin. He ended up a top 50 kid (48), maybe he was bumped after he committed? Apparently he was a very good soccer player too and could have played D1. That recruiting class was well rounded although not a lot of the talent developed. Rice was by far the best player, and an all-timer. Be great to be able to find those diamonds more often!
2011 Men's Power 100 Freshmen Rankings
15. Thomas Grimm, Attack/Midfield, Carthage (N.Y.), Syracuse
18. Bobby Wardwell, Goal, Shenendehowa (N.Y.), Syracuse
23. Mike Daniello, Attack, John Jay-Cross River (N.Y.), Johns Hopkins (transferred to cuse, never played)
32. Matt Walters, Midfield, Haverford School (Pa.), Syracuse
38. Brandon Mullins, Defense, Coppell (Texas), Syracuse
48. Kevin Rice, Attack, Skaneateles (N.Y.), Syracuse
52. Ralph D'Agostino, Defense, Immaculata (N.J.), Syracuse
62. Bobby Tait, Defense, Germantown Academy (Pa.), Syracuse
76. Brenny Daly, Midfield, McDonogh (Md.), Syracuse
99. Mike Messina, Midfield, Aquinas Institute (N.Y.), Syracuse