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22 commitments?

Sean Miller Fan

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Oct 30, 2001
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At the Panthers Prowl on Tuesday, Randy Waldrum said that they have received 22 commitments for the next 3 years and have done 3 years recruiting in the last few months. I don't know how good any of these players are but I'd assume Pitt women's soccer is going to get really good really quick.

Waldrum and Vidovich are Exhibit A of how much the head coach matters in recruiting. Pitt soccer has many disadvantages but it hasn't slowed these guys at all. Both have won National Championships and I think its pretty safe to say that both programs are more likely than any current Pitt program to win a NC.

Waldrum was really funny and well-spoken, probably more than any other coaches. Vidovich is kinda the opposite. He never seems totally comfortable in front of the microphone. He seems more of a no-nonsense, business-oriented, tell it like it is kind of a coach. I thought he was too hard on himself almost apologizing for his "slow" start and saying everyone in the ACC makes the NCAAT but them. He was on the cusp of it in Year 2 and will make it this year.
 
At the Panthers Prowl on Tuesday, Randy Waldrum said that they have received 22 commitments for the next 3 years and have done 3 years recruiting in the last few months. I don't know how good any of these players are but I'd assume Pitt women's soccer is going to get really good really quick.

Waldrum and Vidovich are Exhibit A of how much the head coach matters in recruiting. Pitt soccer has many disadvantages but it hasn't slowed these guys at all. Both have won National Championships and I think its pretty safe to say that both programs are more likely than any current Pitt program to win a NC.

Waldrum was really funny and well-spoken, probably more than any other coaches. Vidovich is kinda the opposite. He never seems totally comfortable in front of the microphone. He seems more of a no-nonsense, business-oriented, tell it like it is kind of a coach. I thought he was too hard on himself almost apologizing for his "slow" start and saying everyone in the ACC makes the NCAAT but them. He was on the cusp of it in Year 2 and will make it this year.

gread update. thanks for sharing. incredible news, really. absolutely astounding. perhaps the pitt refrain of, "we need more time!," is finally being shaken off.
 
At the Panthers Prowl on Tuesday, Randy Waldrum said that they have received 22 commitments for the next 3 years and have done 3 years recruiting in the last few months. I don't know how good any of these players are but I'd assume Pitt women's soccer is going to get really good really quick.

Waldrum and Vidovich are Exhibit A of how much the head coach matters in recruiting. Pitt soccer has many disadvantages but it hasn't slowed these guys at all. Both have won National Championships and I think its pretty safe to say that both programs are more likely than any current Pitt program to win a NC.

Waldrum was really funny and well-spoken, probably more than any other coaches. Vidovich is kinda the opposite. He never seems totally comfortable in front of the microphone. He seems more of a no-nonsense, business-oriented, tell it like it is kind of a coach. I thought he was too hard on himself almost apologizing for his "slow" start and saying everyone in the ACC makes the NCAAT but them. He was on the cusp of it in Year 2 and will make it this year.

gread update. thanks for sharing. incredible news, really. absolutely astounding. perhaps the pitt refrain of, "we need more time!," is finally being shaken off.

Yea, Vidovich, its probably just his personality, but seemed bummed about his team. I wanted to give him a hug and say, "Jay, you almost made the NCAAT in Year 2, had a young team and have the #3 ranked recruiting class coming in. Don't beat yourself up."

Losing doesn't sit well with these guys. Waldrum joked that he and his wife don't play board games because they are both too competitive and neither like to lose.
 
Women's soccer is different. Most top players commit to schools as sophomores in high school, and no later than the start of their junior years. If Pitt didn't have any commitments right now from current sophomores that would be a really, really bad sign.
 
That's pretty weird

They also don't get recruited while playing high school soccer. They (for the most part) get recruited at the big tournaments that the travel teams go to. I could be wrong, but I do not believe that my niece's college coach went to even one of her high school games. If he did I never saw him there.
 
That's pretty weird

They also don't get recruited while playing high school soccer. They (for the most part) get recruited at the big tournaments that the travel teams go to. I could be wrong, but I do not believe that my niece's college coach went to even one of her high school games. If he did I never saw him there.

Well, yea, that I knew. I remember listening to an old Triblive podcast where the guy asked Vidovich about WPIAL talent and building relationships and he tried very hard to not make the guy look stupid but Inotherwords basically said he wasnt watching WPIAL soccer
 
Well, yea, that I knew. I remember listening to an old Triblive podcast where the guy asked Vidovich about WPIAL talent and building relationships and he tried very hard to not make the guy look stupid but Inotherwords basically said he wasnt watching WPIAL soccer


Right. He would want to build relationships with the coaches of the Beadling and Riverhounds teams to get "access" to the best players in the area. And it would work similarly in other areas.

There are simply far too many high school games where the "good team" is so much better than the "bad team" that you can't really see anything useful about player skills watching the games. The coaches for my niece's high school team wouldn't let them win any games by more than about 10-0, but there were games that they could have won 30-0 or more had they tried to. And you can't learn anything important about any players in games like that. Now on those occasions that you get two good teams playing each other then sure, you can learn things. But my niece's travel team would have destroyed her high school team, and as a senior her high school team had, I think, 10 or 11 players on it who either are at or have signed LOIs with D1 schools. It's just a whole different level.
 
Well, yea, that I knew. I remember listening to an old Triblive podcast where the guy asked Vidovich about WPIAL talent and building relationships and he tried very hard to not make the guy look stupid but Inotherwords basically said he wasnt watching WPIAL soccer


Right. He would want to build relationships with the coaches of the Beadling and Riverhounds teams to get "access" to the best players in the area. And it would work similarly in other areas.

There are simply far too many high school games where the "good team" is so much better than the "bad team" that you can't really see anything useful about player skills watching the games. The coaches for my niece's high school team wouldn't let them win any games by more than about 10-0, but there were games that they could have won 30-0 or more had they tried to. And you can't learn anything important about any players in games like that. Now on those occasions that you get two good teams playing each other then sure, you can learn things. But my niece's travel team would have destroyed her high school team, and as a senior her high school team had, I think, 10 or 11 players on it who either are at or have signed LOIs with D1 schools. It's just a whole different level.

Plus for men's soccer, there maybe, maybe be 1-2 ACC level players in the WPIAL and sometimes 0. Women's is much better
 
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At the Panthers Prowl on Tuesday, Randy Waldrum said that they have received 22 commitments for the next 3 years and have done 3 years recruiting in the last few months. I don't know how good any of these players are but I'd assume Pitt women's soccer is going to get really good really quick.

Waldrum and Vidovich are Exhibit A of how much the head coach matters in recruiting. Pitt soccer has many disadvantages but it hasn't slowed these guys at all. Both have won National Championships and I think its pretty safe to say that both programs are more likely than any current Pitt program to win a NC.

Waldrum was really funny and well-spoken, probably more than any other coaches. Vidovich is kinda the opposite. He never seems totally comfortable in front of the microphone. He seems more of a no-nonsense, business-oriented, tell it like it is kind of a coach. I thought he was too hard on himself almost apologizing for his "slow" start and saying everyone in the ACC makes the NCAAT but them. He was on the cusp of it in Year 2 and will make it this year.
Not sure if it's related, but there was a change in NCAA rules that just went into effect that is really going to curtail early recruiting in certain sports -- with women's soccer being among them. The new rule (which I don't have the exact verbiage on) basically will prohibit coaches from having contact with players until their junior year. The exception is during the activities of a camp, which means you will see more "camps" end up on the calendar. This is a big change in women's soccer where most players commit as freshmen and sophomores. Again, that's just part of that answer and I hope I paraphrased the rule change well enough.

So kids who are freshmen and sophomores are rushing to commit at many schools across the country because if they don't now their communication with coaches will be going silent. The only way for them to communicate with coaches will be through their club coaches.

One additional caveat that I heard from a person who knows a person is that Waldrum is flipping some commits to other schools. This is unusual in women's soccer (though as we all know it's a part of daily life in college hoops and football), but Waldrum realizes he has to do this in order to compete in the grueling ACC.
 
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They also don't get recruited while playing high school soccer. They (for the most part) get recruited at the big tournaments that the travel teams go to. I could be wrong, but I do not believe that my niece's college coach went to even one of her high school games. If he did I never saw him there.
This is correct. College coaches are only focused on kids that play on club teams that compete at big tournaments around the country. Maybe the lower level NEC and Patriot Level-type programs deal with high schools, but major college coaches only have relationships with club coaches, not high school coaches. Some of the top players don't even play high school soccer.
 
Waldrum just flipped a girl who plays for the Dallas club team, one of the 4 best club programs in the country, and also is on the Mexican U-20 girls team. What was interesting was that after she announced on Twitter, a lot of the comments congratulating her were from other players who said they had heard how great the coaches at Pitt are. Not just Waldrum, but the entire staff. So, the word is out there.

Soccer has weird international eligibility rules. You can play for a country if any grandparent was a citizen of that nation. So, she well could be an American playing for Mexico. I also heard he has a player coming from the FC Barça women’s team, who were the Spanish champions this year.
 
Waldrum just flipped a girl who plays for the Dallas club team, one of the 4 best club programs in the country, and also is on the Mexican U-20 girls team. What was interesting was that after she announced on Twitter, a lot of the comments congratulating her were from other players who said they had heard how great the coaches at Pitt are. Not just Waldrum, but the entire staff. So, the word is out there.

Soccer has weird international eligibility rules. You can play for a country if any grandparent was a citizen of that nation. So, she well could be an American playing for Mexico. I also heard he has a player coming from the FC Barça women’s team, who were the Spanish champions this year.

Mariona Ylla
HIGH SCHOOL: Hails from Folgueroles, Spain … Played club soccer for F.C. Barcelona (2013-2015), Vic (2015), C.F. Damm (2015-2016) and R.C.D. Español (2012-2013, 2016-2018) … Won Catalonia Championship with R.C.D. Español and F.C. Barcelona … Helped team to a first place win in the International Tournament Ibercup in 2017.

PERSONAL: Born Mariona Segalés Ylla on Jan. 16, 2000 … Daughter to Lluis Segalés Galbany and Eva Ylla Ullastre … Has one older brother; Martí.
 
Mariona Ylla
HIGH SCHOOL
: Hails from Folgueroles, Spain … Played club soccer for F.C. Barcelona (2013-2015), Vic (2015), C.F. Damm (2015-2016) and R.C.D. Español (2012-2013, 2016-2018) … Won Catalonia Championship with R.C.D. Español and F.C. Barcelona … Helped team to a first place win in the International Tournament Ibercup in 2017.

PERSONAL: Born Mariona Segalés Ylla on Jan. 16, 2000 … Daughter to Lluis Segalés Galbany and Eva Ylla Ullastre … Has one older brother; Martí.
Waldrum’s son is her club coach so the connection makes sense.
 
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Soccer has weird international eligibility rules.


As opposed to the Olympics, where there are no rules at all.

The guy from Pittsburgh who just won a medal in speed skating in the Olympics announced a week or two ago that from now on he will be skating for Hungary. He was born here. His parents are from here. He appears to have no family at all from Hungary. But they offered him a lot more cash than the US federation would pay him. So now he's Hungarian.
 
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Soccer has weird international eligibility rules.


As opposed to the Olympics, where there are no rules at all.

The guy from Pittsburgh who just won a medal in speed skating in the Olympics announced a week or two ago that from now on he will be skating for Hungary. He was born here. His parents are from here. He appears to have no family at all from Hungary. But they offered him a lot more cash than the US federation would pay him. So now he's Hungarian.

In the olympics, all you need is a passport issued by that nation. You don't need any ancestry at all from that nation.

FIFA does require citizenship. So, anyone playing for Mexico has to be a Mexican citizen. Mexico may grant citizenship to Americans with Mexican grandparents, not sure but the girl has to be a Mexican citizen to play for them
 
FIFA does require citizenship.


Right, but as long as many countries are willing to hand out citizenship to good athletes like it's an ice cream cone on a summer day it's still all pretty meaningless. Some countries, the US for example, won't do that. Other countries have no problem with doing it if the player is good enough.
 
fifa goes back to grandparents. dunno olympics. i know you can't just say you're hungarian and *poof* you play for hungary. that isn't true.
 
fifa goes back to grandparents. dunno olympics. i know you can't just say you're hungarian and *poof* you play for hungary. that isn't true.


No, you just can't say that you are Hungarian and "poof" you play for Hungary. But HUNGARY can say that you are Hungarian and "poof" you can play for Hungary. That literally just happened with the guy from Peters Township, John-Henry Kreuger. He won a silver medal for the US in February and in April he announced that from now on he was going to compete for Hungary. His brother already was skating for Hungary. They aren't Hungarian. Their parents aren't Hungarian. Their grandparents aren't Hungarian. According to the story that came out at the time of the announcement there aren't any members of the family that anyone knows of that are Hungarian. But the Hungarians will pay him a lot more money, so at some point in time in the near future he will be Hungarian. And that's good enough for the Olympics.
 
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yeah like i said, you can't just say you're hungarian and compete for the country. if they let you be an immigrant and can hold dual citizenship, i guess that's up to them. odd loophole but i whatevs.
 
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