January 31, 2011 - Recruiting is the lifeblood of any college program and the importance of it can’t be underestimated.  Schools are just beginning to announce their 2011 recruiting classes.  As in the past, College Soccer News will issue its 2011 Top Forty Team Recruiting Class Rankings in August.  CSN delays ranking the recruiting classes until August to ensure that the program rankings are based on the best and most complete information available. 

However, to provide the most comprehensive coverage of college soccer recruiting, CSN asked our recruiting guru’s to identify and rank the top one-hundred and fifty players by class beginning with the 2011 crop of recruits.  The player rankings reflect an analysis of the potential impact a player will have at the collegiate level. 

While there is always room for healthy debate regarding any ranking and no one can totally predict what the future will hold, we are confident that the CSN recruiting guru’s expertise will result in player rankings that will stand the test of time and become a gold standard for information and analysis regarding recruits.  It should be noted that players who have signed professional contracts and therefore will not be competing at the collegiate level are not included in the rankings.

The 2011 player rankings include the individual's club team, position, and the college (if any) to which they have committed verbally. 

Rank                    Player                     Club Team                   Position                    School

1.                     Eriq Zaveleta            Real Salt Lake               Defender                 Indiana

2.                     Alex Shinsky             Super Nova                    Midfielder               Maryland

3.                      Sean Davis                Red Bull Academy        Midfielder               Duke

4.                     Boyd Okuwonu         FC Dallas                       Defender            UNC Chapel Hill

5.                     William Trapp           Columbus Crew           Midfielder                Akron

6.                     Sean Okoli                  Seattle Sounders          Forward                 Wake Forest

7.                     Nick Paloduckuk        Seattle Sounders         Midfielder                  Duke

8.                     Caleb Stanko              Vardar                          Midfielder                 Michigan

9.                      Teddy Mullin             Triangle F.C.              Midfielder               Wake Forest

10.                     Jack Coleman            FC Dallas                   Midfielder                  Indiana 

11.                     Jordan McCary         Concorde Fire           Midfielder          UNC Chapel Hill

12.                     DeAndre Yedlin       Seattle Sounders        Defender                      Akron

13.                     Spencer LaCivita       CASL                         Goalkeeper                  Virginia

14.                      Felipe Noguerol         Weston F.C.               Forward                   Stanford

15.                      Cooper Vandermas-Peeler  CASL               Midfielder        UNC Chapel Hill