Camping in ACC country
Revolution work on fertile ground
The Atlantic Coast Conference has become a favorite place for Revolution coach Steve Nicol to search for talent. More specifically, North Carolina schools have had their share of players grace the team's roster.
While Nicol has been to the state on many a scouting trip, this is the first time he is there with his team. The Revolution are in the midst of a 12-day training session that will move from Greensboro to Cary tomorrow. Tonight, the Revolution will play Wake Forest in an exhibition match.
"The best teams play in that conference and it's no coincidence that I think if you look at the books over the last five or six years, a great deal of the players that have been drafted have come from [the ACC]," Nicol said.
The Revolution's roster includes eight players who played in the ACC, and seven who played their college soccer in North Carolina. Jay Heaps, Mike Videira, and Darrius Barnes played at Duke, Wells Thompson and Pat Phelan at Wake Forest, Brad Knighton at UNC-Wilmington, and Chris Salvaggione at UNC-Charlotte.
Thompson took advantage of offdays earlier this week to visit his hometown of Winston-Salem. He is looking forward to playing against the Demon Deacons.
"I still know a bunch of the guys on the team, so it's going to be a little different but cool at the same time," Thompson said.
Thompson was drafted by the Revolution in the first round in 2007. Nicol has found places for Wake Forest players in the past, most notably central defender Michael Parkhurst, who played out his MLS contract last season and joined a club in Denmark.
Wake Forest was the 2007 NCAA champion and is one of three ACC schools to have won the men's title since 2001. Preseason games may not officially count, but that doesn't mean the level of play decreases, Thompson said.
"I think you can't lose sight of the fact that every day you have to feel like your job is on the line," Thompson said.
Thompson considers himself among that bunch fighting for positions. After a strong rookie season he struggled for playing time last year after an suffering an early bruised heel. Now, Thompson is healthy and hoping to earn another opportunity.
"I don't look at last year as a very good year for me," he said. "I'm healthy now and I feel like I deserve to be out there playing, and I feel like I can play at this level and I'll do whatever I can to prove to Steve and [assistant coach Paul Mariner] I can play on a regular basis."
Heaps remembers playing against professional clubs and how the experience pushed college players because it was a chance to prove themselves. And being around that kind of energy can be rejuvenating for professionals, he said.
While in North Carolina, Heaps said he hoped to get a chance to attend a Duke men's basketball practice. Heaps played 3 1/2 seasons with the Blue Devils as a walk-on point guard before turning his focus to soccer. Every year he tries to make it to a Duke practice because he said it serves as motivation before the season.
"I was never a big-time player, but I loved every minute of practice and competing," he said. "I guess I was involved with the team aspect. I wasn't going to play in a lot of games, but if the team won, I still felt like a huge part of it."
Those who played in the ACC may have pride for the conference, but Heaps said there are other conferences with historically successful teams, among them Indiana, which won back-to-back national titles in 1998-99 and 2003-04. The Revolution took Indiana product Kevin Alston with their first pick (10th overall) in this year's draft.
Striker Taylor Twellman (nausea) did not make the trip . . . Defender Gabriel Badilla is participating in light workouts but continues to be hampered by a lower-back strain . . . Nicol returned from a trip to Ghana earlier this week and said he saw a couple of defenders and a striker he liked, and the team planned to make offers this week.
