Expert: Marney Egan - 8/26/2008

Question
Do more players go pro (either USL, MLS or European)from DI, DII or DIII colleges? Which college coaches have had the most players going pro?

Answer
Sid,

This was a question that required some research on my part and unfortunately I wasn't able to come up with much regarding the USL and European teams so I had to use what knowledge I have coupled with a little common sense.  It was a little difficult to track down which players came from which schools since the team does not always have their player bio posted and sometimes it is unclear whether or not they played in college (so some of my numbers might be slightly off).  That being said, the amount of players that go pro coming out of DI schools is significantly higher than those who have signed with professional teams coming from DII or DIII schools.  I believe of all the MLS players, only 10 came from DII schools and only three came from Division III.  Of the remaining MLS players, 228 come from 86 different DI schools.  The colleges that currently have the most players in the MLS are: UCLA (17), UCSB (11), Maryland (10), Wake Forest (10), UNC (9), Indiana (9), Santa Clara (9), and Virginia (8).
  
As for the USL and European leagues, the two USL players that I grew up with both went to a DI school, so I can only assume that the USL is similar to the MLS and they typically see more DI college grads than any other division.  You don't usually hear of many Americans playing in the European Premier Leagues but I would think that those who may be playing abroad would have come from DI schools.

I hope this answered your questions.  I understand that I told you which colleges currently have the most players in the MLS rather than which COACHES have had the most players go on to play professionally, but I think that it is difficult to answer this since some coaches have coached at more than one college and you would have to know which players they coached at which schools.  If you have any other questions please write again!