New List of College Men's Soccer "Programs That Inspire"

[Northern_Explorer]

They did a very interesting women's list last week. I'll be curious what people think of the men's version. It's pretty D3 heavy.

The full top 20 and explanation is here... https://collegeathleticadvisor.com/inspire/

Top 5:

1. Amherst College (MA, NCAA Division 3)
2. SUNY – Oneonta (NY, NCAA Division 3)
3. Cal State – Los Angeles (CA, NCAA Division 2)
4. Ohio Wesleyan (OH, NCAA Division 3)
5. Centre College (KY, Division 3)

[Another Mom]

It is a joke.

It's a website purporting to offer advice on college athletic recruiting.  There is no possible way they can assess every college soccer program in the country especially using such subjective parameters.

I do agree Amherst is inspiring though.

[d4_Pace]

See i stopped reading when amherst was number one

[Falconer]

See i stopped reading when amherst was number one

As I stopped reading when Messiah is not on either list, not anywhere. That’s credible.

[d4_Pace]

Falconer,
Only got to play Messiah once but you could certainly tell this is exactly the type of list the program should rank highly on. In reality what this list is trying to measure almost directly correlates to success. People like being apart of and staying in touch with successful programs. Having that buy in leads to successful programs. The key is getting the cycle of success started.

[Northern_Explorer]

It is a joke.

It's a website purporting to offer advice on college athletic recruiting.  There is no possible way they can assess every college soccer program in the country especially using such subjective parameters.

I do agree Amherst is inspiring though.

so the program you know is great, but yes, how could anyone (or any group of people) know more than you!? lol... okay...

Messiah & Wheaton both certainly could be in there, but exactly who do you kick out? And what about Middlebury?

[Another Mom]

I do not believe I said anything about knowing more than anyone else. What I did say was that it was impossible for anyone to know everything about every men's soccer program,  including every division level, particularly since some of their parameters are subjective  and thus not easily verified.

[PaulNewman]

Most of us recognize that Amherst is an extremely exclusive, super-elite institution.  But why inspiring?  Or did you mean the soccer program specifically, and if so, what makes the soccer so inspiring or inspiring relative to other strong academic institutions and/or their soccer programs?

[Northern_Explorer]

I do not believe I said anything about knowing more than anyone else. What I did say was that it was impossible for anyone to know everything about every men's soccer program,  including every division level, particularly since some of their parameters are subjective  and thus not easily verified.

pretty sure that group has the expertise to identify and publicize elite men's soccer programs that meet those parameters, even stipulating that "knowing everything about everything" is beyond us all...

[Another Mom]

Most of us recognize that Amherst is an extremely exclusive, super-elite institution.  But why inspiring?  Or did you mean the soccer program specifically, and if so, what makes the soccer so inspiring or inspiring relative to other strong academic institutions and/or their soccer programs?

Since the list we are discussing is a list of men's soccer programs that inspire, yes, I was referring to Amherst's soccer program.  What makes it inspiring?  I met many D3 coaches and sat in on a bunch of coach info sessions over the course of my son's recruiting journey.  I was very impressed by Coach Serpone, though I know he is not universally liked, and I thought he was highly inspiring.  Much more so than most of the other coaches I saw, which included most of the NESCACs.

[Another Mom]

pretty sure that group has the expertise to identify and publicize elite men's soccer programs that meet those parameters, even stipulating that "knowing everything about everything" is beyond us all...

I would be interested to learn about that group's expertise in that case.

Why do you think the programs listed are elite? 

[Northern_Explorer]

pretty sure that group has the expertise to identify and publicize elite men's soccer programs that meet those parameters, even stipulating that "knowing everything about everything" is beyond us all...

I would be interested to learn about that group's expertise in that case.

Why do you think the programs listed are elite?

you know there's a link at the top of the thread, right?

[Buck O.]

pretty sure that group has the expertise to identify and publicize elite men's soccer programs that meet those parameters, even stipulating that "knowing everything about everything" is beyond us all...

I would be interested to learn about that group's expertise in that case.

Why do you think the programs listed are elite?

you know there's a link at the top of the thread, right?

Yeah, there's a link.  In fact, here's the part of their website that lists the backgrounds of the group:  https://collegeathleticadvisor.com/meet-the-team/

Hard to see anything there that would qualify them to perform a global assessment of the college soccer programs that inspire.

[Another Mom]

Yes, I read the link with the 3 principals' background before posting my question.  There are 3 people on the team. One is a track and field coach living in China. One is a basketball coach, and the third, Dave Morris, lists coaching experience,  but does not say for which sport.

Given the apparent lack of soccer experience/connection my question was genuine: I would be interested to learn why you think they have the expertise to assess hundreds of men's soccer programs.

[jknezek]

It's a couple guys trying to run a business. I'm sure they did something regarding research, and I'm also sure that any college that treats their customers well gets a spot on a list. If they are friends with a coach, probably a spot on the list. So I'd guess it's a mix of programs they've looked into and places they have good relationships with. That's usually how these things go. I wouldn't get too excited about it.