2016 Boys IMG Academy 150 Update

by Caroline Yort

May 18, 2015

The spring update for boys in the 2016 graduating class is out today, and Christian Pulisic remains the No. 1 player in the IMG Academy Top 150. Of those making moves in the top 10, Luca de la Torre climbs to No. 2 and Joe Gallardo to No. 6. Both impressed as the U.S. U17 Men’s National Team narrowly qualified for the FIFA U17 World Cup in March, and de la Torre has logged minutes with Fulham’s U21s in recent weeks.

Orlando City goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar, Chivas USA winger Ivan Gutierrez, Crossfire Premier forward Simon Lekressner, and Portland Timbers midfielder Terrell Lowe are some of the players moving up the ranks with this update. Stajduhar, who lands at No. 63, earned his second call up with the U18 Men’s National Team in April and has started every match he has played in goal for Orlando City’s U18 Development Academy. Gutierrez, at No. 65, came off the bench for the Mexico U17 MNT during their CONCACAF championship run. Lekressner, at No. 85, continues to top the Development Academy charts in goals-per-game and has the third-most goals scored in the U16 age group. And Lowe, at No. 96, earned his first invitation to the U17 MNT at the latest camp in May.

MORE: Club Scores | U17 MNT Coverage | Commitments

Among those to make their first appearance in the IMG Academy 150 are Orlando City forward Nathaniel Adamolekun at No. 103, DC United midfielder Collin Jouan at No. 125, and FC Golden State goalkeeper Freddy Cortez at No. 138. Adamolekun is a leading scorer for OCity’s U16 Development Academy with 19 goals in 24 games, and was a standout for the Jamaica U17 MNT, barely missing qualification for the World Cup. TopDrawerSoccer first notice Jouan at the TDS New York Combine back in 2013 where he earned a best xi nod, and he has continued to improve in the DC United academy system, securing a spot in the IMG Academy 150 with this update. Cortez, though U16 eligible, has earned the starting goalkeeper spot for the FCGS U18 squad.

In addition to the IMG Academy 150 update, we have made key changes to the regional rankings which will be unveiled throughout the week. Some of the additions include Madison FC goalkeeper Noah Heim, BW Gottschee defender Casey Barone, Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder David Norman, Pateadores midfielder David Fuente, and many more.

As far as how we arrive at the rankings, it’s no simple task.

We keep a national database of players as the starting point for our rankings (if you’re not in it, enter a profile here).

We track an extensive list of selections to national team camps and other honors including USSF Development Academy (Boys), ECNL (Girls), and U.S. Youth Soccer National League event and season awards, plus U.S. Soccer Training Centers, ODP, id2 and other player identification programs.

From there we look at additional signs of top player performance in a club environment, with the help of an extensive network of observers around the country. The priority here is for club, college, national team and other select team coaches on the ground, but especially when we can gain corroborating opinions. The more layers of opinions we can accumulate the better, as our role is primarily to aggregate those viewpoints, rather than making our own determination as to a player’s quality.

As a matter of policy, we never share which coaches said what about whom so that coaches will be freer to share their assessments. Another policy is that parents’ opinions about their own children are not considered, but you are welcome to provide feedback about honors and other details that may be of help to us in keeping their profiles up to date as well as our challenge of sifting through thousands of players nationwide. That kind of data can be helpful, but the: “How can you not have rated my kid? He is awesome” communique, while compelling, will be consigned to the virtual trash.

In the end, there’s always some level of subjectivity about players, because after all, how good someone is relative to someone else is largely a matter of opinion, but we do our best to make our rankings as educated an opinion as can be.

The rankings will be updated at least three times per year. Keeping current rankings for 8 classes of 150 players each is no small task, and it is counterintuitive to think the rankings would change daily or weekly. We will announce each update.

So that’s it. You can see the newest version of the rankings here.

Related Topics: IMG Academy Top 150