The IMG Academy Top 150 summer update for boys in the 2017 graduating class is out today, and the summer has been productive for several of the top 20. Internationals’ John Nelson continues his climb up the ranks, this quarter from No. 10 to No. 4, as he earns a starting spot with the U.S. U17 Men’s National Team. Forwards Marty Raygoza and Hanif Wright keep raising their stock as well, climbing into the top 20 at No. 15 and No. 19, respectively. Raygoza is a product of FC Golden State Academy, whose club will participate in the older age groups of US Soccer’s Development Academy this fall, and was a recent TDS Combine standout.

Our scouts, as well as U.S. Soccer, have taken notice of several players in recent months, and they have been added to the list with this update. Crew Soccer Academy’s Devyn Etling, DC United’s Jacob Velvel, New England Revolution’s Daniel Jones, and Chicago Fire midfielder Djordje Mihailovic were all heavily recommended for the IMG Academy 150, and are widely regarded as top players in their respective regions as well as the country.

Commanding center back Etling, who debuts at No. 41, was part of a Development Academy Select team last December, recently participated in the Generation adidas ESP Showcase in Portland, and has already given his verbal commitment to Ohio State. Also a center back, Velvel, debuting at No. 64, was a key player on Tom Torres’ U14 Development Academy squad last season, and has a propensity for scoring goals with his head. Jones, a midfielder/forward for the Revs, was an ESP Showcase participant like Etling, and debuts at No. 55. Mihailovic was a regular for the Fire’s U16 Academy during the U13-14 season, and makes his first appearance on the list at No. 130.

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 Internationals midfielder Daniel Strachan, De Anza Force goalkeeper Brady Scott, Charlotte Soccer Academy midfielder Reed Hunneycutt, FC Wisconsin Nationals left back Robert Cisneroz, Chicago Fire goalkeeper Raymon Rojas, and many more. Keep checking back to see who else made the lists.

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 gain 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 every quarter. 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.

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