Walls signs Homegrown deal with Earthquakes

by Travis Clark

November 5, 2019

Center back Casey Walls is one of the first players to sign an MLS Homegrown contract this offseason, it was announced on Tuesday.

The California native joins the San Jose Earthquakes after progressing through the franchise's academy.

“Casey is a talented central defender that stood out at a young age in our academy for his technical skills and maturity,” Earthquakes general manager Jesse Fioranelli said in a statement. “As he has progressed in the U.S. Youth National Team system, we also wanted to provide a support system to allow him to develop in our first team environment. Matias [Almeyda] has made an effort to include academy players in training sessions on a weekly basis throughout the year and Casey has proven that he is capable of taking on the challenge.”

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT! ⚫️🔵

BREAKING: We have signed 16-year-old defender Casey Walls as a @SutterHealth Homegrown Player! #VamosSJ https://t.co/3EoFHTUPFx
— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) November 5, 2019

Walls is the No. 19 ranked player in the 2021 Boys IMG Academy Top 150, and the top-ranked player hailing from Northern California & Hawaii. He earned a call-up to a U.S. Under-16 BNT camp in September. This past summer, Walls earned Best XI honors at the Under 18/19 Boys Development Academy playoffs.

He is the seventh Homegrown player currently on the QUakes roster, including U.S. youth national team veterans like Gilbert Fuentes, Jacob Akanyirige and Cade Cowell.

Age ain't nothin' but a number. 🤷‍♂️

Check out highlights of @Casey5Walls, our newest @SutterHealth Homegrown signing! #VamosSJ pic.twitter.com/WRSRChOUZw
— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) November 5, 2019