E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Aaron King played for the Charleston Battery of the United Soccer League's First Division, was drafted out of North Carolina State by the Los Angeles Galaxy and was traded to the Colorado Rapids.
A free agent, the forward joined about 40 other hopefuls in the New York Red Bulls version of a reality show this week at the Giants Stadium training bubble.
"I felt like it went OK," King said before the decision was announced. "I definitely feel like the coaches just want to see a couple moments of brilliance to know you can play on another level. I tried to do my best and hopefully they see it, too."
And when "So you want to be a Red Bulls player" was finished, seven made the cut to advance to the next round.
King, who has nine goals in 58 appearances with Charleston, was among the lucky seven who will join the Red Bulls at the opening of training camp on Monday. The chances of making the club are slim, especially after rosters were reduced and the MLS Reserve Division was eliminated.
"On top of that these guys just made it to the finals so everyone out here knows it's a tough situation to get into," King said. "But like everyone, I'm just putting my best foot forward and hoping for a little bit of luck, as well."
The weeklong tryouts featured an eclectic mix of players, from those invited to the MLS Player Combine and didn't get drafted, to local college players and even one familiar name.
Eric Brunner, who was selected in the second round of last year's MLS SuperDraft by the Red Bulls, was back in the bubble looking to impress the Red Bulls coaching staff.
After declining to sign a developmental contract with the Red Bulls a year ago, Brunner played for Miami FC. The 6-foot-4 central defender from Ohio State is still under contact with the USL First Division club, but was granted permission to train with New York.
"It was a blessing in disguise because as soon as I left, I got called into the under-23s, I had a really good camp there and got two international caps and a goal," Brunner said. "I took it as it was and learned a lot about myself, a lot of things that take other people two or three years to learn."
With Gabriel Cichero, Diego Jimenez and Jeff Parke no longer with the Red Bulls and second-round draft pick Babajide Ogunbiyi failing to sign a contract with MLS and opting to finish up his studies at Santa Clara, the Red Bulls suddenly have a serious lack of depth centrally. But Brunner isn't getting too excited just yet.
"I've learned, especially in the past season, not to count my chickens before they hatch and don't get too excited about anything until you sign that piece of paper," Brunner said. "I'm just taking it as it comes, playing soccer and having fun with it."
Ogunbiyi will not likely be available to join the Red Bulls until March, the final few weeks of the preseason. And having yet to reach agreement on a contract, it's unknown if Ogunbiyi will even sign a deal.
"I think he's an intelligent kid who wants to finish school. I don't really know what to say," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "We are deciding, but it's a tough one. I can only say I hope I get a chance to work with him because I think he has some good tools."
One central defender the Red Bulls are passing on is Kyle Schmid out of the University of California-Irvine. The son of Seattle Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid initially drew the interest of the Red Bulls coaches during an NCAA tournament game at St. John's.
"I was pretty fortunate because we don't play a lot of games on the East Coast so it's good to be seen by an MLS team out here and obviously it paid off," Schmid said.
Where Schmid, a 6-foot-2 central defender, lands remains to be seen. But he prefers not to follow his father to Seattle.
"I kind of wanted to stay away from that," he said of playing for his father. "All my life it's been hung over my head pretty much so I'm trying to pave my own way."
Joining Brunner and King in the next round are goalkeeper Alec Dufty from the University of Evansville, Adelphi University forward Patrick Figueiredo, Long Island University attacking midfielder Mohammed Mashriqi, Jerry Saintil, a midfielder from Seton Hall and Mauricio Turizo, a forward who played at Giants de Carolina in the Puerto Rico Soccer League last year.
"I just told them, you just passed the first level," Osorio said. "There's no assurance you will get a contract. Now I want to bring you next week to compete with all our players and then I will get a better idea if you indeed can play at this level."
