A year ago, the newly reborn San Jose Earthquakes made one of the biggest splashes on draft day in Baltimore, trading the first overall pick to Kansas City in exchange for veteran defender Nick Garcia. This time around the 'Quakes navigated their way through the 2009 SuperDraft in much less eventful fashion, quietly picking up two promising college seniors, Brad Ring and Quincy Amarikwa, with the 17th and 32nd overall selections, respectively.
A native of Rockford, Ill. Ring heads west after a successful career at Indiana University, where he amassed a raft of regional and national honors during four years in the NCAA powerhouse's midfield engine room. Amarikwa honed his craft at California-Davis, just two hours north and east of San Jose, and offers a welcome injection of speed to the Earthquakes attack.
"I think Ring will be good for us, a defensive midfielder who can [also] play right back. He had a great career at Indiana, so we're looking forward to seeing what he can do," said 'Quakes general manager John Doyle. "He's rangy, he's a competitor, he's tough and strong in there and he's a nice distributor of the ball. In our team, we play a 4-4-2 so both midfielders have to attack and defend -- we don't look for someone just to hang out up front like an attacking midfielder."
Both he and Amarikwa impressed the Quakes with their tenacity and competitiveness.
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"We've watched Quincy for four years at Davis and have always been impressed with him. Hopefully he'll fit in also," said Doyle. "As a forward for us, we don't really have that fast of a player and he brings a little bit different look to our team. So that's someone we look at -- depending on how he does in preseason -- maybe you put him in the last 10 or 15 minutes to see how he does in games. I think he can disrupt the opponent."
Both Ring and Amarikwa face what is traditionally a steep learning curve as they move up from the college ranks, and will be given plenty of time to acclimate to the professional level.
"We expect a lot out of them, but the expectations are, they'll be given time to grow and learn the league a little bit," explained Doyle. "We're not looking for them to step right in and start."
In many ways the quiet draft day in St. Louis was a result of San Jose's ongoing focus on known quantities and proven experience rather than youth, potential, "upside" and the like. Doyle and head coach Frank Yallop own a wealth of MLS experience between them and have been keen to avoid the struggles encountered by the naпve, youthful expansion sides of years past. Their approach did not waver, even as the 2009 draft class took shape as one of the most talented in years.
"No, not really," said Yallop, when asked if he and Doyle were tempted by any opportunities for draft-day wheeling and dealing. "It'd be too much to move up: too much money or someone we want to keep on our team. So we took our picks and we'll stick with them."
After a difficult start to their 2008 campaign, the Earthquakes built a strong run of form down the stretch and just missed out on a last-ditch charge into the MLS Cup Playoffs, lending the club an air of optimism in the current offseason.
"I think the team that we finished the season with, we were happy with," said Doyle. "We just wish we could've started with it. It took us a little longer to get the guys in that we wanted."
Yallop cited the forward and right back positions as the team's most pressing areas of need, and Doyle said that the club is pursuing several potential acquisitions, both domestically and abroad, which may be signed as early as next week. While shopping in January's international transfer window presents its own set of difficulties, San Jose is very leery of waiting until midsummer to bolster their squad.
"We did that last year and it was too late," said Yallop. "We want to get something done in January, definitely."
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