FRISCO, Texas -- FC Dallas added some depth to their front line last week when the club signed 24-year-old striker Sean Bucknor to a contract.
Originally born in Jamaica, Bucknor spent two years at Owens Community College in Ohio, where he scored 28 goals as a freshman and sophomore. He then transferred to the University of Tampa but never played a game there. Since leaving school, the former Jamaican under-17 national team player has been staying busy and has now landed in Frisco.
"Since I left school, I have been in the gym working out every day to use my size as an advantage," he said. "When I'm not on the field, I'm in the weight room and running to keep fit."
At 6-foot-4, Bucknor is an inch taller than FCD's top scorer Kenny Cooper. But size isn't all he brings to the table.
"We saw a lot of good qualities in Sean," FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman said. "He's 6-3 and close to 200 pounds. When you see a player with that kind of size, you're really impressed when they've got athletic ability to go with the speed and power. The other day in our intrasquad scrimmage, he had one really good chance and scored. Hopefully that's a sign of things to come. I think he's got tremendous upside. We're very excited to have Sean with us."
Bucknor thinks he brings something else that his coach didn't mention.
"I've got tremendous speed as well," he said. "I've got some speed and a tremendous right foot. I bring size, speed, strength and a good shot. With all those things, I should do well."
Coming to FCD means that Bucknor joins fellow Jamaican Jeff Cunningham on the Hoops' roster, someone his father, Steve, coached back in their home country a number of years ago.
"To play with Jeff has been really tremendous," Bucknor said. "I've seen him play on the TV and on YouTube. He's been inspiring. So coming here to play with him has been great. (My father) coached a lot of players that are in the pros right now. He's a tremendous coach. Once Jeff has been through his hands, I knew Jeff is going to be a good player. My dad has told me a little bit about how to play off Jeff or with him."
Even though Cunningham last saw Sean when he was only two, he quickly offered a scouting report on his new teammate.
"He's a great athlete," Cunningham said. "The direction the game is going in, better athletes are the ones who are going to find ways to be successful because every team is very organized tactically and everyone is in the same boat. Athleticism is going to give players an advantage and make a difference. He's hungry. In front of the goal, he takes his chances well. He's still got a lot to learn as far as positioning but he has that natural ability. When he fine tunes some of those other things, he's going to be tough. He has everything he needs to make it as a pro. He has that itch and natural knack to put goals in. He's going to be a good one."
Even though he has only been with FCD for a short time, Bucknor has already noticed some big differences between college and professional soccer.
"It's been a tremendous experience to play in the pros," he said. "Leaving junior college and university, it's a different level and you've got to step up the pace. The work rate, you've got to step up the work rate. On offense and defense, you've got to stay focused every minute of every game. You've got to stay focused because it's a very quick pace."
Part of his education includes learning from the Hoops' veterans such as Pablo Ricchetti and Dave van den Bergh, among others.
"Those guys you can really learn a lot from," Bucknor said. "Today in practice, I was watching how Jeff and those guys run off the ball. I take that into consideration and see how I can use it in my game to compete with them."
And Bucknor still has several aspects of his skill set that he wants to work on. "I still want to work on perfecting touches, communicating with the guys better and moving off the ball," he said. "It's really going to come naturally."
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