Ruben Luna and Zack Barnes

[mustangbill67]

I have heard that this kid is a SMU 2010 commit.

Ruben Luna Named Player of the Year!

After being named to the national U.S. Soccer Development Academy Starting XI team on Monday, FC Dallas Juniors U-16 forward Ruben Luna has now been named national U-15/16 DA Player of the Year! Luna scored 38 goals in 27 games to lead the entire Development Academy league this season, the Juniors program's first year of competition. His goal total accounted for 48 percent of the U-16 team's scoring, helping the squad post an 18-3-7 mark and a trip to Finals Week, currently out at The Home Depot Center in Carson, CA.

[redpony]

Looks like a good pickup for the soccer team. Unfortunately, the problems with the soccer team has not been a lack of talent but incompetent and unqualified coaching.

GO PONIES!!!

[Pony4Life]

Way to be positive — barely — about what sounds like a very talented player.

[PonyTales]

Looks like a good get.

[mustangbill67]

Although not announced by SMU, it appears that 5 star and national top 10 players Ruben Luna and Zack Barnes both signed LOI with SMU on Wednesday. There was some concern that Luna might forgo college for MLS. Of course, this could still happen but I hope he will stay around for awhile. He should be a dominant college player.

[go4it]

[quote="redpony"]Looks like a good pickup for the soccer team. Unfortunately, the problems with the soccer team has not been a lack of talent but incompetent and unqualified coaching.

GO PONIES!!![/quote]

Okay Redpony we get it, you don't like the soccer coaches. But why do you have to turn everything that is written about the soccer program into something negative? Did it ever occur to you that new recruits probably come on here to read what is being said? Your posts set a very negative tone for their arrival on the hilltop. This is a thread about two outstanding, highly-recruited student athletes that have chosen SMU. They should be enthusiastically welcomed to the hilltop, not tainted by your constant negative rant about the coaches.

GO PONIES!!!

[redpony]

[quote="go4it ] This is a thread about two outstanding, highly-recruited student athletes that have chosen SMU. [/quote]

I find it strange that there is no news on the SMU site about these players that have supposedly signed a LOI. Can their signing actually be confirmed?
As I have said previously- signing top players and not finishing in the top 25 only confirms the coaching problems that exist in our soccer program. With all due respect, you can consider the comments negative if you wish. I only consider them cold hard facts.

GO PONIES!!!

[mustangbill67]

Redpony, I guess you do not follow college soccer recruiting very closely. Colleges typically do not announce their men's classes until all LOI's are in. In most years, SMU men announce towards the latter part of February. With a little research, I can find out most of the signees before they are officially announced. While not confirmed by SMU, the signing is confirmed by the player or his coach.

[redpony]

MB67- thanks for the info. You are correct- I do not follow soccer recruiting. I follow fball recruiting and that is about all I have time for. I do follow some of the recruiting of my grandkids but not much more (1 plays soccer and 1 plays vball- neither one interested in SMU).

GO PONIES!!!

[mustangbill67]

MB67- thanks for the info. You are correct- I do not follow soccer recruiting. I follow fball recruiting and that is about all I have time for. I do follow some of the recruiting of my grandkids but not much more (1 plays soccer and 1 plays vball- neither one interested in SMU).

GO PONIES!!!

It is one of your grandfatherly duties, to make your grandkids Pony Fans. I know mine are. The first real clothes my latest grand girl put on was SMU garb.

[redpony]

MB67- no chance they will be ''pony fans'. Not my call. The soccer girl will probably go to aTm. Her mother is an aggie and her father is a good friend of 'G's. The vball player will be 16 this year and already has 8 official offers. Probably headed to Stanford. Ponies offered her but she wasn't very impressed her visit.

GO PONIES!!!

[go4it]

[quote="redpony"]MB67- thanks for the info. You are correct- I do not follow soccer recruiting. I follow fball recruiting and that is about all I have time for. [/quote]

With all due respect for someone who doesn't follow soccer recruiting it seems odd that you have time to post your anti soccer coaching rant on every recruiting thread that I've read. Perhaps if you followed recruiting you would realize how good the classes are and would give a little credit to the coaches who worked to bring them in. Of course we all hope that next years teams are successful on the field.

[redpony]

[quote="go4it] Perhaps if you followed recruiting you would realize how good the classes are and would give a little credit to the coaches who worked to bring them in. Of course we all hope that next years teams are successful on the field.[/quote]

go4it-Part of your comments just support my justifications for ‘rants’ as you call them.
Good to great coaches can take mediocre players and motivate them to excel to new levels, mediocre to poor coaches can take outstanding players and fail to have a successful program. I do not believe that anyone who has followed our soccer programs the last 5 years can honestly say that we have had poor or mediocre players or recruits. Hence the years with poor results must be due to coaching. Some coaches are good at recruiting, some are good at “x’s and o’s”, and very few are good at both.
Someone on this board used to have a sig that quoted Bum Phillips as saying that Bear Bryant could take his team and beat yours and then take yours and beat his. Very indicative of great coaches- which we don’t have in soccer.

GO PONIES!!!

[ponytony]

redpony, I believe you oversimplify in blaming the coaching. Here's a hypothetical for you... if the men's team returns to top-ten status this year or next, will you (a) admit you were wrong about the coaching all along? (b) claim that the coaching used to be bad but now has gotten better? (c) claim that good players are winning despite the coaching?

[redpony]

redpony, I believe you oversimplify in blaming the coaching. Here's a hypothetical for you... if the men's team returns to top-ten status this year or next, will you (a) admit you were wrong about the coaching all along? (b) claim that the coaching used to be bad but now has gotten better? (c) claim that good players are winning despite the coaching?

You left out the option of (d) none of the above.
Seriously, if they return to the top 10 this year I would select (b). Coaches can learn the same as players and correct their mistakes. I would be very pleased if that were to happen (back to the top 10).
Please understand, my issue is not against the coaches personally. I am just extremely displeased that a very successful program has fallen to the level it has. Same for the women's team. However, IMO for them (the women's team) to reach the top 10 would be a minor miracle.

GO PONIES!!!