PHILADELPHIA – Michigan State's Fatai Alashe, a Northville Michigan native, is now the highest draft pick to Major League Soccer (MLS) in the program's history, as fourth pick overall and the first defensive midfielder taken in the draft. Just another captivating addition to this prominent college athlete's career which is now headed to the next level, with the San Jose Earthquakes.
Alashe caught the attention of the MLS early on when he played during the MLS All-Star week in which he captained the Portland Timbers U-23 team in the Chipotle Homegrown match and again when he was chosen as one of eight to be signed in advance of the SuperDraft on Jan. 5 besides being invited to the MLS combine held last weekend in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Earthquakes took notice as well and were one of the teams to interview him during the combine.
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Coaches in the MLS follow players throughout their careers, speak with their college coaches, look at their rankings and stats, observe their presence on the field during the combines and sometimes game films, but also, it is very important for them to find a player that fits well with their team not only on the pitch but off.
Players need to be able to fit well into the system, whether that's for the needed spot to excel in on the field, or in interactions with fellow players and how coachable they will be in that system.
Alashe fit all of these requirements with San Jose, in coach Dominic Kinnear's opinion.
Kinnear explains, right after the draft selection, that he was very impressed with Alashe during the interview.
The San Jose head coach feels that this MSU midfielder standout is "athletic, good on the ball and that this kid is ready to go" in the MLS. He thinks he could be compared to a young Ricardo Clark. Clark played for Kinnear at Dynamo and was an MLS rookie who set a team record in total minutes played with the New York Metro Stars in 2003 and led them to the playoffs.
What really impressed coach Kinnear was Alashe's mature demeanor. The fact that he also had questions for the team as to what they were looking for in a player and that when asked where he sees himself in three to five years, Fatai's response was "as an MLS All-Star."
A player with such a dominating presence on the field and humbled confidence off the field is exactly what the last place San Jose Earthquakes could use to help propel them up the win column.
"Everything about today was a dream come true," Alashe said. "It's an honor to be picked at the No. 4 spot. San Jose is a great organization with an awesome coaching staff. I really meshed well with the coaches during my interview with them at the combine so I'm very excited to start working with them and see where things go from there."
"We've had great runs these past four years," Alashe said. "We were blessed to have such a great coaching staff with Damon Rensing, Kylie Stannard (the newly named Yale Head Coach), Ben Pirmann (also Detroit City FC's Head Coach), and Paul Gilbert."
MSU Head Coach Damon Rensing also believes in Alashe's attractability as a full rounded player to be coached.
"He's matured as a person and a player over these last four years and it's very rewarding. It culminates with him being one of the Top-5 players in the MLS Draft," Rensing said.
A new and promising beginning for Fatai and San Jose this year as they have a new stadium, Avaya Stadium, as well as having their head coach back who started managing the Earthquakes in 2001. Due to the team's hiatus from the league, he moved onto start the Houston Dynamo and saw great success with them from 2006-2014.
He was disappointed with the groin injury on the first day of the combine and was hoping to "give it a go and see if it holds up" on the last day of the combine but did not see play time.
As to be expected, this highly successful and NSCAA All-American was excited and humbled about the upcoming draft.
"No real preference as far as what team I go to, I just would like to get drafted to a team that is a good fit for me and someone that needs a player of my type and gives me a fair chance to play," he said.
Alashe will play under Steven Ralston, the newest of three assistants named by this week to complete the Earthquakes coaching staff. Ralston is a former MLS midfielder who was selected as an All-Star seven times who also leads the league in assists (135) and starts (372) and has been with Kinnear at Dynamo for the past four years.
San Jose looks to be that "good fit" as the highly touted defensive midfielder will be playing for a team that is striving for a new beginning with its stadium. Its coach has returned and the Earthquakes are looking to shake things up in the league this season.