[bana2166]

Furman Men's Soccer Recruiting Class Ranked 17th In The Nation

All-Americans Coleton Henning And Chris Klute Highlight Incoming Class.

July 30, 2008

Greenville, S.C. - Furman's nine-member incoming men's soccer class, set to report for preseason training in two weeks, has been rated the 17th best in the nation in the College Soccer News 2008 Top 40 Recruiting Classes list released on Wednesday.

Maryland topped the list just ahead of defending national champion Wake Forest, Indiana, North Carolina and Akron. UC Santa Barbara, Virginia, UCLA, Santa Clara and Duke rounded out the top 10 classes. The Paladins ranked as the highest rated Southern Conference program and the only league school in the top 35.

Two incoming freshman, midfielder Coleton Henning and defender Chris Klute, were also included in College Soccer News' list of the "Top 100 Freshman To Watch". Henning, a native of Shawnee, Kan., is a two-time NSCAA High School All-American and Gatorade State Player-of-the-Year while Klute earned NSCAA Youth All-American honors and participated with the United States Under-17 National Team in the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Also highlighted in Furman's 2008 recruiting haul were Virginia Tech transfer midfielder Jonathan Collier and Port-au-Prince, Haiti, native Fabien Vorbe. Collier, a former member of the U.S. U-17 residency program, has appeared in 29 matches and earned 11 starts for the nationally-ranked Hokies over the past two years. Vorbe, a forward, keyed a resurgence in Haitian soccer in 2007 as the forward helped his country reach its first major competition in over 30 years by qualifying for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Furman returns six starters from its 2007 squad that posted a 19-4-0 overall mark and 7-0-0 SoCon record on its way to a SoCon regular season title, SoCon tournament crown, NCAA Tournament second round appearance and top 20 national ranking.

The Paladins open their 2008 campaign at UNC Wilmington on August 31, before hosting Bowling Green and Washington September 5 and 7, in the Diadora/Spinx Furman Invitational.

The full top 40 list can be found at College Soccer News ***.

2008 Signing Class

Name Pos. Hometown Previous School Club Team

Eric Cobleigh MF Acworth, Ga. Harrison High School Cobb FC `89 Premier

*Jonathan Collier MF Fayetteville, Ga. Virginia Tech Atlanta Fire United

Warren Creavalle D/MF Acworth, Ga. North Cobb High School North Atlanta Soccer Association

Coleton Henning MF/F Shawnee, Kan. St. Thomas Aquinas High School Kansas City Futbal Club

Walker Jernigan D/MF Decatur, Ga. The Paideia School CobbFC/Concorde Fire Elite

Alec Kann GK Decatur, Ga. Lakeside High School Tucker Youth Soccer Association

Chris Klute D Grand Prairie, Texas Edison Acdemic Center Dallas Texans South

Amadu Ndiaye D Doraville, Ga. Lakeside High School Tucker Youth Soccer Association

Fabien Vorbe F Port-au-Prince, Haiti Lyce Alexander Dumas Violette AC