BATON ROUGE — The LSU soccer team announced the signing of its best recruiting class in the program’s eight-year existence on Wednesday as the Tiger coaching staff received letters of intent from seven of the nation’s top high school prospects.
“There’s no question that if you look at the past history of this program that we’ve had a lot of good players come here,” said LSU head coach George Fotopoulos. “But on paper this is the best recruiting class that LSU has ever put together in its short eight-year existence. As a coaching staff, we are really excited about the players coming in and our future looks bright.”
LSU’s 2003 Soccer Signing List
Name Pos. Hometown Christina Best D Littleton, Colo. Stacy Bishop F Land O’ Lakes, Fla. Michelle De Cespedes M Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Ashleigh Gunning M Baton Rouge, La. Jordan Parker D Houston, Texas Joleen Phillips F Carmel, Ind. Heather Zurburg GK Gainesville, Fla.
LSU signed seven highly touted recruits on Wednesday including standout players from Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana and Texas. The incoming class, which will begin to attend LSU in the fall, consists of numerous Olympic Developmental Program players and will add significant talent to a rising Tiger program that finished with a 12-5-3 overall record in 2002.
Highlighting the 2003 freshman class will be McKinley High standout Ashleigh Gunning, Jordan Parker from Houston, Joleen Phillips out of Carmel, Ind., Christina Best from Littleton, Colo., and three of Florida’s top high school players in Stacy Bishop, Michelle De Cespedes and Heather Zurburg.
“In the past, we’ve never really had a chance to go into other states and land some of the top prospects, but I feel that today we were able to go into soccer hotbeds from around the country and take some of their best players,” Fotopoulos said. “That’s really exciting for me because I know that in order for us to be successful we’re going to need to be able to recruit at a high level of competitiveness.”
Since Fotopoulos took the reigns of the LSU soccer program in 2000, the Tigers have compiled a 34-19-6 overall record and have qualified for two Southeastern Conference tournaments. Last season, LSU recorded numerous firsts for the program which include being ranked No. 8 in the regional rankings and defeating No. 1 seeded Auburn to win its first SEC Tournament contest in school history.
“In the last couple of years we’ve been able to compete at high level on the field,” said Fotopoulos. “Now we’re able to recruit at that same level and that can be attributed to our team’s success. I think that today, signing day, is a reflection of our team success. With wins over top-ranked teams this year and by being an NCAA Tournament bubble team, it’s allowed prospects to see that we are an up-and-coming, top-25 team and that we have the potential to be very good. With their additions, I feel that we can make that jump.”
Bishop, a native of Land O’ Lakes, Fla., recently set the all-time scoring record for goals in her county by accumulating 181 scores during her high school career. As a freshman, she set a school record by compiling 46 goals and then broke that record by accumulating 52 during her junior season. The 5-8 midfielder was a four-year member of the Florida state ODP team and was named both the Sunshine Athletic Conference’s Player of the Year and the Pasco County Player of the Year.
“Stacy Bishop is without question one of the best target forwards that I’ve seen coming out of high school in the country,” Fotopoulos said. “Her size, her strength and her ability to finish is great I think that it’s hard to compare, but even with Mandy Heintz leaving, I feel very confident that we won’t miss a beat with Stacy Bishop coming into our lineup. She is definitely one of the top-two players in Florida and she’s going to be a fantastic addition to our program.”
De Cespedes, an all-around player who played forward, midfielder and defender in high school, will join the Tiger soccer team after scoring 178 total points in three-and-a-half seasons at St. Thomas Aquinas. She was a member of the Region III regional pool and a member of the Florida state ODP team. During the 2002-03 season, De Cespedes has scored 23 goals and added 11 assists for a total of 57 points.
“Michelle De Cespedes is a fantastic athlete out of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.,” Fotopoulos said. “She plays for one of the best high school teams in the country in St. Thomas Aquinas and she is one of the top-five players in the state of Florida. She comes in with a lot of experience after being on the regional team and various ODP (Olympic Development Program) teams, and she is going to give us great, immediate success in the back or the outside midfield position.”
Parker played for the West U Express club team in Houston and is considered to be one of the best female athletes in the south. She runs the 40-yard dash in 4.8 seconds, has a 20 inch vertical jump and can leg press 450 pounds. Parker was named the Most Valuable Player at Stratford High School and was named to the 21 5A All-District First Team.
“Jordan Parker, out of Houston is probably our best athlete that we’ve signed,” said Fotopoulos. “Her athleticism is as good as anybody I’ve seen around the country from a recruitment standpoint. She’s going to bring a lot of speed and strength to our lineup and I think that she’s going to give us a lot of help both in the back and an attacking position up front.”
LSU was also able to receive a letter of intent from Louisiana’s top high school player on Wednesday as McKinley High’s Gunning announced that she wants to play for the Tigers.
“Ashleigh Gunning is without question one of the best players to come out of the state of Louisiana in the last five years,” Fotopoulos said. “Her accolades are just amazing. She’s been in the national team pool, she’s led McKinley High School to their first-ever girls state championship and it speaks volumes for her. For us to get a player of her calibur is a blessing and we’re thankful that we were able to keep the best player in the state right at home here at LSU.”
Phillips, who was named the 2002 Player of the Year in Indianapolis, Ind., will join the Tigers after completing her prep career with 34 goals and 25 assists. During her senior season at Cathedral High School, Phillips led her team to a fourth-consecutive city championship and an 8-5-5 season.
“Joleen Phillips is coming to us from Carmel, Ind., and is just another great forward that I think is going to be an outstanding addition to our front line,” said Fotopoulos. “She is a proven goal scorer and is one of the top players to come out of the state of Indiana. She has great athleticism and is very tenacious. We feel that she is a player that could contribute on the front line right away.”
The signing of Best from Littleton, Colo., will help the Tigers on the defensive side of the ball during the next four years. She was a member of the highly competitive Real Colorado club team and led Arapahoe High School to the state championship in 2000.
“Christina Best is definitely one of those players that will fill an immediate void for us,” Fotopoulos said. “We desperately needed to find a player to replace Ashley Mitnick, and we found that player in Christina Best. She’s very fast. She’s a strong tackler and is one of the top players to come out of Colorado. I feel that she will bring immediate athleticism and experience to our back line.”
Zurburg, a native of Gainesville, Fla., was the lone goalkeeper to sign with the Tigers on Wednesday, as the 5-9 talent decided to sign with LSU over West Virginia and Texas. She is the only varsity goaltender to earn All-District honors in each of her first three years of high school and was named the Most Valuable Defender at Buckholz High School in 2001. Over the past two seasons, Zurburg has lived with a host family in Chicago in order to train with Coach Ko Thanadabouth of the Windy City Pride.
“Heather Zurburg is a very talented goalkeeper coming in and she’s going to compete with both Robyn DesOrmeaux and Megan Jacqmin for a starting position,” said Fotopoulos. “She brings a lot of experience. She has great athleticism, as far as size, and also has some great experience from her club level. I really feel that she is going to add some good depth to our goalkeeping position.”
Coach Fotopoulos, along with Assistant Coaches Tracy Hay and Ricky Zambrano, are pleased to put an end to a successful, yet rigorous, recruiting season and are eager to kick off the 2003 season starting in mid-to-late August.
“We are extremely excited right now,” Fotopoulos said. “We feel that these seven girls are very, very special for our program and we can’t wait until opening day when we’ll have an opportunity to have these girls walk on to the field along with the players that we already have in this program. Hopefully, we’ll have a really successful year next year.”
The LSU soccer team will next be in action on March 8, as the Tigers begin their spring season by hosting the second-annual LSU Spring Classic at the LSU Soccer Complex.
LSU’s 2003 Soccer Signing List
Christina Best, D, Littleton, Colo.
Stacy Bishop, F, Land O’ Lakes, Fla.
Michelle De Cespedes, M, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Ashleigh Gunning, M, Baton Rouge, La.
Jordan Parker, D, Houston, Texas
Joleen Phillips, F, Carmel, Ind.
Heather Zurburg, GK, Gainesville, Fla.