The University of Memphis men's soccer program announced Tuesday the additions of three more players to the 2006 squad.
"We have been able to recruit a lot of players from some top football clubs around the country," said coach Richie Grant. "I am really excited about our new guys."
One of the Tigers top signees is right fullback Rick Alleman.
Alleman helped one of the top club teams in the Texas region, the Houston Texans, to a state championship in 2003 and 2005.
"(Alleman) is a great fullback and comes from a solid soccer background," Grant said. "He played in an Olympic developmental league and is athletically developed to play in Conference USA."
Grant said that he hopes Alleman will be able to compete for a vacant defense void left by Gary Connolly, who graduated.
New recruit Jonahan Romero will hopefully add some grit to the Tigers' young squad, Grant said.
"Romero is a real tough kid," he said. "He is a wrestler and will add a lot of aggressiveness to the team."
Romero lettered four years in soccer as well as wrestling at Hayfield High School in Lorton, Va.
He played midfield with the Reston Futball Club in Virginia, but is expected to see some play on the defensive side of the ball as well.
"Jonahan is just a competitive kid that wants to win," Grant said.
The U of M completed their 2006 signing class with yet another Texas recruit.
Midfield recruit Ben Nabers signed with the Tigers after leading Reagan High School to the Texas 5A state finals in 2004 with 11 goals and seven assists.
"Ben is going to be a great project for us," Grant said. "He has a great gift as seeing the field and passing the ball."
The new recruits will hopefully allow the Tigers to compete this season for the C-USA championship, Grant said.
"It is getting harder and harder to recruit," he said. "C-USA is such a competitive conference which means we are competing for better players in order to have a chance at the title."
Memphis will compete against one less C-USA team this season because of the decision by East Carolina to drop their soccer program, leaving the conference with only nine teams.
"It is unfortunate to lose East Carolina," he said. "But we are all going to be able to play each other this year and it is going to very competitive. Anyone can win the title this year."
Changing the Tigers weekly schedule will hopefully help the Tigers deal with the competitive schedule this season, Grant said.
The U of M is hoping to change game schedules from a Friday-Sunday schedule to a less strenuous Wednesday-Saturday arrangement.
"I don't like the schedule and it is not good for our league," Grant said. "When we won the league two years ago, we didn't win a back-to-back game until the conference tournament. When we play a team like SMU, we shouldn't have to be that tired."
