Dec. 17, 2008
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara senior defender Jide Ogunbiyi has been invited to participate in the adidas Major League Soccer Player Combine that will be held from Jan. 9-13 at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Ogunbiyi will play four days along with 64 other Division I athletes in front of coaches and general managers from all 15 MLS teams. The 2009 MLS SuperDraft will then be held on Thursday, Jan. 15 in St. Louis, Mo.
Ogunbiyi helped the Broncos to back-to-back WCC titles (2006 & 2007) and three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. He wrapped up an impressive four-year career on the Mission Campus in 2008 by earning his fourth West Coast Conference honor as he was named to the All-WCC first team and his second NSCAA All-Far West Region accolade.
In 2008, Ogunbiyi was once again a fixture in the Broncos defense and started in 14 of the Broncos 20 contests. The Gwynedd, Pa., native ends his collegiate career with 30 career points on 11 goals and eight assists.
Last season, four Broncos were selected in the MLS SuperDraft. Peter Lowry was selected in the second round by the Chicago Fire, Matt Marquess went in the third round to the Kansas City Wizards, and Jamil Roberts and Matt Hatzke were picked in the fourth round by FC Dallas and the Los Angeles Galaxy, respectively. Both Robert and Hatzke are now with the San Jose Earthquakes organization.
The 2009 adidas MLS Player Combine will see the players divided into four teams, which will play doubleheaders at Lockhart Stadium on Jan. 10, 11 and 13. Each team will be led by an experienced Division I coach and will be assigned a youth coach, to be named at a later date. Santa Clara University head coach, Cameron Rast has been selected to coach Team adidas Tiro. Caleb Porter, a former MLS player and current assistant coach at Indiana University will coach Team Predator PowerSwerve. Entering his ninth season at Providence University, former MLS player Chaka Daley will lead Team adiTunit, and University of Notre Dame Head Coach Bobby Clark will lead Team adiPure.
