Harrison Petts, the No. 4 men's soccer recruit in the class of 2010, spoke with me earlier today about making the decision to play at IU. Currently in Argentina practicing with a club there, Estudiantes de la Plata, he has finished his high school career and is ready to step up to the college level. The full audio follows the jump, but here's some of what he had to say.
Notes
- Petts committed to IU when Todd Yeagley, IU's current head coach, was an assistant coach, making the decision for him to join the Hoosiers despite the dismissal of former coach Mike Freitag an easier choice.
- Petts played for the US U-18 National team.
- He is an Indiana native and played for Zionsville High School during his high school careeer.
On his IU roots
When I got down to the final couple schools, it was a big factor that IU was about an hour and 15 minute drive from my house. Not too close, not too far. I grew up watching the Indiana soccer tradition and watching all their national titles and all that stuff, so I think it was kind of ingrained into me from the beginning.That's probably one of the reasons why I got into soccer. When I was young and wasn't playing soccer seriously, I would come down and watch the games. I remember being ball boy a couple of times in the games. It just kind of got me more involved in the game of soccer.
On Yeagley becoming IU's head coach
Once Coach Yeagley came, I was really comfortable with the decision and I knew the program would have no setbacks.
On his skill distributing the ball
That's a huge thing to have. In club and in high school, I've played with ten other players for a really long time. The relationships you build on the field - just knowing what one another's going to do - helps a lot. I hope to be able to build that with the forwards and the midfielders at IU so I can help to bring some more offense to the table.
On the differences between college and lower-level soccer
It's a huge leap jumping from high school to college - a lot faster-paced, a lot more physical. I feel like my skill and my ability with the ball will be fine. I just need to be able to compete athletically.
Follow the jump for the full interview.
