July 30, 2000 Top Signings for 2000 Fast forward a couple of years to the 2002-2003 college sports season and find yourself watching North Carolina battle UCLA for an NCAA championship. You think—basketball, right? Maybe. Switch channels and find Clemson taking on Stanford for the national title. You think—baseball, right? Maybe. Switch channels again and find Penn State and Notre Dame going at it for #1 in the land. You think—football, right? Almost. Any of these teams could be paired up in a national championship game in football....uh, futbol...uh, soccer. Yea, soccer. As the 2000 college soccer season nears, the nation's best youth is headed to all levels of college programs including over 270 Division 1 women's programs led by the above schools, all hauling in Top 10 recruiting classes. Trying to duplicate the success of its men's program, the UCLA women's soccer team has inked the nation's best group of newcomers according to online soccer source, Soccer Buzz. The Bruins late signing of US National Team defender, Nandi Pryce (Casselberry, FL), pushed its class above top signings for 1999 National Champion North Carolina and PAC 10 rival Stanford. Joining Pryce at UCLA is a trio of fellow US Youth Team players--Kathryn Lee (Stockton, CA), Jessica Stamp (Klein, TX) and Sarah-Gayle Swanson (Denver, CO.) "I'm extremely excited with the players that have committed to play here," UCLA Head Coach Jillian Ellis said. "Overall this class gives us tremendous depth and versatility." The Tar Heels may have brought in three of the top five high school seniors missing a second consecutive #1 recruiting class only to the size of UCLA's talented class. UNC will remain a championship contender as three experienced national teamers head to Chapel Hill. Alyssa Ramsey (Charlotte, NC), Catherine Reddick (Birmingham, AL) and Magdalena Tomecka (Shrewsbury, MA) give the Heels balance at striker, midfield and back. While UCLA earned the #1 recruit ranking in 2000, the Bruins barely finished tops in the PAC 10 as Stanford and California had Top 5 classes and Arizona State, USC and Washington all pulled in Top 25 groups. Hoping to bounce into the nation's elite group of soccer teams are Texas, Boston College and Florida State. All three schools brought in their best ever group of recruits and landed in Soccer Buzz' National Top 25 Recruit Rankings. Expressing similar comments as others finding their way into the national rankings for the first time, Texas Coach Chris Petrucelli said, "This is a class we can build around for the next several years." Keeping pace with the increasing parity of women's college soccer, perennial powers Penn State (#6), Santa Clara (#7), Clemson (#8) and Notre Dame (#9) all notched top talent. Aside from the PAC 10's strength with seven schools in the rankings, other conferences faring well with several schools represented in the Top 50 are the ACC (8), Big East (6) and SEC (5). Continuing its climb among the nation's best, BYU signed midfielder Aleisha Cramer (Lakewood, CO), considered by most to be the nation's top high school player in 1999-2000. Top Regional Classes Central Great Lakes Mid-Atlantic Northeast Southeast West A complete list of National and Regional Recruiting Rankings