Most people with any sense of history and/or pop culture know who was the last big thing to come out of Tupelo, Mississippi.

While George and Hil Fradenburg aren’t trying in any way to emulate the success or status of The King, they are hoping that their hometown in the Deep South will spawn a successful career in the sport they’ve come to know and love.

Hil is a high school junior playing central midfield, while George is a left back-left wing-turned striker. They took different paths to get there but both are now playing for Eric Dade’s U16 Academy team at Birmingham United.

Dade is an enthusiast about the pair, crediting them with helping the BUSA team get off to an 8-6-4 start in the Southern Conference’s Southeast Division.

“George has such good pace. He’s explosive,” Dade said. “You combine that with a good soccer mind and it makes him dangerous as a player. After spending some time in (U17) residency last spring, he was exposed to training and play at the highest level. Now that he's in the Academy, he’s getting a chance to express himself as a forward. I attribute a lot of our success so far to the fact that he’s such a threat in stretching out defenses. He’s made a world of difference and he has a bright future.

“Hil is the character of the team. Anytime you’re around him you can have a smile and a laugh, and a lot of good soccer,” Dade continued. “Hil is extremely fast himself but what’s different for him is that he’s so good on the ball. He’s a very creative player. He can play wide but he has a lot of versatility. I like him in the middle of the park. He helps create a good atmosphere and he’s a hard worker in training as well.”

The brothers played for Tupelo FC until last year, with George going to Bradenton Residency for a semester and Hil moving briefly to Jackson FC, before both joined the Academy team in the fall.

Both have had to deal with some injury setbacks. George had a recurrence of a hip flexor injury last spring that dominated his summer.

“I felt it tweaking a lot whenever I would play,” he said. “I had torn it (four years ago) and I was trying to not tear it again because it takes a long time to rehab.”

Leaving residency in the summer and arriving at Birmingham might be a source of discouragement for a top player, but George insists he is flourishing under Dade.

“I really love this team. The players are really good and really cool,” George said. “Ccach Dade has a lot of good things to say and he’s giving me the opportunity to play forward, a position I love to play. I’m learning a lot about how to play striker. He’s helping me know how to check toward the ball and lay it off, and how to make diagonal runs.”

George adds he wants to improve his finishing technique but is glad he can contribute to the squad’s success on the creative end of things.

George, a 2011 grad, says Wake Forest, Clemson and UCLA are three top candidates to receive his verbal commitment at some point. George added that former U15 BNT player and good friend Jack Coleman is leaning toward Wake, which could influence his decision. Fellow U15 BNT forward Cole Iverson is also on the roster at Birmingham, with top 2009 recruit Chandler Hoffman the U18 BNT. Other friends of George include Oklahoma defender Boyd Okwuonu and Georgia center back Walker Zimmerman.

While George was enthusiastic about moving to Birmingham, older brother Hil was a bit reluctant.

“At first I was but I’m glad I did it,” Hil said. “I was at Jackson FC and I really liked that team. I was just reluctant to change and Birmingham’s Academy was in last place last year. I wasn’t sure if it was worth but it’s been really good.”

 Hil was still recovering from his own injury, a broken femur suffered in March of 2007.

“I was out for almost a year,” he said. “As far as playing I feel like I’m almost 100 percent, but fitness has been a little bit of a problem. It was a hike to come back. The thing I haven’t gotten back completely is my speed.”

Hil, who along with George trains twice a week with former Mississippi State football star Fred Hadley to maximize strength and speed, is also interested in playing D1 soccer. He works now to reestablish his reputation and presence among college coaches.

“That’s what I want to do,” he said. “I just need to get to the level where I can play that well.”

Hil is interested in engineering and anesthesiology as possible fields of study.

Both boys perform well academically. They are homeschooled by their mother Nita. She says that can be a helpful thing in the busy world of elite youth soccer.

“On their breaks they go out and train. They can spend hours a day just training between their studies,” she said. “They have more time to work on soccer because they can finish their work in 3-4 hours. It gives them flexibility to do it throughout the day and it gives us flexibility with the travel. That’s been a real plus.”