Five Gen. adidas candidates you should know

Generation adidas, a small if concerted effort to pull talented non-seniors into the MLS draft, has earned its detractors over the years. In lieu of simply opening the sluice gates and allowing college players of all ages to declare for the draft, MLS limits an infinitesimally small group of underclassmen and juniors to GA contracts.

Even with those limitations in mind, the GA initiative still manages to bring in a few major contributors every year. Indeed, some of the best in the league’s history - Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Chad Marshall - were GA players. And in retrospect, the 2016 class will go down as one of the better classes in history.

Today, we’ll take a look at a few lesser known names who deserve looks for GA deals when MLS doles them out later this year. Players like Maryland’s Gordon Wild and UCLA’s Abu Danladi are sure to be there. Here are a few who deserve similar looks despite a dearth of national attention.

Remember, GA players have to be freshmen, sophomores or juniors and ineligible for an MLS Homegrown deal.