Academy News

FEATURE: Quakes Academy midfielder Gilbert Fuentes named No. 4 player in nation for class of 2020

Gilbert Fuentes, a 15-year-old playing for the Quakes’ U-19s, has been named the No. 4 player in the nation for the class of 2020 by TopDrawerSoccer. He is also tabbed as the nation’s top midfielder.


Having represented the United States internationally at the U-15 level, most recently at the CONCACAF U-15 Championship, Fuentes has become one of the Development Academy’s premier talents. He’s one of five players in the country, and the only one west of Illinois, to earn a five-star rating by TDS.


Per the website, a five-star ranking signifies:


Best of the Best - A player who ranks in the highest percentile of his peers and is coveted by coaches and scouts, pro and college alike. Such a player has command of the technical, tactical, mental and physical elements of the game, including the emotional maturity to handle success and be a good team member. These players also possess all the intangibles that make them the best of the best.


The other Quakes Academy player to be selected in the top 100 for the class of 2020 was goalkeeper Dallas Odle, who comes in at No. 88. He follows a strong legacy of goalkeepers from the club’s youth system after such players as Kendall McIntosh (Santa Clara/Portland Timbers), JT Marcinkowski (Georgetown), Drake Callender (Cal) and Dominic Peters (Wake Forest).


To see the full list of player rankings, click here.