UCSB’s Michael Tetteh has signed a Generations adidas contract and will be attending the Major League Soccer Player Combine Friday through Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale Fla.
Tetteh told Presidiosports.com on Tuesday that he signed the contract a couple of days ago and is excited about pursing his dream of becoming a professional soccer player.
Michael Tetteh is the third UCSB soccer player to sign a Generation adidas pro contract. He will attend the MLS Player Combine on Friday through Tuesday.
Besides Generation adidas signees, the combine includes invited Division 1 collegiate seniors and five non-collegiate players. UCSB defender Michael Boxall is among the college seniors who will be looking to impress MLS coaches and general managers before the league’s SuperDraft on Jan. 13.
The players will play a series of matches while being evaluated by the coaches and GMs.
“We expected it might happen,” UCSB coach Tim Vom Steeg said of Tetteh going pro. “He was on the list last year. It’s great for him and good for our program.”
Tetteh, who is forgoing his senior year at UCSB, is the third player in the program’s history to sign a Generation adidas contract. Eric Avila and Ciaran O’Brien (both in 2007) are the other players who turned pro before their senior seasons. O’Brien, who was a sophomore, was taken by the Colorado Rapids as the No. 5 overall pick in the 2008 MLS Super Draft, while Avila, a junior at the time, went in the second round to FC Dallas.
The Generation adidas contract includes money for players to continue their college education.
A native of Ghana, Tetteh, 22, played as an outside midfielder and a defender for the Gauchos. Although he was bothered by injuries most of this past season, he scored a brilliant left-footed goal in the NCAA Tournament loss at Cal. And he scored it while wearing a bandage around his head to cover a gash he suffered earlier in the game.
He came to the U.S. in 2005 as part of a program with the Tom Vernon’s Right to Dream Academy in Ghana and Dunn School in Los Olivos. He played three years at Dunn before going to UCSB.
“He’s just got to go have a good combine,” Vom Steeg said. “If he has a good combine, he has a chance to be first- for second-round pick.”
