Players to Watch: Atlanta United 2025 College Soccer Preview

Welcome back.

Thank you for joining me for another NCAA Men’s College Soccer season preview, where we take a deep dive into some of the academy’s graduates and former prospects as they continue to pursue their passion for soccer at the collegiate level. Over the last six years at DirtySouthSoccer before the transition to Scarves and Spikes, we explored the remarkable oddity that is American men’s college soccer with its countdown clock, basketball-style substitutions, and decades-old storylines that have outlasted every professional league in our country.

This year, we are witnessing the early stages of the professionalization of parts of men’s college soccer that could completely redefine Division I men’s soccer as the premier U-23 league in the country. The Atlantic Coast Conference and the B1G Conference are already heading that way, and it will be intriguing to see how the remaining Power-5 conferences adapt as NIL money enters college soccer and it becomes a competitive alternative to MLS NEXT Pro and the USL for young prospects.

New Professionals

Several Atlanta United products made the jump from the college game to the pros in 2025, with Atlanta United Homegrown Player Will Reilly likely the most well-known of the bunch.

Reilly has had a great first season back in Atlanta, working his way into the starting line-up after going above and beyond in training to make the massive jump. We will spend a lot more time on Reilly in our season recaps this winter, but so far, he is getting high marks from all of us at Scarves & Spikes.

Atlanta United saw two former Academy prospects selected in their year’s SuperDraft. UNC defender Riley Thomas joined Austin FC, where he earned a rapid promotion from Austin II to the first team after just a couple of months under contract. Dayton University left-back and former South African international Geni Kanyane joined Chicago Fire II after being drafted by the Fire with the 63rd overall pick.

Just up the road from Atlanta, the University of Virginia’s maestro Daniel Mangarov is having himself a great first professional season with Chattanooga FC. In his first approximately 1,500 minutes of MLS NEXT Pro play, Mangarov has already contributed 10 goals, with 6 scored and 4 assists for Chattanooga. While only guaranteed through 2025, it seems likely Chattanooga FC will exercise its club option for the 2026 season.

One more professional debut that went below the radar is Clayton State’s Alexis Iturria, who joined Paysandu Futbol Club in the Uruguayan third division this summer. As far as we can tell, Iturria is the first former Atlanta United player to join an Uruguayan league.

Next Homegrown?

The burning question each season for Atlanta United fans who follow the academy is “Who will be the next homegrown player?” While there is good reason for many fans to question whether he could end up traded like Garrison Tubbs or signed to the 2s like Matthew Edwards, I firmly believe that Nigel Prince is a lock to join Atlanta United as its next Homegrown Player this December.

Prince is an absolute stud of a centerback and a strong leader for what may be one of the stoutest defenses in men’s college soccer this season. He has already earned just about every accolade he could except for the Mac Hermann Trophy in college soccer, and could get even better as he leads a defense that led his conference in the highest percentage of matches with one goal or less conceded.

In our preview last year, I wrote: “You can never have too many athletic and talented young defenders with good size on your club, so Nigel Prince feels like exactly the kind of player I would want to see return to Atlanta and build out the central defense alongside Noah Cobb and Efrain Morales.”

While Morales may be gone and Cobb’s future with the club is uncertain, Prince could still add a great deal of experience, athleticism, and raw power to a centerback room that is undergoing a full overhaul.

A Loaded Junior Class

Though it may risk redundancy, I have to say again that this class is stacked with talent.

At the top of this Junior Class is Clemson’s highly versatile Remi Okunlola, who can play just about anywhere you want him to on the right flank. While he primarily lines up as a right-back or right wingback, you can often find him high up the field like a winger in possession or stepping into the middle of the park like a right midfielder closing down space. In our “Young Atlanta United Players to Watch in 2025” article, I highlighted how Okunlola’s versatility, athleticism, and overall quality on both sides of the ball could lead to him being a lock as a Homegrown Player after the 2026 college season.

To add a bit more detail to that prediction, here are soccer scout and analyst Mark Kelkenberg’s reasons you should be watching Okunlola play for Clemson this season on a College Soccer Matchday’s ACC Season Preview. One benefit of watching Okunlola this season is closely following his dynamic teammate, Ransford Gyan, who should be Atlanta United’s first-round pick in this year’s SuperDraft. If you know, you know. If you don’t, don’t let his height fool you. Gyan has xDAWG through the roof and is the kind of attacking central midfielder who can dominate a game.

A different kind of dominant central midfielder Atlanta United fans should be watching is former 2s standout Brendan Lambe, who looks set to lead the University of Virginia’s midfield in his third season as a starter. Lambe is exactly the kind of metronomic defensive-and-possession midfielder Atlanta United would be lucky to add to its roster. He uses his strong and compact frame to shield opposing midfielders off the ball and win back possession in the middle of the field. He is one of the coolest and calmest players in college soccer with an excellent poker face on the field. I expect his metronomic style of game management to get better with more high-level experience. Though he rarely shows flashy attacking highlights or stats, he can still thread dangerous passes through opposing lines and be the one holding the whole ship together for his team.

In 2025, Lambe will be joined by former Atlanta United SuperDraft pick Casper Mols in goal, former 2s defender Grant Howard, and recently departed U-19 attacker Stephen Hurlock, who I expect to get early opportunities on the left side of UVA’s attack. Though Lambe played a season in North Carolina FC’s academy between his time with the 2s and UVA, I still believe Atlanta United has his Homegrown rights and should exercise them to bring him back after the 2026 season.

For fans of ACC soccer, Justin McLean‘s arrival at NC State may be one of those under-the-radar moves that could be a lot of fun to watch. McLean was consistently solid as an attacking midfielder and occasional wing for Georgia State. He brings a combination of size, speed, and technical ability to the attacking midfield, allowing him to ride challenges, run around some defenders, and challenge for the ball on the ground and in the air. Now in Coach Marc Hubbard’s system, fans have to look no further than Hubbard’s high-flying attacking system at New Hampshire as a model for how McLean could quickly become a problem for ACC defenses.

After going undrafted in the last two SuperDrafts, former Atlanta United 2 left-back Andrew De Gannes looks set for a big third season with Oregon State after playing alongside Atlanta-native Josiah Blanton for the Ocean City Nor’easters this past summer. De Gannes is a classic left-back with strong defensive instincts and the ability to get forward to create chances in the attack. Due to the surplus of left-back talent in the Atlanta United system, he might not be destined to return to Atlanta for his first professional contract but he should have a long professional career ahead of him. He was a U-17 and U-20 international for Trinidad & Tobago and could work his way back into international consideration if he can find the right landing spot after this college season.

A few other Juniors we will be keeping a close eye on this season include Joel Gonzalez, Mathieu Brick, AJ Pama, and Italo Jenkins. Gonzalez and Brick will attempt to hit the ground running in new homes, with Gonzalez joining Pavel Romero and Matt Taylor at Georgia State, and Mathieu Brick departing Clemson for Duquesne. Pama will continue being a core figure in Georgia Southern’s back line, and Italo Jenkins will hope to have a big second season in Omaha after spending his summer with the Louisiana Krewe.

New In Town

There was a lot of movement this offseason between schools, as we have already discussed, plus a strong freshman class heading to college. One of the strongest prospects heading to college this season that many of us at Scarves & Spikes believed was close to a 2s contract is Braden Dunham. Dunham emerged from the unenviable position of being a left-sided defender in Atlanta United’s system behind Caleb Wiley, Dom Chong Qui, and his academy centerback partner Kaiden Moore. Rather than vanishing into their shadow, Dunham used this competition to become one of the best surprises to emerge over the last two academy seasons in Atlanta. He consistently looked like he belonged as he ascended each level to the 2s where he played a few man-of-the-match performances this season. Furman University is getting one heck of a player who can plug in at left-back or left centerback behind Atlanta United midfield products Malachi Grant and Luke Hutzell. The youth movement is on in Furman, and after getting a whiff of the playoffs last season, they are hungry for a championship.

Two other freshman talents who many believed could have signed professional contracts are the University of Portland’s Ayo Akintobi and Julian Bretous. Akintobi is a highly athletic right-back who plays quick and scrappy defense while also getting into great positions upfield to add to the attack. Bretous is a physically dominating defensive midfielder with great range and a strong motor. Both players have plenty of room to develop as they join a very competitive Portland team that prides itself in punching above its weight against its larger neighbors like Oregon State and the University of Washington. While it is unclear how long it will take Akintobi and Bretous to claim the starting spot in the first two seasons, they should make an impact early.

Cristiano Bruletti joins the University of Indiana after spending a couple of seasons with Michigan State. Across all three years of his college career at the University of South Carolina, he has started 44 of the 49 matches he has played in, with 15 of those being clean sheets for his team. He contributed 6 goals with 3 scored and 3 assists, while providing the kind of high work rate to manage the game in the middle third of the pitch. Bruletti joins a perennially strong Indiana men’s soccer program that just reloads with talent each year and is consistently in the postseason hunt.

Indiana Head Coach Todd Yeagley sees Bruletti as a key addition to his team in 2025. In an interview back in January, Yeagly shared that “Cristiano brings a lot of college experience and maturity to our midfield, and he makes the players around him better,” he said. “He has the technical ability to connect through the lines while also bringing a toughness and edge to our midfield.”

This could be a big season for Bruletti, and that could come at the perfect time as he prepares to enter the 2026 MLS SuperDraft this winter.

Lastly, a player that I thought was destined to be our first homegrown right-back is on his way to the University of South Carolina. Shawn Lanza joins Tony Annan in Columbia after falling out of the picture in Atlanta after playing a significant role with the 2s in 2023. Hopefully, this helps him get back on track and get the kind of visibility to have a long professional career.

That wraps up the 2025 college soccer preview. We will be back later this college season to see how these players are doing and who may have emerged from the rest of the Atlanta United Academy product pool. In the meantime, let us know which of these players you are looking forward to watching this Fall and who you think may have the best chance of starting his professional career back in Atlanta.