Will John is on a watch list.

The sophomore sensation, who most recently spent his summer
training with the United States’ Under-20 national team, was named
as one of 25 Players to Watch as candidates for the Hermann Trophy,
the most prestigious individual award in intercollegiate
soccer.

It is awarded at the end of every season by the Missouri
Athletic Club and bears the same name as the Billikens’ home
stadium.

The list is, obviously, a proverbial “who’s-who” of NCAA men’s
soccer, having members from fellow powerhouse programs such as
Indiana, Notre Dame and UCLA. However, John was one of only two
sophomores to make the list.

He was joined by North Carolina forward Jamie Watson.

Last season John was second on the team in scoring, behind
fellow freshman Vedad Ibisevic, who signed to play professionally
in France this off-season.

That makes John the team’s leading returning scorer and with the
graduation of the teams entire back line from a year ago, the only
returning senior being goalkeeper Martin Hutton.

Thus, through the relative youth of this year’s, albeit
extremely talented, team, John has been thrust into a leading
roll.

John played the bulk of the season as a midfielder last year,
though he did dabble as a forward too. However, this season, with
the focal point of the offense from last year, Vedad Ibisevic,
gone, John will be playing up top more, which will make better use
of his knack for finding the back of the net.

If last night was any indication about the rewards of coach Dan
Donigan moving him to forward, it looks like the move will
definitely pay off.

John accounted for both goals in the game. Each came in the
first half, and the second goal came as the result of John leaping
in front of the clearance by Loyola’s (Chicago) goalkeeper and
heading in the ball.

Leading a young, talented team is hardly new territory for
John.

Last season he was named Conference USA’s offensive player of
the week numerous times for feats such as his notching a conference
leading five game winners and for assisting in both of the Bills’
goals in last season’s NCAA quarterfinals loss at the hands of the
Maryland Terrapins.

John was billed last summer by coach Dan Donigan as a
“prototypical attacking midfielder.”

All signs point to him expanding on the nine goals and five
assists he collected as a freshman last season.

He has proven to be quite capable of shouldering the burden of
leadership in the past, though, as he was thrust into a starting
roll his freshman year in high school, at the Jesuit school from
the other side of the state, Rockhurst.

He helped lead them to a state championship that year, starring
on a squad much like last year’s Billikens, which only had three
seniors.

He went on to lead Rockhurst to two second-place finishes in the
state tournament in the ensuing years and took home player of the
year awards for both the city of Kansas City and the state of
Missouri. John has soccer in his veins, as his father is a World
Cup veteran and former St. Louis Steamers star Emilio John.

Needless to say that this season the Billikens highly talented
squad, though young, has a great centerpiece to lead them on.

Both for this year and for the years to come, the memory of
another former Billiken sophomore star, and current MLS star, Brad
Davis notwithstanding.

Davis turned pro after his exceptional sophomore campaign and
currently stars for the Dallas Burn.

Nonetheless, much was made about John’s prospects for this
season, even before last night’s exhibition opener against the
Ramblers.

And, if history is any indication, John will more than meet the
expectations laid out for himself and for the Billikens in the
coming season.

The members of the Missouri Athletic Club will surely be
watching, as will the rest of the SLU community.