MORROW, Ga. – June 6, 2007 – Clayton State men’s head soccer coach Pete Petersen officially released his 2007 Laker recruiting class on Wednesday, and it’s arguably one of the deepest, most talented classes ever at Clayton State.

Headlining this group of 12 newcomers is the first-ever United States National Team pool player ever at Clayton State. Freshman forward Jamal Geathers, a freshman from Aiken, S.C., was a part of the U.S. Under-18 National Team Player pool, and helped lead South Aiken High School to the South Carolina state championship in 2005.

Geathers continues the strong pipeline of Clayton State players from the Aiken Fire club team, which was coached by Laker assistant Justin Rhodes. He helped lead the Fire to four straight South Carolina state championships and region championships, plus national runner-up in 2004.

As a member of the U.S. Under-18 National Team, the 5-foot-10, 167-pounder represented the United States in the 2005 Uruguay Tournament. As a player at South Aiken High School, Geathers helped pace South Aiken to the 2005 South Carolina 4A State Championship, in which he scored the game-winning goal. He was selected first team All-American by StudentSportsSoccer.com in 2005 and South Carolina State Player of the Year by High School Sports Report.

His addition gives the Lakers plenty of offensive weapons up front to go with seniors Tonny Madegwa and Hailab Habtom, junior Angel Kalinov and sophomore Matthias Faublas.

"We inherited a well-coached forward," said Petersen about Geathers. "He has strong decision-making, timing on runs, finding the open man and he’s a cold-hearted finisher inside the box. With Geathers, Hailab, Tonny, Angel and Matthias, the Lakers have more offensive firepower than they’ve ever had."

Petersen’s main task in this recruiting class was reloading the traditionally-strong Laker defensive backline with the graduation of defenders Andre Rall, Steve Weston and Junior Smith. He appears to have remedied that task with some strong additions.

The most notable defensive addition is senior Karl Haggon, a transfer from NCAA Division I Marshall. The 6-2, 185-pounder was a junior college All-American at Tyler Junior College in Texas. In fact, Haggon was teammates at Tyler with Habtom.

Petersen compares Haggon to former Laker defensive stalwarts like former All-American Alex Dowling and Josh Grenier and Rall.

"Karl is in the same line and mold of those players," Petersen said. "He’s cool under pressure, communicates well in the back and organizes effectively."

Joining Haggon as newcomers on the Clayton State defense include freshmen Alex Sethi from Buckinghamshire, England and Brett Neilson from Durban, South Africa. Petersen has also added local newcomers Wes Manyak from Lawrenceville, Ga., and Brookwood High School, Nolan Warnock from Conyers and Salem High School, and Bobby Zimmerman from Augusta, Ga., and Greenbriar High School, and Sukhman Bal from Atlanta and Atlanta International High School.

Zimmerman is another player from the Aiken Fire joining the Clayton State program. Manyak and Ball were both standouts for the Gwinnett Soccer Association and Warnock plays for the strong Fayette Lightning club team.

Replacing four-year standout Heath Padgett in goal was another task, and Petersen has added a former Peach Belt Conference rival and a junior college standout from within the state.

Senior Janiel Simon joins the Laker program after a three-year hiatus following the 2003 season at former Peach Belt rival USC-Upstate. He was injured in the 2004 season, and has spent the last two seasons as the back-up goalkeeper for the Antiguan National Team. Prior to his arrival at USC-Upstate, Simon was a JUCO All-American at Bryant & Stratton College, leading Bryant & Stratton to the NJCAA Division II National Championship in 2001. The other goalkeeper is junior Billy Hale, a transfer from Truett-McConnell who prepped at Clarke Central High School in Athens, Ga.

"Janiel is very hungry to finish his career," Petersen said. "He is quick in all aspects of the position – his physicality, decision-making and distribution of the ball all in one."

With an abundance of talent and depth returning, Petersen will add only two newcomers to the Laker midfield. Sophomore Stephen Dolbeer joins the Clayton State program after transferring from South Atlantic Conference power Tusculum after the Pioneers suspended their program for the 2006 season. Dolbeer is a local product from Jonesboro, Ga., who prepped at Lovejoy High School and is another product of the Fayette Lightning club team.

"Like the Aiken Fire, we also have a great pipeline of players from the Fayette Lightning," Petersen said. "Stephen is solid, consistent, mistake-free, reliable and focused in the midfield."