STARKVILLE — Mallory Eubanks’ exploits as a high school player attracted plenty of attention from college coaches.
But Eubanks, who was named NSCAA Kentucky High School Player of the Year as a senior, didn’t feel she had made a name for herself at the national level as she prepared for her freshman season at Mississippi State.
That could be changing very soon.
Earlier this month, Eubanks, a 5-foot-4 freshman forward, earned an invitation to training camp for the United States Under-20 Women’s National Team. The camp will run Jan. 24-31 in Sanford, Florida. Eubanks was one of 28 players (18 college players), called up by coach Michelle French. The players will compete for a spot on the United State’s 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup squad.
“I think Mississippi State definitely helped me with being on the radar, and (MSU head coach) Aaron (Gordon) and all of the coaches here helped me,” Eubanks said. “I feel I have really progressed throughout the years from all of the different experiences I have had.”
Eubanks hoped she would get an opportunity to showcase her skills for the U.S. National Team coaches, but she wasn’t sure when that opportunity would come, if at all. She said she used this season to develop confidence on the ball and to build strength to compete against bigger and older players. She felt she matured on and off the field in her first season at MSU and learned she has to hold herself and her teammates to high standards.
The chance to play for a spot on the U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team is an exciting opportunity that Eubanks makes her “hungry to get better” and to continue to work on fitness to come back even better for her sophomore season.
“I think my ability to take someone on and a passion for the game (helped her get noticed),” Eubanks said. “I just enjoy playing, and taking people on in one-vs.-one situations is one of my favorite things to do. That can really make someone stand out if they like to take people on. It’s not that you are selfish all of the time, but selfish on the ball when you have to be and when your teams needs you to be.”
Gordon said the camp will be a “great proving ground” for Eubanks, who is making her first National Team camp appearance. He said Eubanks was a “known commodity” coming out of Kentucky, but he said that state typically isn’t regarded as a “hotbed” of talent, so he felt she had an opportunity to prove things to people once she arrived at MSU. He said the competition in the league and the visibility it attracts throughthe SEC Network helped raise Eubanks’ profile.
“This is the culmination of her dedication and her hard work, and it certainly is part of her growth in the SEC,” Gordon said. “It is just a camp, but it is a great first step to see where she is at. The goal now is to make the next camp.”
Gordon said he wasn’t sure how many more camps the U-20 coaches would have as they continue to make decisions about the team’s final roster.
Eubanks, who was born in Greenville, is from Lexington, Kentucky. She spent four years in Geneva, Switzerland, after her father’s job with Lexmark took the family there. Lexmark is an American corporation that manufactures laser printers and provides enterprise service. Eubanks played soccer with boys because she said there weren’t that many girls who played soccer. She said she played on a variety of boys teams for the last three years she was there. She said the boys weren’t as physical as boys in the United States, but she said they were faster, which helped make her a quicker thinker on the field.
Eubanks used that ability to make an impact in her first season in Starkville. She started all 18 games and was second on the team with six points (one goal, four assists). She was named to the Southeastern Conference’s All-Freshman Team by the league’s coaches. She was the third Bulldog to earn that honor, and the first since Bethany Frazier in 2005.
Eubanks logged 1,563 minutes at the top of MSU’s attack, and played the entire match 14 times, including 10 of 11 league matches.
As a senior at Tates Creek High School, Eubanks scored 37 goals and had 22 assists in 26 games in leading the team to a 21-5-3 record. She also was named Miss Kentucky Soccer, first-team All-State, District 43 MVP, Region 11 MVP, Tates Creek MVP, and Tates Creek Most Offensive Player in 2013.
“My foundation for soccer was a lot of skill and technical work, so I felt I was a very technical player when I was young,” Eubanks said. “Going to Switzerland made me quicker and more explosive on the ball and off the ball.”
Prior to coming back to the United States, she played for Pierre Quilez at College du Leman. She captained her squad in 2011 and was named the varsity all-sports captain in 2010 and 2011. She also captained her squad’s volleyball team, and won championships in track and field, volleyball, field hockey, and basketball.
In the U.S., she played club soccer for Brad Turpin’s Lexington FC. She led the team to the Kentucky state title five times in six seasons.
Those club soccer days will feel like they happened a long time ago in a few weeks. Eubanks said she will try not to let the significance of the opportunity overwhelm her and that she will use it to see where she stacks up with some of the nation’s top players. She said she will enjoy competing in a situation where everyone’s standards will be extremely high, and that she is eager to bring those lessons back to Starkville to share with her coaches and teammates.
Eubanks also hopes she returns after making an impression on the U.S. National Team coaches and having secured a place for herself on their radar.
“There are some girls who are coming from the SEC (including South Carolina’s Savannah McCaskill and Texas A&M Mikaela Harvey), so seeing where they play, they are all going to be really good,” Eubanks said. “I am expecting them to all be amazing. I am trying not to go in not necessarily as an underdog, but trying to be one of them, if I can, and just work hard.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino in Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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