When he was 14 years old, Emmanuel Luvert’s soccer skills caught the eye of NIU men’s soccer coach Steve Simmons.

Luvert was playing for the Oregon United Soccer Academy, and was considered by Simmons to be one of the top 36 players on the West coast.

However, this was when Simmons was recruiting as an assistant for Oregon State.

Now the relationship between the two has paid off for NIU as Luvert joins four players from Illinois to form Simmons’ 2005 recruiting class.

“Coaches can seem nice during recruiting,” Luvert said. “I didn’t want to run into a bad situation. I knew [Simmons] and liked his style.”

Simmons, named to the Region II 88 Boys coaching staff for the team’s tour of Italy that began Saturday, has already coached Luvert. The third-year coach directed the Region IV Olympic Development Program West Region team and one of Luvert’s club teams in Oregon.

“We don’t have a player like Emmanuel,” Simmons said. “He has an electric pace, and it’s even bigger because he chose us over Washington.”

UW has sent four players to the San Jose Earthquakes of the Major League Soccer since 1997, a stat that has Simmons very excited about his newly acquired player.

However, Simmons’ personal relationship with Luvert wasn’t the last piece to the puzzle.

Luvert’s family hails from Chicago. His mom and dad grew up in the Chicago area and attended Eastern Illinois before moving out West.

“Most of my family still lives near Chicago,” Luvert said. “My parents decided they wanted me to grow up in a better and safer environment, so they moved out West.”

The Luvert’s said they are not worried about Emmanuel being so far from home because he knows Simmons will treat him fairly.

“Emmanuel knows he has a shot to play,” Henry Luvert said. “If he advances his position on the team it’s because of his individual effort. NIU went from struggling and turned it around. Now the challenge is for students to support the athletes at all levels and for all sports. Otherwise I might have to say the EIU Panthers still rule.”

From future to present

While the recruits enjoy their last days of high school, the returning Huskies have been grinding through 5:30 a.m. weekday workouts.

Last spring was Simmons’ first with the players. He began it by putting the players through a fitness test. None of the players passed on their first attempt.

However, this year is a whole new story.

“Our focus has moved from being in shape,” Simmons said. “Passing the fitness test now is getting your card to get into the club.”

Simmons said the upgraded morning workouts take not just hard work, but discipline.

“It’s a whole different kind of fitness test,” Simmons said. “We’re taking a look at their physical and mental responses, and how they respond to outside pressures.”

The fitness test is one thing graduating seniors Andy Champion, Bruce Conrad and Bernhard Hagevik will be skipping out on this spring. Junior Tony Deldin will also be absent from the workouts. Deldin is leaving the team after four years, even though he could stay for a fifth because of a redshirt he received his freshman year.

“It’s an academic decision,” Deldin said. “I have to take a lot of hours next fall. I played four years and that was enough.”

Deldin’s former teammates opened their spring season on Feb. 26 with a 5-3 victory over DePaul at the DeKalb Recreational Center’s indoor field.

The Huskies will resume their spring season at 4:30 p.m. on April 2 at Huskie Stadium when they host Drake in a three team round-robin tournament that also includes Loyola.