Goalie departs team for Clemson

Doug Warren described last season as a "rollercoaster ride" with highs and lows as he switched with then-junior T.J. Hannig as the starting goalkeeper for the men's NCAA championship soccer team. Warren, now a sophomore, has transferred to Clemson and started as goalie in the Tigers' 3-0 exhibition loss to Connecticut Saturday.\nCoach Jerry Yeagley said if Warren had decided to stay at IU, he would have redshirted the 2000 season behind Hannig, a National Player of the Year candidate. Yeagley said Hannig is the top goalkeeper in the nation, and if Warren wanted playing time this season, he would only serve as Hannig's backup.\n"It was either redshirt, not play and wait and play three years, and it was too tough on him last year not playing," Yeagley said. "So I supported and worked with him. And it was best for him."\nWarren said he decided to transfer because he wanted an opportunity to play in the under-20 world championships this summer. Without playing on a regular basis this season, Warren said he doesn't think he has a good chance of competing in the event.\nWarren's under-20 national team coach Wolfgang Suhnholz also advised him to play more. Warren said Clemson was the right place because the previous starting goalkeeper had graduated.\n"Coach Yeagley is just the classiest coach you'll meet. He'll do whatever to make his players feel comfortable. He could've made it very difficult for me to go," Warren said. "He could not have released me, then I would not have been able to play this year. ...I don't want it to sound like it was a bad split. I still have good friends at Indiana. It was hard for me to leave. I respect Coach Yeagley."\nWarren said he made the decision to transfer in May. He spent much of the spring playing with the national team. Yeagley evaluated Warren's performance after the 1999 season, and Warren decided he would transfer upon hearing he would likely be redshirted.\n"I wouldn't (want to be redshirted) because I don't think I could get better, because I would go to practice knowing I wouldn't play," Warren said. "I've never been put in that position, and I don't want to be put in that position. I wouldn't want to redshirt ever."\nNational team assistant coach Todd Bramble, who served as an assistant soccer coach and recruiting coordinator at Clemson, referred Warren to the university. Bramble has since moved on to the head coaching position at Butler.\nAside from the chance to start, Warren was also attracted to Clemson because friends from the national team attend the school, and he felt comfortable with Tigers' coach Trevor Adair.\nConnecticut scored two penalty kicks against Clemson in Saturday's game. Warren said he is the starting goalkeeper for the season. Last season for IU, Warren played in nine games, including eight as a starter. He had four shutouts, a 7-1 record and a 0.63 goals-against-average. He did not start a game in the NCAA tournament.\nHannig had two shutouts in preseason games against IU-Purdue University at Fort Wayne and No. 20 Rutgers, as the Hoosiers went undefeated last weekend.\n"It's probably better for Warren (to transfer) because he's the kind of guy that basically was frustrated when he was going to be redshirted because he was on the national team his whole life," sophomore midfielder Phil Presser said. \n"He did leave a lot of friends, but we knew why he left and we appreciated that fact. Unfortunately we won't have someone to replace him for next year and the following years."\nYeagley said he was pleased with Warren's performance in 1999, and that the Palatine, Ill., recruit played as well as any freshman goalkeeper he has coached at IU. Warren wasn't benched for poor play, but because Hannig, who has competed in two Final Fours, was a better goalkeeper. \nAlthough Warren has experience with national teams, Hannig was a junior who had played against opponents older and more physical than Warren's 17- and 18-year-old foes. Yeagley said the competition between Warren and Hannig was beneficial to both.\n"We knew T.J. had great talent, but he had not played consistently and had not played with the arrogance, the confidence you need with a goalkeeper," Yeagley said. "He was a bit soft, a bit soft mentally, and at times I felt we won in spite of T.J.'s inconsistency. When Doug got here, it was like T.J. grew up."\nWarren said he improved during the battle over a starting position with Hannig.\nWhile the split between Warren and IU was positive, Yeagley said if he found another keeper like Warren, he'd "take him tomorrow."\n"I spoke with his father (Tuesday) morning and told him we're going to be cheering for Dougie," Yeagley said. "We're going to be rooting for him every time he plays, with the exception of when he plays IU"