Grella signs with Leeds United

Duke All-American Mike Grella just signed an 18-month contract with English team Leeds United, and fulfilled his life-long dream of becoming a professional.

"If I could have done school in a year, I would have done it in a year," Grella said while in the United States this week.

Grella was a third-round pick of Major League Soccer's Toronto FC, but he chose to go on a two-week trial with Leeds instead. In his debut for Leeds' reserve team last month, he had a hat trick to prompt interest from other teams and the contract offer from Leeds.
Leeds won the English championship in 1992, but financial woes dropped the club two divisions to England's third-tier league. Still, it has the facilities, fan base and tradition of a top-flight team, which made it an attractive destination for Grella, who avoided immigration red tape by obtaining an Italian passport through his parents, who are first-generation immigrants.

"I had heard of Leeds before going over, obviously, and I was excited about it," Grella said. "Of course, you hear it's in the third division and you're a little skeptical about it. But the facilities are fantastic, and the fan base. I went to a couple home games and the atmosphere was fantastic."

Grella signing with Leeds makes him the next in a long line of professionals that came out of the Duke University team that was the 2005 ACC Champions and finished the regular season as the number one team in the country -

* Michael Videira graduated in June and passed on an MLS offer from the New England Revolution to try out for teams in England this fall. Videira initially ended up signing with Hamilton of the Scottish Premier League, but recently signed with the Revs to return to his home town.

* Blake Camp was drafted by the New York Red Bulls, and played for two seasons in New York before joining the Atlanta Silverbacks (USL-1) last season.

* Chris Loftus was with the New England Revolution for the 2007 season before going over to Sweden, where he currently plays.

* Kyle Helton joined Loftus with the New England Revolution for the 2007 season.

* Spencer Wadsworth was selected by the New England Revolution in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft, and spent the 2008 season with both the Revolution and FC Dallas.

* Darrius Barnes recently joined the New England Revolution after being drafted in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft.

* Tim Jepson was drafted by the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2008 MLS Supplemental Draft.

* Zack Pope was drafted by the Chicago Fire in the 2008 MLS Supplemental Draft.

* Danny Kramer played for two seasons with the Rochester Rhinos (USL-1).

Grella, who is roughly fifth or sixth on the Leeds depth chart at striker, has 18 months to make his case.

"I have until the end of the season and the entire next season," Grella said. "I definitely have some time to prove myself."

Anyone who has been around Grella knows that it is only a matter of time before he makes his presence felt - he has been a prolific goalscorer at ever level he has played in, and that figures to continue in this next chapter of his career.