U.S. SOCCER PLAYER OF THE YEAR NOMINEE BIOS
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The U.S. Soccer Player of the Year award is the highest honor awarded to soccer players in the United States. The Male and Female Player of the Year awards are the oldest and most prestigious awards of their kind, dating back to 1984 for the men and 1985 for the women. The Young Male and Young Female awards were added in 1998 and Player of the Year with a Disability in 2012.
Votes are collected from National Team and Youth National Team coaches and staff, National Team players who have earned a cap in this calendar year, American professional soccer league head coaches as well as select media members, former players and administrators.
It’s hard to believe that Naomi Girma is in just her third year on the U.S. National Team. In 2023, Girma became the first defender to earn U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year honors. In 2024, she picked up where she left off, putting in a magnificent performance at the Olympic Games where she was the only field player to play all 600 minutes of the tournament while helping the USA win the gold medal. Heading into the USWNT’s final match, she is third in minutes played with 1,547 and scored her first two career international goals in the USA’s 3-0 victory over Argentina on Oct. 30 in Louisville, Ky. Girma started all 17 games in which she played heading into the final match of the year, marshalling a U.S. defense that allowed just 11 goals and just two in the Olympic Games. In early November, she was named the #2 player in the world on the ESPN FC’s Top-50 Women’s Players of 2024. In the NWSL for the San Diego Wave, Girma played 1,715 minutes in 20 matches and was named to the NWSL Best XI Second Team.
The reigning U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year, this is Girma’s second nomination. She won U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year honors in 2020.
It was yet another world-class tournament performance and year for Naeher, who played every minute of the 2024 Olympics, allowed just two goals and made crucial saves in all of the knockout round games on the USA’s way to the gold medal. The USA won all three knockout games at the Olympics by 1-0 scores – two of which went into overtime – and with her shutout of Brazil in the gold medal game, she became the first goalkeeper in women’s soccer history to keep clean sheets in a World Cup Final and an Olympic Final. Her outrageous kick-save in the waning minutes of overtime in the semifinal win over Germany will go down as one of the most memorable moments in U.S. history. During the year, she became just the third U.S. goalkeeper to hit 100 caps and played a huge role in the USA winning two penalty kick shootouts against Canada. In the Concacaf W Gold Cup semifinal on March 6, Naeher became the first U.S. ‘keeper to make three saves in a penalty kick shootout and converted the USA’s third kick herself. Her save on Canada captain Jessie Fleming won the game. On April 9 in the SheBelieves Cup championship game against Canada, she remarkably saved three more penalty kicks in a shootout that went seven rounds and once again made her kick, converting the USA’s third attempt. Heading into the final match of 2024, which was also her final match in a USWNT uniform, she had 17 starts this year, 1,620 minutes played, a 12-1-3 record and a 0.44 GAA while allow just eight goals.
This is Naeher’s third nomination for Female Player of the Year honors, also earning recognition in 2019 and 2021. She was a nominee for U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year in 2008.
In just his second year of eligibility, forward Folarin Balogun finds himself nominated for the U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year Award for the second time, after being additionally included among the nominees in 2023. Balogun, 23, was a standout performer during the USMNT’s matches at the 2024 Copa América, scoring goals in back-to-back matches to open the tournament. First, Balogun gave the U.S. a 2-0 lead against Bolivia with a left-footed finish across the goal just before halftime, giving the lead its first and only victory of the competition. Against Panama in the second group stage match four days later, Balogun scored one of the MNT’s most memorable goals of the year. Just moments after the U.S. went down to 10 men following a red card shown to Tim Weah, Balogun answered emphatically by pouncing on a loose ball at the top of the 18 and putting a left-footed effort off of the right post and in. Balogun also picked up two assists in 2024 to match his two goals - the first in a defeat to Colombia on June 8, and the second in a 1-1 draw with New Zealand on Sept. 10. For his club, A.S. Monaco, Balogun has found impeccable scoring form prior to suffering a shoulder injury in October. Prior to the injury, he’d scored in three straight matches. One of those - the equalizer in a 2-1 win over Montpellier on Sept. 28 - made Balogun just the fifth USMNT player in the last 40 years to score 30 goals in the top 5 European leagues. In all, Balogun finished the 2023/24 Ligue 1 season in the spring with eight goals and seven assists across all competitions, and had three goals and an assist across all competitions to begin the 2024/25 season prior to suffering the injury.
Nominated for the U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year award for the second time, El Paso native and 2021 Young Male Player of the Year Ricardo Pepi finds himself up for the annual honors once again in 2024 after rounding our the year in blistering scoring form for both club and country. Pepi, 21, capped the MNT’s 2024 calendar with goals in back-to-back Concacaf Nations League Quarterfinal matches against Jamaica during the team’s final camp in November, helping the team come away with a 5-2 aggregate victory and advance to the CNL Finals set to be held in Los Angeles in March. Pepi also scored in head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s debut against Panama in Austin, Tx., on Oct. 12. His pair of November goals put Pepi among elite company, as his goal on Nov. 15made him just the fourth player to score 12 goals for the USMNT before turning 22 years old, joining Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and Christian Pulisic. His follow up goal on Nov. 18 then made him the second-youngest player (21 years, 314 days) to score 10 competitive goals for the USMNT, behind Pulisic (20 years, 288 days). For his club, PSV Eindhoven of the Dutch Eredivisie, Pepi has been a revelation when given the opportunity. After finishing the 2023/24 season with seven goals in 27 appearances, Pepi has taken the leap in the current campaign. In just nine appearances and with four starts to his name, Pepi has already found the net nine times, a total that includes his first career hat trick that came in a 5-2 win over FC Groningen on Nov. 23.
The criterion to be eligible for the 2024 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year is any player who has participated in a training camp with any of the USA’s Women’s Youth National Teams during the calendar year. Players can win the U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year Award only once. Trinity Rodman won the award in 2021, Jaedyn Shaw won in 2022 and Olivia Moultrie won it in 2023.
One of the leaders of the U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team, the FC Dallas product played a key role in leading the USA to third place at the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic. It was the USA’s best finish in the tournament since the inaugural FIFA U-17 WWC in 2008 when the young Americans finished second. The rugged central defender, who is also a talented passer out of the back, played every minute of all six games in the DR and was stellar throughout while marshaling a U.S. back line that allowed only one goal after the opening game loss to Spain. Armstrong finishes her U-17 international career with 10 caps, four of which came at the 2024 Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship in Mexico where she helped the USA win the regional title and qualify for the World Cup. She captained the USA during one match in that tournament. Armstrong played in the World Cup during her freshman season at the University of North Carolina, where she has also made a huge impact. She has started all 19 games in which she has played, spanning 1,554 minutes, and has scored one goal, that coming on a towering header to beat arch-rival Duke, 2-1, in the semifinal of the ACC tournament. She also played a major role in helping the Tar Heels into yet another NCAA College Cup.
This is Armstrong’s first nomination for the Young Female Player of the Year.
Bugg was a key player in the USA’s run to a third-place medal at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, the best finish for the U.S. U-20s in 12 years. A silky-smooth center back whose innate defending can be described as Naomi Girma-esque, she started all seven matches for the USA at the World Cup, playing all but four minutes of the tournament. Bugg, who played in the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India as a late addition to the roster, established herself as a key player for the U-20s this year and, as she was born in 2006, is age-eligible for the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. She currently has 11 U-20 caps and one goal, that scored against the Korea Republic in May. The 18-year-old Bugg, a San Diego Surf product, trained extensively with the San Diego Wave last year and opted to skip college soccer, signing with the Seattle Reign in July via the NWSL’s U-18 Entry Mechanism. Bugg debuted for the Reign on July 28 against Club Tijuana in the 2024 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup and ended up playing 495 minutes in six league matches.
The criterion to be eligible for the 2024 U.S. Soccer Young Male Player of the Year is any player who has participated in a training camp with any of the USA’s Men's Youth National Teams during the calendar year. Players can win the U.S. Soccer Young Male Player of the Year Award only once. Ricardo Pepi won the award in 2021, Yunus Musah won in 2022 and Kevin Paredes won it in 2023.
This year’s youngest nominee for Young Male Player of the Year, forward Mathis Albert continued to make strides for club and country in 2024. The 15-year-old logged multi-goal games in big moments for both the U-16 MYNT and U-17 MYNT. On May 30, Albert started and bagged a brace for the U-16s at Argentina during a 2-2 draw, equalizing in first-half stoppage time before putting the U.S. ahead just after the hour mark. Playing against older competition with the U-17s at the Vaclav Jezek Tournament in the Czech Republic, Albert scored twice in the first half for the USA in a 4-1 win against the host nation. He also started against Slovakia and saw minutes against Germany. Overall, he made five appearances for the U-16 and U-17 MYNTs, starting three games.
After spending preseason with LA Galaxy’s second team, Albert made a summer move to German power Borussia Dortmund, a club known for prolific player development. He’s netted a number of goals for both the U-17s and U-19s in Germany despite his age. Albert has played in two games of the UEFA Youth League, Europe’s U-19 Champions League equivalent, including a goal vs. Sturm Graz on Nov. 5. He’s tallied three times in league play with Dortmund’s U-17s and has been one of the youngest players for the U-19 squad this season, scoring in a derby vs. Schalke during his debut on Oct. 19 and bagging a brace vs. Meerbusch on Nov. 2.
Midfielder Gianluca Busio earns his fourth nomination for Young Male Player of the Year after helping to lead the U.S. Olympic Men’s Soccer Team to its best performance since 2000 and Venezia to promotion to Serie A. With the Olympic Men’s Soccer Team, Busio started four games, including the first two matches of the Olympics, adding the third goal in the USA’s 4-1 victory against New Zealand before injury ruled him out of the rest of the tournament. The victory against New Zealand put the U.S. in excellent position to advance from the group for the second time since 1960, while Busio also tallied in a March friendly against Guinea. This fall, the North Carolina native has played in all four games under new USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino, starting the first two friendlies vs. Panama and at Mexico, plus coming on as a sub in both Concacaf Nations League Quarterfinal matches vs. Jamaica to help secure the USA’s advancement to the CNL Final Four for the fourth-straight time.
Rodman had a spectacular Olympics, scoring three goals with one assist, and her goal against Japan in overtime to win the quarterfinal match will go down as one of the most memorable in U.S. history. Overall, she started 15 of the 18 games in which she played for the USWNT in 2024, totaling three goals (all in the Olympics) along with four assists and her 1,289 minutes played were a career high in a calendar year. She scored the first goal of the Olympics, against Zambia, got an assist in the second match against Germany, scored against Australia in the final group game and then tallied again in the quarterfinal vs. Japan, giving her goal contributions in the first four matches of the Olympics. In the NWSL, Rodman played a huge part in leading the Washington Spirit to the NWSL Championship Game. She played in 26 matches for the Spirit this season, which included three playoff games, spanning 2,100 minutes and scored eight goals (tied for the club lead) with six assists (2nd on the Spirit) to lead the Spirit in both categories. Rodman was named to the NWSL Best XI First Team and was a finalist for league MVP.
This is the first time Rodman has been nominated for Female Player of the Year honors. Rodman won U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year honors in 2021.
Smith led the USA in scoring with nine goals and four assists and also led the Portland Thorns in both categories, scoring 12 times (good for third in the league) while earning six assists. Smith was named to the NWSL Best XI and was a finalist for MVP after playing 1,638 minutes over 20 matches. It was her third consecutive NWSL season with double-digit goals, the first American to accomplish that feat. For the USA, she played in 20 matches, starting 12, and scored three goals with two assists in the Olympics. All her goals in France came against Germany, scoring twice in an epic 4-1 win in group play before scoring one of the most important goals in U.S. history in overtime against the Germans in the 1-0 semifinal victory. Her Olympic assists came in the opening game victory over Zambia and against Australia in group play. Impressively, Smith was involved in a goal in four of the first five matches of the Olympics, and played a tacit role in the sixth, peeling off a pass from Korbin Albert in the Olympic Final when she was in an offside position, and allowing Mallory Swanson, who was not, to race in and score. During the year, she also scored against Canada (three times), Korea Republic, Mexico and Iceland. The first of her three goals against Canada came in the rain-drenched Concacaf W Gold Cup semifinal and the other two in the title game of the 2024 SheBelieves Cup, both of which the USA won a penalty kick shootout, both of which saw Smith convert her spot kick and capture 2024 Visa SheBelieves Cup MVP honors. She also earned a penalty kick that led to the game-winning goal in the SheBelieves Cup semifinal vs. Japan.
Smith was the 2022 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year and this is her third consecutive nomination. She was the 2017 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year.
In her comeback year from a major injury, Swanson was consistently great on the wing for the USA. She led the USA in scoring at the Olympics, finding the net four times with two assists and of course scored the game-winning goal in the 1-0 victory over Brazil in the Olympic gold medal game. Making the day even more epic, she earned her 100th cap in that match in Paris. She also scored twice in the opening game win over Zambia – in a span of about 70 seconds -- and once in the USA’s epic 4-1 over Germany in group play. Her assist came in that group game vs. Germany and also in the 1-0 semifinal win over the Germans when she set up Sophia Smith with a deft pass behind the defense. Swanson was the first USWNT player to score in back-to-back Olympic matches since Carli Lloyd did so at Rio 2016 and her four goals overall at Paris 2024 trailed only Abby Wambach’s 2012 performance for the most by any USWNT at a single Olympics. Despite not playing her first USWNT matches until April at the SheBelieves Cup, she finished the year 12 starts in 15 matches, six goals and four assists, and 1,113 minutes played, the most of any year in her career. For the Chicago Red Stars, she played 25 matches, including one playoff game, and totaled 2,119 minutes. She led club in assists with four while tying for the lead in goals with seven.
This is the second time Swanson has been nominated for Player of the Year honors and the first since 2022. She was nominated for U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year in 2013, 2014, and 2015.
The four-time U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year made a strong case to make history as the all-time leader in these awards. The 26-year-old from Hershey, Pa., led the team in goals (4), assists (3), and total goal contributions (7). After scoring the lone goal in the 1-1 draw against five-time World Cup champion Brazil, he bagged a goal and assist in the 2-0 shutout against Bolivia in the Copa America group opener. Collecting both his 50th career goal contribution and 75th cap during this campaign, his 13th minute strike opened the floodgates in the vital 4-2 win against Jamaica that put the USA back in the Nations League Final Four. His career club resurgence at AC Milan has been simply remarkable, quickly becoming one of their most important players.Finishing the 2023-24 campaign with a personal best 15 goals and 10 assists across all competitions, he kept up his roaring pace in the first half the current season and earned Milan Player of the Month honors in September.
The age-defying Tim Ream remained a key figure among the USMNT backline throughout 2024, and as such has earned a nomination for the U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year Award. Ream, 37, appeared in 11 matches for the U.S. this year, starting in all 11 matches and racking up 955 minutes - the second-most of all U.S. field players behind only Christian Pulisic. The chosen captain of new head coach Mauricio Pochettino during his first four matches at the helm, Ream helped lead the team to three wins over its final four matches of the 2024 calendar, which included home-and-away victories against Jamaica in November’s Concacaf Nations League Quarterfinals. The team’s 1-0 win in Kingston on Nov. 14 saw Ream (37 years, 40 days old) become the oldest outfield player to start a competitive match for the USMNT since Thomas Dooley (38 years, 44 days) in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. On the club level, Ream made a summer move to Charlotte FC of Major League Soccer after finishing the 2023/24 English Premier League campaign with Fulham. Ream spent nine seasons with the London club, where he amassed 312 appearances and led them to promotion on three separate occasions. With Charlotte, Ream became the club’s first-ever player selected to the MNT, and later helped lead them to an MLS Cup Playoffs appearance. This is Ream’s third nomination for U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year, having previously been a finalist in 2022 and 2019.
With Jedi-like focus, Antonee Robinson proved a consistent menace on the left flank with tireless running and a productive partnership with Christian Pulisic. Starting all 11 matches for which he was available, Robinson played the second-most games and minutes of his career in a calendar year. A starter in all four of the USA's shutouts in 2024, Jedi recorded the game-winning assist when he set up Ricardo Pepi for the third goal in the 4-2 win against Jamaica in the Nations League Quarterfinals. Arguably one of the top fullbacks in the English Premier League, his remarkable club campaign was rightly recognized when he was honored as the 2023-24 Fulham Player of the Year.
This is Bugg’s first nomination for Young Female Player of the Year.
Fuller, a hard-charging center midfielder, was arguably the USA’s best player at both the 2024 Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship and the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and has proven to be an elite goal scorer at the Youth National Team level. In the former, she scored eight goals with two assists and was awarded the Golden Ball as the top player in the tournament while helping the USA qualify for the World Cup and win the regional title. At the latter, she started all six games, played 510 of the 540 total minutes, and led the USA in scoring with four goals and three assists. She won the Silver Boot as the second-best scorer in the World Cup. At the World Cup, she captained the USA in three matches and scored against Colombia, Korea Republic, Nigeria and England. Fuller is a front-runner in the new wave of teenagers entering the NWSL. A Solar SC product out of Dallas, Fuller signed with Angel City FC in March of 2024 through the NWSL U-18 Entry Mechanism and played the second-most minutes of any of the American teenagers in the NWSL this season. The 17-year-old, who is easy to spot during matches with her signature warrior buns hairstyle, saw action in 19 NWSL matches spanning 975 minutes while scoring one goal, that coming against Racing Louisville in a 3-2 win in June. She played in four matches in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup and scored once, that coming against Club America in July.
This is Fuller’s first nomination for Young Female Player of the Year.
Hutton missed two matches at the 2024 FIFA Women’s World Cup as she was in concussion protocol, but still played a key role in the team’s run to the podium. She started the five other games while holding down the middle of the pitch at defensive midfield as the team earned a third-place finish, the best for the USA at a U-20 World Cup in 12 years. Born in 2006, she is age-eligible for the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. Hutton was perhaps the top American teenager in the NWSL, earning a consistent starting spot for the Kansas City Current, which finished fourth in the league. A hard-working and hard-tackling midfielder with the ball skills and passing abilities to unlock defenses, she played 1,827 minutes in 24 matches and earned plaudits throughout the league, culminating in her being a finalist for the NWSL Rookie of the Year. The 18-year-old Hutton started both of the Current’s playoff matches. She also played five games in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup in which she scored her first professional goal, that coming against UNAL Tigres in August.
This is Hutton’s first nomination for Young Female Player of the Year.
After a solid rookie year in the NWSL for the Utah Royals, Sentnor received her first senior USWNT call-up for the USA’s two matches in Europe to end the 2024 schedule and earned her first senior team cap in front of 78,346 fans at Wembley Stadium in the USA’s 0-0 draw with England on Nov. 30. One of the most decorated players in recent U.S. Women’s National Team history, having scored for the USA at almost every youth level, the 20-year-old captained the USA to third place at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia. At that World Cup, she scored three times – against Paraguay, Mexico and in the Third-Place Match against the Netherlands. She also scored the dramatic tying goal in the waning seconds of the quarterfinal match against Germany (it was later ruled an own goal). In that Germany match, the USA was down 2-0 in the third minute of stoppage time before scoring in the 97th and 98th minutes to tie the game in one of the greatest comebacks in U.S. history. After a scoreless overtime, Sentnor then nailed the USA’s opening penalty in the victorious shootout. She won the Bronze Ball in Colombia as the third-best player in the tournament. Sentnor, who also scored in the 2022 FIFA U-20 WWC, finished her U-20 career with 12 goals in 23 caps. A nominee for NWSL Rookie of the Year, she had three goals and four assists for Utah this past season while playing 1,866 minutes in 21 matches, all of them starts, after being selected by the club as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NWSL Draft. She also played two games in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup and scored in both, against Tijuana and the Portland Thorns.
This is Sentnor’s fourth nomination for Young Female Player of the Year.
On the club front, Busio helped lift Venezia back to Serie A after its relegation to the second division in 2022. The midfielder guided Venezia to third place in the Serie B standings, fivegoals, tied for second-best on the team during the second half of the 2023-24 campaign. He then played a key role in the promotion playoffs, starting all four matches and notching the promotion-clinching assist in the second leg of the final vs. Cremonese, lifting Venezia to a 1-0 two-legged victory. This season, he’s played in 10 games for Venezia in Serie A, adding one goal thus far.
Midfielder Tanner Tessmann captained the U.S. men at the 2024 Paris Olympics, skippering the USA to its best finish since 2000. Tessmann played all 360 minutes for the U.S. in France this summer as the USA won two games at an Olympic tournament for the first time and advanced from the group stage for just the second time since it was introduced in 1960. Overall, he started seven games for the Olympic Men’s Soccer Team, adding an assist during the USA’s come-from-behind draw vs. France on March 25. He’s followed up his strong showing at the Games by earning minutes in all four games under new USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino, including starting both Concacaf Nations League Quarterfinal matches vs. Jamaica, helping the U.S. reach the CNL Final Four for the fourth-straight time.
In the spring, Tessmann was a key part of Venezia’s promotion back to Serie A, leading the club to third place in the league table as he started 17 of 19 games and added two goals. In the promotion playoffs, the Alabama native played all 360 minutes and scored a spectacular goal in the second leg of the semifinals. After the Olympics, Tessmann made a move to perennial French power Lyon, where has played 10 games so far this season. He earned his debut in European competition in the UEFA Europa League vs. Olympiacos on Sept. 26.
After representing the U.S. at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup as one of its youngest players, midfielder Niko Tsakiris has become a leader with the squad this year. He helped lead the USA to a runner-up finish at the 2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship, winning the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player. In Mexico, he played in all six games for the U.S., adding two goals and two assists, including the game-winning tally in the 1-0 victory vs. Costa Rica to clinch the group and teeing up the crucial opening goal in the 2-1 semifinal win vs. Panama. On the year, Tsakiris made 12 appearances for the U-19 and U-20 MYNTs. He also netted a goal in the USA’s 3-0 victory vs. Korea Republic on Nov. 16.
After starting to earn more regular minutes with the San Jose Earthquakes in the second half of 2023, the Northern California native became a fixture for the club in 2024, playing 25 games and making 19 starts. He earned his first MLS assist on Oct. 3 vs. FC Dallas and was the Quakes’ only player under 24 to make six league appearances on the season. In the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, Tsakiris teed up the game-winning goal for San Jose in the first round vs. Oakland Roots SC, playing the full 90.
After scoring a crucial goal for the U.S. at the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup, forward David Vazquez has stepped up to become one of the USA’s most dynamic attacking players at the 2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship, winning the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer. He played in five of six games for the U.S. at the competition, netting three goals and adding two assists. After scoring the USA’s opening tally of the tournament vs. Jamaica and adding another vs. the Reggae Boyz, Vazquez also netted the first goal in the 2-1 semifinal victory against Panama. On the year, the Californian made 11 appearances for the U-19 and U-20 MYNTs while making seven starts.
After developing in the Philadelphia Union academy, Vazquez signed a Homegrown contract with the club this year. He saw consistent time with Philadelphia Union 2 in MLS Next Pro, starting 15 matches while scoring three goals and adding four assists during the club’s run to second place in the Eastern Conference regular season standings. Vazquez bagged a brace for his first professional tallies on May 26 vs. New York Red Bulls II. The 18-year-old was a fixture for Union 2 during its run to the MLS Next Pro Cup, starting every game in the postseason and playing 380 of 390 possible minutes.