When all the personal accolades have been bestowed upon you, team success is all that matters. Hicksville native and redshirt senior at the University of Michigan, Tyler Arnone, is determined to lead the Wolverines to a deep postseason run.
“Every year I believe we will win, but this year is the best team I’ve been on from top to bottom,” said Arnone, who is the team captain. The Wolverines are coming off a solid 8-7-3 season, but Arnone has been impressed with the team’s “mix of young talent and old experience.” Although the results don’t count, the team was undefeated during the 2014 pre-season. Regardless, the team has proven to receive a boost from its incoming group of freshman, which was ranked as the No. 2 recruiting class in the country.
The team will be counting on Arnone, named to the Big 10 pre-season watch list, to ignite the offense. He has already been named to the Big 10 First-Team twice and can become the first player in school history to do so three times. The 5’10” midfielder has 29 career points, 9 via goals and 11 by assists.
Prior to his career at Michigan, Arnone attended St. John’s in Queens. He noted it was his first choice coming out of Hicksville High School, but after opting to redshirt in 2010, he decided it was not a good fit for him and transferred to the Big 10—which was his backup plan all along.
“I was fortunate that the coaches still believed in me,” Arnone said. “There was a coaching change after my sophomore year, and luckily the new coaching staff has invested in me and trusted me to be a leader and captain.
Arnone feels that his improvement as a player has been drastic.
“Night and day,” he said in regards to the difference between him as a freshman and now. “Mainly maturity, because I have grown so much in all areas—passing, shooting, decision-making. I’m four years older, faster, stronger and smarter. It’s been a complete transformation.”
Based on how he describes himself, you would think he was a marginal player in high school. By any measure, that would be selling him short. Arnone was a four-time All-County player, AA-I Conference Player of the Year, Nassau County Player of the Year and two-time All-State and two-time Team MVP. That type of production in high school doesn’t always translate to the next level, but Arnone eliminated the guess work thanks to a tremendous work ethic.
Arnone is majoring in physical education, while minoring in sports management and health. If all goes as planned, however, that will take a back seat to his career as a professional soccer player. He noted that he trained with some MLS teams this summer and he hopes to get drafted this year.
In the meantime, Arnone hopes he can accomplish what he did not in high school, and that is to be named All-American.
“It bothered me not getting it,” he said. Arnone will use that chip to dominate during his senior year and allow the Wolverines to make noise in the ultra-competitive Big 10—which features the in-state rival Michigan State, along with Indiana, Maryland, Rutgers and rival Ohio State.
That conference schedule features no easy victories and he stated that the team must “take no days off.” Arnone certainly is focused and ready for a successful season.
