Greenville, S.C. – The Furman men's soccer program has signed eight players for its 2022 class, head coach Doug Allison announced today.

Will Baker (Frisco, Texas), Lashawn Brown (West Palm Beach, Fla.), Ryan Chea (Greenville, S.C.), Christian Kraus (Fenton, Mo.), Carter Nunnery (Lancaster, S.C.), Jackson Price (Columbia, S.C.), Llyod Wamu Snell (Basingstoke, Hampshire) and Slade Starnes (Dallas, Texas) will join the Paladins for the upcoming 2022 season.

The class is currently No. 26 nationally by TopDrawerSoccer with two players ranked in the top 200 in Baker (No. 83) and Starnes (No. 154).

"We can't wait to have this new class of student-athletes enroll at Furman this August," said Allison. "Our recruiting coordinator, Brandon Tucker, has done a fantastic job identifying our positional needs while always maintaining our lofty team academic standards and excellence in character values within this group. There are certainly some terrific young men coming in that will continue the tradition of representing our soccer badge."

Baker attends Memorial High School where he plays for head coach Adam Cecil. He played on the school's inaugural team in 2018-19. Baker, who currently plays for FC Dallas Academy, has won three state cup championships on the club circuit. Playing for Hawaii Rush 04B, he was part of two Hawaii State Cup championship teams in 2017 and 2018. Baker also played for FC Dallas 04B and helped capture the Texas State Cup championship in 2019. He was named to the Rush Select International Roster 04B in 2017 and 2018.

Brown graduated from Lake Worth High School in 2021 and played for head coach Kelvin Jones. He has been a part of one of the top MLS NEXT academies in the Columbus Crew Academy. Brown was tied for the leading scorer of the Generation Adidas Cup U-17 and is the first MLS Academy player to be part of the MLS Committee for Change. He compiled eight assists and five goals as a junior while adding seven goals and five assists during his sophomore season. Brown played in the semifinals of the Generation Adidas Cup U-17 as a sophomore.

Chea is a local product out of Greenville that attended Greenville Senior High School and played for head coach Chris Inman. He also played at Christ Church Episcopal School under head coach Anthony Esquivel. While at Christ Church, he won a Class AA state championship while being named region player of the year. Chea led the team in both goals and assists that season and earned both all-state and all-region recognition. He plays on the club circuit for Carolina Elite Soccer Academy (CESA) 2004 ECNL as a starting midfielder/forward. As a junior, he recorded two goals and two assists in four games to help the team qualify for the ECNL national playoffs in St. Louis, Mo. Chea was selected second team All-Mid Atlantic Conference.

Kraus is transferring to Furman after spending two seasons at the University of South Carolina. A native of Fenton, Mo., Kraus appeared in 28 games for the Gamecocks and compiled 10 points on five goals highlighted by four during his freshman season in 2020-21. He attended Rockwood Summit High School and was named the 2019-20 Missouri Men's Soccer Gatorade Player of the Year. Kraus also earned United Soccer Coaches All-American accolades in 2019 and played in the High School All-American game. He received St. Louis metro area player of the year honors and was twice named all-state. Kraus garnered both all-region and all-conference accolades twice.

Nunnery attends Andrew Jackson High School where he plays for head coach Will Brice. During his freshman season, he played on both the junior varsity and varsity squads. He contributed 12 assists and six goals as a freshman and allowed zero goals scored against. Nunnery currently plays club soccer for Charlotte Soccer Academy U18/U19 and has also been part of Charlotte Football Club U17 MLS Academy as a goalkeeper. He has made multiple appearances at the US Club Soccer National Cup and was the winning goalkeeper for the U15 US Club Soccer National Cup XVIII champions in 2019. Nunnery was selected to the GPS National Team in 2019 to compete in the SuperCup Northern Ireland. He has also made multiple appearances in the Dallas Cup and Surf Cup. Playing for Charlotte FC MLS Academy, Nunnery competed in the MLS NEXT Fall League, MLS NEXT Spring League, MLS Cup and MLS NEXT Playoffs.

Price plays for both A.C. Flora High School and SC United FC. He was the South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year as a junior after registering 22 goals and seven assists to help lead A.C. Flora to a 4A region championship. Price was named the co-region player of the year while also earning a spot on both the all-state and all-region teams. He recorded 23 goals and 14 assists during his freshman season and was a nominee for Gatorade Player of the Year. Price earned all-state honors and picked up S.C. Soccer Coaches all-american/all-south region player recognition. Nationally, led he all freshmen players in points and was part of a 4A region championship team. Price was the leading scorer for SC United FC in 2021 with 19 goals and 13 assists and earned all-conference and USYS Piedmont Conference Best XI U19 Team honors. In 2020, he served as team captain and was named to the Keramik Cup Team.

Snell graduated from Queen Mary's College Basingstoke in 2021. He won a district championship as a senior. Snell came up through the academy ranks playing for Reading FC and Basingstoke Town FC before being promoted to the Basingstoke senior team. In 2019, he became the youngest player to represent Basingstoke Town FC at the senior level. Snell was selected to play at the Gothia Youth World Cup in Sweden where his team advanced to the R16 round. He was the top scorer regionally during his U18 season finishing with 34 goals in 18 games.

Starnes has grown up through the MLS Academy playing for FC Dallas. He was a two-time team captain for the U19 team and was invited to preseason training with FC Dallas. Starnes was also invited to train during the preseason with North Texas Soccer Club which competes in the MLS NEXT Pro.