This is the third story of a four-part series on this year's ODU Sports Hall of Fame class.
Written by Eric Bohannon
Carlos Mendes is close to his family. Born and raised in New York, it was a recruiting coup by Alan Dawson when he was able to persuade Mendes to come to Old Dominion, away from the likes of St. John’s and other schools in the northeast. Mendes was homesick when he originally arrived in Norfolk, but Dawson and his teammates helped Mendes achieve greatness at Old Dominion.
“When I first left home I was very homesick,” Mendes said. “The first year wasn’t easy. I was so close to my brothers and sisters, and my parents. They always supported me, they never pushed me to play soccer but gave me that avenue and they were everything to me. They made road trips to Virginia when they could and throughout my professional career.”
Mendes did have a friend join him at Old Dominion by the name of John Saporta. Saporta was not a player and did not have an affiliation with the program at the time but wanted to go to school with Carlos, and he also made an impact.
“John came with Carlos and over the four years became a good friend of mine and a tremendous friend of the program. He now sponsors our golf tournament every year and is a very close friend of Carlos and close friend to my family.”
Mendes was Dawson’s first recruit and quickly became a key cog in the ODU lineup, which would continue for the next four years.
“The main thing for me in my decision when I had a conversation with Coach Dawson on my recruiting trip and I felt like it was a good connection and someone that I wanted to play for,” Mendes said. “I loved the university, the campus, for me and the sport side of it with Coach Dawson I felt like it would be the best fit. The first year was difficult but it helped me mature as a person and a player.”
Despite missing his family, Mendes was the Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year as a freshman.
Mendes continued to elevate his play throughout his ODU career, earning CAA first-team honors three times along with All-State and All-Region accolades.
“He was a special player and really the foundation that we needed to move forward regionally and nationally,” Dawson said. “He was very much the anchor of what I saw in the future, the guy that stabilized everything.”
Following the completion of his ODU career, Mendes continued playing soccer in the professional ranks. He started with the Rochester Rhinos and that was the start of a 15-year career. Mendes played eight years in the MLS and finished his career with the New York Cosmos.
“It didn’t come easy for me I had to move back home to get my professional career started and I’m proud of that because I wasn’t a big MLS prospect, I wasn’t drafted right away. I had to work my way up the professional ranks and very proud of that. That’s a credit to my family, the people around me and Coach Dawson.”
When his playing career ended, it was long before Mendes was back on the pitch, this time as the head coach of the New York Cosmos.
“I love it. I’m very lucky to still be a part of the game, it’s not an easy transition when you play so long and then transition into coaching. I’ve loved every minute but you have to change your mentality and the way you look at things, definitely very different than being a player it’s a great experience. I’m lucky to be involved with the Cosmos on the coaching side of things and it’s been a great couple of years for me.”
The last piece of the college experience that Mendes needed was his degree. Due to his professional playing experience once he left Old Dominion, he didn’t finish the degree. That is now complete.
“The degree is very important. It’s something I knew I wanted to do and the university was great in helping me with what needed to be done. I put a lot of work and time while at ODU and I was very close it was something I wanted to do as soon as I had the opportunity.”
To have any player make it into the hall of a fame is a big deal, but for your first recruit to do it, in Dawson’s case now, makes it a little more special.
“It’s a tribute to Carlos, first and foremost, it’s exciting for me that we get the first guy we signed back then gets to eventually go into the hall of fame. He deserves it, I’m sorry it took so long but it’s a real honor,” Dawson said.
Mendes will be inducted into the Old Dominion Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday, Oct. 25 at the Hilton Main in downtown Norfolk. For more information on the Hall of Fame Dinner, please CLICK HERE or call 757-683-3097.