The first time Gyasi Zardes stepped onto the field for the United States Men’s National Team, the moment felt bigger than the game. He had spent years working toward a goal, from his early days in Southern California to his four years at Cal State Bakersfield and then through the demanding climb into Major League Soccer. Now the moment was real. The nerves were, too.

Then he touched the ball.

“Me stepping on the field for the first time, it was like I finally reached my goal, and by the time I touched the ball, then the nerves went away,” Zardes said. “It’s just like, ‘Hey, be yourself. You’re here for a reason. They selected you for a reason. Don’t try to be something you are not.’”

That instinct – to meet the moment by returning to the preparation – became the motif of Zardes’ career. It helped make him one of the most decorated student-athletes in Cal State Bakersfield history, a two-time All-American and two-time MPSF Player of the Year. It helped him become a two-time MLS Cup champion and one of just 13 men in MLS history to score 100+ goals. And it helped him earn 68 caps on the international stage with the USMNT.

On Sept. 26, 2026, Zardes will be inducted into the CSUB Athletics Hall of Fame as part of its second-ever class. The honor recognizes the goals and trophies, but it also captures the habits behind them: the willingness to listen, the humility to start where he was, and the discipline to keep improving after he had already proven himself.

When Zardes first visited Bakersfield, he was looking for a place where he could grow. What he discovered was a campus that felt, in his words, “kind of like a breath of fresh air.” The visit made an impression, but the people and the promise of development made the decision.

“Keith Costigan was so influential in the decision to come to Bakersfield,” Zardes said. “He told me, ‘It’s a college where we’ll focus on developing you as a player, and from a school perspective, you can develop as well.’”

Costigan, an assistant coach with the `Runners, was direct about the work ahead. Zardes had talent, but he also had weaknesses.

“Keith has always been direct with me,” Zardes said. “He said, ‘There are weaknesses in your game, and if you choose our college, I’ll make sure we strengthen them and help you reach your goal of going pro.’ That solidified my decision of coming to Cal State Bakersfield.”

One of those weaknesses was heading. It would have been easy for a gifted attacking player to avoid the uncomfortable part of his game. Zardes chose the opposite approach. Costigan remembers the reaction when the challenge was first placed in front of him as Zardes spent countless sessions working on his heading.

“I remember turning to Simon and going, ‘This is why he has a chance, because he’s taken what I said and he immediately wants to show me that it’s not true.’” 

Years later, Zardes would look back at his professional goals and notice how many came with his head.

“When I look back at that, a lot of goals were headers and mind you, that was my weakness coming into college, but yet I scored a lot of headers at the professional level,” Zardes said.

For former CSUB Head Coach Simon Tobin, the talent was obvious from the beginning. Tobin saw the athleticism, the movement and the finishing ability that made Zardes so difficult to contain. But he also saw the way Zardes carried himself around the team.

“If I was a player, what I would do is give the ball to him because he’s going to put it in the net,” Tobin said. “He had, as people would say, God given athleticism in certain aspects. He moved like a gazelle.”

Tobin also saw something less visible but just as important. “To play at the top level, you have to be something special, but on the field, every practice, every game, he carried himself like a great player, but never with any of those air and graces.”

Zardes’ life in Bakersfield reflected that humility. He did not receive a full-ride scholarship, so he worked a part-time job across the street in The Marketplace while continuing to train and compete. The future professional was balancing ordinary responsibilities with an extraordinary ambition.

“He didn’t get a full ride here and he worked Jamba Juice three or four nights a week,” Tobin said. “That’s the best player in the country, living in Bakersfield, and that’s what he did.”

Costigan remembers that detail becoming part of a conversation with the LA Galaxy top brass when the club was trying to sign Zardes. The question was simple: how could a player with a professional deal still be working at Jamba Juice? Costigan’s answer spoke to the quality he believed separated the striker from other talented players.

“I told you from the get go, this kid is different, he’s humble,” Costigan recalled saying.

Zardes began his professional career with the LA Galaxy in 2013. A year later, he helped the club win the 2014 MLS Cup. He later joined Columbus Crew, where he earned MLS Comeback Player of the Year honors in 2018 and won another MLS Cup in 2020. He also played for the Colorado Rapids and Austin FC before reaching a milestone that placed him among the league’s most productive scorers: in 2023, he became the 13th player in MLS history to score 100 career goals.

The professional resume grew, but the operating principle stayed familiar. Zardes has long carried a heeding with him: “Every day you don’t train, somebody else is getting better than you.” His work ethic showed up in the way he pressed defenders, chased loose balls, and tried to wreak havoc before the opponent could settle into the game.

“If I’m going to force one way and sprint and try to win the ball, force a turnover, that’s going to let everyone know, I’m setting a tone,” Zardes said. “That’s a work ethic I carried over into my professional career, and I believe that’s how I had a successful professional career.”

That approach also carried him onto the international stage. From 2014 to 2022, Zardes earned 68 caps for the United States and scored 14 goals in the Red, White, and Blue. He was part of American teams that won CONCACAF Gold Cup titles in 2017 and 2021. The setting changed – from Kern County to some of the sport’s largest stages – but the instruction he gave himself remained the same: be himself, then do the work required by the moment.

For the people who coached him, the Hall of Fame honor is satisfying because it recognizes the whole person. Costigan has watched Zardes grow from a youth system player into a husband, father, and role model. Those roles, Costigan believes, reveal more than any statistic.

“We all want to talk about the athlete, but the best and most proudest thing I am of Gyasi is how he’s become as a husband, as a father, as a role model to his kids,” Costigan said. “It’s been amazing to watch.”

During his time at CSUB, Zardes met fellow `Runner Madison Goodvin, a Bakersfield native who split time between the pool and the track. The two paired up, got married, and now have four children in their happy family.

Zardes has also continued to give back to the program that helped launch him. He has returned to Bakersfield to speak with the CSUB men’s and women’s soccer teams, offering the perspective of someone who understands both the promise and the pressure of the college years.

“I don’t think they realize how special the time is,” Zardes said. “It’s so precious, the collegiate years. Whether it’s on the field or off the field, those four years, three years, two years, it goes by extremely fast.”

He wants current Roadrunners to recognize that the program can be a starting point for something much larger.

“I know what it’s like to be a part of a team that, if I’m being honest, CSUB is overlooked compared to the other Cal State schools,” Zardes said. “So I want to do whatever I can to be a resource.”

That may be why Tobin believes Zardes’ favorite memories are not necessarily the ones that came after Bakersfield. When asked what Zardes would say about his time at CSUB, Tobin did not hesitate.

“If you ask him what some of his favorite, special moments are, and this is a kid that played all over the world, he’ll say some of his best memories were at CSU Bakersfield,” Tobin said.

The numbers explain why Zardes belongs in the Hall of Fame. His 38 career goals and 94 career points rank second all-time in CSUB history. The trophies and international appearances explain how far his career traveled. But the story of Gyasi Zardes is found in the space between those achievements: in the weakness he chose to attack, the job he worked while pursuing his dream, the standard he carried into every practice and game, and the man of character he became.

A Hall of Fame turns a career into a permanent part of a program’s history. The name remains after the games are over, after the goals are counted and after the player has moved on to the next chapter.

“When we hear Hall of Fame, it’s forever,” Costigan concluded. “When we’re all long gone then look at the names, his name will still be up there. We guided him, Gyasi did all the work.”

~GoRunners.com~