(Photo courtesy: Clemson Athletics)

SANDY, Utah – Real Salt Lake announced Saturday that it has signed defender Phanuel Kavita as a Homegrown Player. Per league and club policy, the financial terms of the contracts will not be disclosed.

"Phanny is a real success story of our Academy. He has excelled on the field for Clemson, but also in the classroom where he graduated early with a degree in psychology,” said RSL Technical Director Craig Waibel. “That sort of character is exactly the kind of person we want associated with Real Salt Lake and we are excited to have him join the club."

Kavita, 22, is a product of the RSL-Arizona Academy and was a standout at Highland High School in Salt Lake City’s Sugarhouse neighborhood. He spent the last four years at Clemson University, where he started all four years and was the team’s captain during his junior and senior seasons.

During his tenure with the Tigers, he started all 81 matches and keyed a strong Clemson defense. During his senior season, Clemson finished 12-7-3 with nine of the final 10 matches coming against nationally ranked opponents. In those 10 matches, Clemson went 6-1-3. The season culminated with an ACC Tournament Championship, the Tigers’ first since 2001. Kavita was named to the All-ACC Second Team and to the ACC All-Tournament Team.

Real Salt Lake is now taking reservations for group outings in 2015. Group tickets are available on a first come first served basis. Due to tremendous support and the number of Pride Season Ticket holders, seats are extremely limited. Filling out a priority web form will guarantee you are at the top of the contact list for group seats in the 2015 season. Please fill out the form on the following link if you are interested in bringing out a group of 20 or more to a match this season. A group sales representative will be in touch shortly.

//www.realsaltlake.com/tickets/groups/webform

Click here for the full 2015 MLS schedule. As dates are finalized for the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and the 2015/16 CONCACAF Champions League tournaments, changes to the 2015 RSL calendar will be reflected on the “SCHEDULE” page of www.RealSaltLake.com.

Player: Phanuel Kavita

Position: Defender

Height: 6-foot-1

Weight: 184 lbs.

Date of Birth: March 9, 1993

Birthplace: Salt Lake City, Utah

Citizenship: USA

How acquired: Signed as a Homegrown Player with Real Salt Lake on January 17, 2015.