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Danladi, Robinson, Lewis first three selected in MLS Draft

Photo by Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports
Photo by Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports

The 2016 MLS Draft started with a flurry, and several teams took the opportunity to move up during Friday’s festivities to snag highly-coveted prospects.

Friday’s first two selections went to form as Minnesota United selected UCLA’s Abu Danladi before Atlanta Untied bolstered their defense by making Syracuse star Miles Robinson the No. 2 overall pick. At No. 3, New York City FC made a splash, dealing $250,000 of General Allocation Money to the Chicago Fire before adding Akron product Jonathan Lewis.

The next pick also saw a trade, as the Portland Timbers moved up to draft Jeremy Ebobisse, a player widely projected as a potential top overall pick. In the process, the Houston Dynamo acquired  $100,000 in GAM, an international spot and the No. 10 overall selection, the latter of which was used to select Hofstra midfielder Joseph Holland.

Dayton senior Lalas Abubakar went to the Crew with the fifth pick before UCLA star Jackson Yueill was added by the San Jose Earthquakes with the sixth selection.

The two Canadian Generation Adidas prospects had a much longer wait. Canadian youth national team forward Adonijah Reid went 40th overall to FC Dallas while FC Edmonton product Shamit Shome went one pick later to the Montreal Impact.

Here’s a closer look at the full results of Friday’s draft:

ROUND 1

1. Minnesota United — F Abu Danladi (UCLA)

2. Atlanta United — D Miles Robinson (Syracuse)

3. New York City FC (acquired from Chicago Fire) — F Jonathan Lewis (Akron)

4. Portland Timbers (acquired from Houston Dynamo) — F Jeremy Ebobisse (Duke)

5. Columbus Crew — D Lalas Abubakar (Dayton)

6. San Jose Earthquakes — M Jackson Yueill (UCLA)

7. Vancouver Whitecaps — D Jakob Nerwinski (UConn)

8. Atlanta United — M Julian Gressel (Providence)

9. Columbus Crew — F Nico Hansen (New Mexico)

10. Houston Dynamo (acquired from Portland) — M Joseph Holland (Hofstra)

11. Chicago Fire — M Daniel Johnson (Louisville)

12. D.C. United — D Chris Odoi-Atsem (Maryland)

13. Real Salt Lake — D Reagan Dunk (Denver)

14. Sporting Kansas City — D Colton Storm (North Carolina)

15. Colorado Rapids — M Sam Hamilton (Denver)

16. New York City FC (acquired from Seattle Sounders) —  D Kwame Awuah (UConn)

17. New York Red Bulls — M Zeiko Lewis (Boston College)

18. FC Dallas — M Jacori Hayes (Wake Forest)

19. Montreal Impact — F Nick Depuy (UCSB)

20. New England Revolution — F Brian Wright (Vermont)

21. Toronto FC — D Brandon Aubrey (Notre Dame)

22. Seattle Sounders — D Brian Nana-Sinkam

ROUND 2

23. Minnesota United— GK Alec Ferrell (Wake Forest)

24. Colorado Rapids— D Liam Callahan (Syracuse)

25. Philadelphia Union (acquired from Fire) — F Marcus Epps (USF)

26. Chicago Fire (acquired from Dynamo) — GK Stefan Cleveland (Louisville)

27. Chicago Fire (acquired from Colorado Rapids) — F Guillermo Delgado (Delaware)

28. San Jose Earthquakes — M Lindo Mfeka (USF)

29. Vancouver Whitecaps — D Francis De Vries (Saint Francis)

30. Houston Dynamo— GK Jake McGuire (Tulsa)

31. New England Revolution — M Napo Matsoso (Kentucky)

32. Portland Timbers — D Michael Amick (UCLA)

33. Philadelphia Union — D Aaron Jones (Clemson)

34. D.C. United — GK Eric Klenofsky (Monmouth)

35. Real Salt Lake —D Justin Schmidt (Washington)

36. Houston Dynamo— D Danilo Radjen (Akron)

37. FC Dallas — D Walker Hume (UNC)

38. NYCFC — F Jalen Brown (Xavier)

39. Red Bulls — M Ethan Kutler (Colgate)

40. FC Dallas — F Adonijah Reid (ANB Academy)

41. Montreal — M Shamit Shome (FC Edmonton)

42. Minnesota (acquired from Colorado Rapids) — D Thomas De Villardi (Delaware)

43. D.C. United— D Jo-Vetle Rimstad (Radford)

44. Seattle Sounders —M Dominic Oduro (Nordsjaelland)

Comments

    • I am a big fan of his. This move was VERY smart. As a Duke alum, I know that kids come out of that school with many options. You also cannot throw away a $45k/ year scholarship for a career in MLS where the average player makes about $150K/year for 5 or 6 years then nothing. There is too much monetary risk. However, this is perfect because he still qualifies for generation adidas (but chose to go with Nike) which would cover the rest of his education cost(s).

      Additionally, playing in a profession is better at 20yrs old. The word when he came back from trials in France is that he was very talented, but not as far along as polished as his counterparts in Europe.

      Reply

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