By DAN KARELL
The 2014 Generation Adidas class grew by three on Wednesday with the signings of Christian Dean, A.J. Cochrane, and Damion Lowe.
The trio of junior defenders take the Generation Adidas class to seven ahead of the 2014 Major League Soccer SuperDraft, joining goalkeeper Andre Blake, defender Eric Miller, midfielder Marlon Hairston, and forward Schillo Tshuma. According to an MLS press release, the class is “complete” at seven players, though sources tell SBI that UConn freshman forward Cyle Larin is still a possible addition to the class as he is still in negotiations with MLS.
Dean and Cochrane are projected to be selected in the first ten picks of the draft in SBI’s latest mock draft.
Dean, one of the most highly regarded prospects in the upcoming draft, starred as a central defender for Cal-Berkeley, leading them to an appearance in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals, before falling to Tshuma and the Maryland Terrapins. Cochrane leaves the Wisconsin Badgers after a strong season, earning first-team All American honors and leading the Badgers to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 18 years.
Lowe, a native of Kingston, Jamaica, was named first-team America East, leading the University of Hartford to a 13-4-4 record.
Six more college seniors and five Caribbean international players were added to the MLS combine roster, most notably UC-Irvine defender Marco Franco, one of the most highly-rated players available in the draft (and currently ranked No. 19 in the latest SBI MLS Draft Big Board.
The seniors added to the MLS Combine roster are:
John Berner GK Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, Marco Franco D/M University of California-Irvine, Richard Marquez D University of Redlands (DIII), Martin Ontiveros M/F Furman University, Justin Portillo M Coastal Carolina University, Joshua Wood F Messiah University (DIII)
The Caribbean youth internationals consist of:
Braian Acuna (Argentina), Quinton C.E. Christina (Curaçao), Andre Lewis (Jamaica), Ronny Mendoza (Ecuador) and Stefano Rjssel (Suriname)
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What do you think of this news? Do you see Christian Dean selected in the top three of the MLS SuperDraft? How strong do you think this class is?
Share your thoughts below.
Finally, Franco. About time.