With 121 players, you would have thought that Williams - G - UNC, McMahen - M - Mich State, and Becerra - F - UCSB would have been included on the list.
It's really hard to imagine McMahen not even being on the draft list. Jordie Hughes from Coastal Carolina too. I wonder if those guys have offers overseas from a 2nd division team or something.
How exactly is this list determined? I was under the impression that any graduating senior or other person who has expressed in writing their intent to leave school is eligible to be drafted. And does this mean that they can draft only from this list?
We were all mystified when Drew McAthy wasn't draft eligible last year, and he ended up in the A-League, just trying to hustle a career as a pro player. After reading about Brandon Moss hoping to not have to slice meat anymore, I think a lot of these college players just have no connections and little knowledge of how to make it as a pro. I'd just guess that no MLS coach rated McMahen, Becerra or Andy Metcalf that highly. Nothing stopping them from becoming Boswells though. As to those who were listed, I've always liked Liam Girard as much as I could without having actually seen him play. I also think Josh Fender is a good sleeper pick, as a 6'4 forward from a D2 school that has provided two MLS players.
Being draft eligible and being on the draft list are two different things. These are all players who have been recommended by MLS teams (being an MLS Combine participant counts as being "recomended"). Any non-combine players on the list are there because at least 1 MLS team recommended them for the draft.
I do not see Drew Helm (Florida Atlantic) on the list despite being a Combine player - looks like an oversight by the MLS office.
Yea, is there going to be a supplemental draft this year? Last year it was a couple of weeks after the Super Draft...
Yes, same deal as last year. Not sure if a date has been set for it. It'll be 4 rounds just like last year per the players union deal...
HPI College Database Here's the updated version with the names that were missing added. I choose to keep players that weren't on the draft elagable list simple because there still might be some hope they could be on the Supplemental Draft list.
I really don't understand this list. It seems strange to omit good players like Metcalf and McMahen from the list. Also the Helm and Alex Smith situations are very strange. I wish there would be some clarification. It makes no economic sense to not be able to draft talented players such as these. Players like Helm and Smith could be sold for heavy transfer fees in the future.
A couple of things to consider: 1) The list is made up of players who were either invited to the MLS Combine, or who were added based upon their performance in individual team "mini combines". It doesn't necessarily include all of the "best" players, but the ones with whom the teams are the most familiar. 2) Some players may have elected to not enter the draft (eg. Lee Nugyen), since they have potential suitors elsewhere. Once you're drafted, the league owns your rights and there are transfer fees involved in going elsewhere. Depending on the player, a transfer fee for many of these guys would probably kill the deal. For a player with the ability to be signed to a foreign club, it's probably the economically better choice overall to bypass the MLS draft. So I'd have to suppose that those guys fell into one or the other of the situations. Either the league teams didn't know enough about them to have included them with the others, or they opted out of the draft.
Afraid you've got this one wrong, Dsocc. There have been many players drafted who elected to sign elsewhere ... Cory Gibbs, Olivier Occean, Adolfo Gregorio, Jeremiah White, all the way down to no-names like Johnny David and Patrick Hannigan. By the way, if last year is any indication, some players not on this list will be drafted with high picks in the Supplemental Draft.
There've been many, but not that many. What I probably should have said was drafted and signed. For the majority of players on the list, signing elsewhere is not a probable first option.
... but if they do want to sign elsewhere, it won't hurt their prospects if they've been drafted by MLS. I doubt there are any seniors who've opted out of it. If they're not listed, it's because nobody was interested in drafting them this high.