Maryland's Omar Gonzalez is a hot prospect for a few clubs.

This may be the first of a couple mock drafts that lead up to next week’s MLS SuperDraft. Of course I will only be working with the first round for this mock draft as the second through forth round order hasn’t been officially announced yet.

A lot could easily change too as some players mentioned are on the fences about going to the draft this year or waiting until next year.

Also there are expected to be a slew of trades between now and next week. While no one is expected as of right now to move up and pull a Kansas City to trade into the top spot this year, I do see plenty of teams looking to package deals to move up to the second overall pick.

Reports right now suggest that New England, Dallas, LA, and DC all have interest in trading up to that second overall pick. From what I am hearing we could see a deal done as soon as the end of this week. Also, with the amount of picks that some clubs have expect them to send them off as some others will be looking extra picks.

Lastly, we will know a lot more after the MLS Combine too which begins at the end of this week. Usually the Combine is a great trading ground for clubs. You can expect to see a few deals worked out at this year Combine for sure.

We are still waiting on a few guys to declare or not to declare for the draft right now too. Guys like UNC’s Sheldon Williams have been quiet about their potential professional outlook. Some guys like Wake Forest’s Ike Opera are staying in school for now, a move that could really benefit them next year.

Anyways, on to the Mock Draft number one. Continue Reading…

The draft pool is starting to get a little deeper as we head towards this month’s SuperDraft. Word out of the Windy City and now comfirmed by SBI that University of Illinois-Chicago midfielder Baggio Husidic will sign a Generation adiadas contract with MLS.

Some see Husidic as the top attacking midfielder in this draft. His size (at 6′1″) gives him a good advantage over a few others in this draft. Also to go along with this size, his speed is also seen as one of his better assets.

I see Husidic as a mid-first rounder that could move up the board if he continues to impress in some workouts. The need for an attacking midfielder in this draft will be interesting to watch for a few clubs.

Husidic joins a pretty strong Generation adidas class that already includes Maryland defenders Omar Gonzalez, Rodney Wallace and midfielder Jeremy Hall, Akron striker Steve Zakuani, Cal goalkeeper Stefan Frei and Indiana defender Kevin Alston. Some reports suggest other targets Peri Marosevic and Michael Stephens are close to signing and could end up doing so by sometime this week.

Okay, I finally got around to writing this up. I’ve already previewed a slew of players but I figure I need to go ahead and talk about guys that we definitely know are coming to the draft because they are seniors!

To follow up on the other draft discussions click here and here. To view the full list of players that will be at the MLS Combine next month, click here.

Okay now that we’ve back tracked I’ve done more homework on some seniors to keep an eye out for (that’s why it has taken me a week or so to wrap this one up). As always, feel free to pipe in your own discussion on the matter below.

1. Brad Ring (Indiana) – Some regard him as the best defensive midfielder in the draft. I think he is right up there. After watching a little bit of his school play this year I do know that Ring (right) is very savvy in the middle. Plus I love his ability to get forward on free kicks and set pieces. Continue Reading…

Ah, Christmas come early for those who love the MLS SuperDraft. Today the league released the list of players that they will be inviting to the MLS Combine Jan. 9-13 at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. All 15 MLS teams will be represented at the annual event, which will end two days before the draft in St. Louis. Additional players will be added in the coming weeks.

Some guys on this list I’ve already discussed in recent Draft posts, others I will try to get into later on before the draft. The 65 players will get broken up into a couple teams and will play in a few games to try and impress the various scouts on hand. Usually it helps us know who will be stars on the next level and who won’t be. Continue Reading…

Sam Cronin leads Wake Forest into the College Cup Final Four. (via Wake Forest)

With the College Cup this weekend here in Dallas I felt it was a good time to bring up the SuperDraft yet again and mention some players to watch out for this weekend. I’ve had a few emails over the last couple weeks asking me to continue on my SuperDraft talk that I started back at the beginning of last month. I wanted to wait until we were closer to the College Cup before I did and so here we are now.

Last month I mentioned a few players to keep an eye out for. Today its along the same lines but more for this weekend’s Cup, with a few others sprinkled in there that didn’t make it that far.

I pretty much feel like Wake Forest is in the driver’s seat for this weekend’s Cup. It’s theirs to lose at this point but don’t sleep on St. John’s, that’s the one club that could upset them in the final. Then again so could UNC or Maryland, two schools that know Wake better than anyone else that is left. Still, after watching Wake over the past few weeks, they look hungry as ever to finish the job and win the College Cup.

1. Marcus Tracy (Wake Forest): Some people have him very high on their draft boards, and after seeing a few clips of this speedster I can see why. He may be this year’s Patrick Nyarko, lots of pup before the draft but he won’t end up number one to Seattle. I still see him as one of the top strikers of the bunch for this year. He’s a very big part to Wake Forest and their dominate offense.

Continue Reading…

Its been a bit of a slow news week and sometimes that happens during the playoffs. I’ve been kind of waiting around to get to this discussion or at least open it up a bit.

I am a big fan of the college draft in MLS, even though I do believe it isn’t producing nearly the amount of talent that the league needs to grow anymore and that I can see the academy system in MLS eventually end the need for a four round draft and Supplemental draft.

I will be the first to admit I don’t see everyone out there in the college landscape like I use to when I was actually in college and was traveling with a team during their runs in the NCAA tournaments. But I will provide my thoughts on a few players right now that I have kept tabs on that I believe will be solid picks in this year’s draft.

If you want real solid information on nearly every player in the country. Wait for Buzz Carrick’s previews on ESPN (assuming he writes for them again this year about it) or head over to 3rdDegree for his Generation adidas tracker. Also, one of my person favorites is the From College To Pros Blog. They always have solid information on everything SuperDraft related.

Now on to the show, I have ten players I want to discuss today. Some will probably be in line for those Generation adidas contracts come January and a couple others may just be safe bets in the draft. Most of you know I enjoy talking about a good defender more than anything, so I apologize if this list is too defensive for you. That’s just the way this draft will probably be anyways though folks. Teams want defense this year and they will look to the draft for it. Continue Reading…