BALTIMORE. - Major League Soccer's Kansas City Wizards selected UCLA defender Chance Myers with the No. 1 pick in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft. The four-round, 14-team draft was held Friday at the Baltimore Convention Center.
The Wizards secured the top pick on Tuesday in a trade that sent defender Nick Garcia to the San Jose Earthquakes. Defense was the theme in this year's SuperDraft as just one forward was selected in the first round.
Myers, 20, a native of Thousand Oaks, Calif., played two seasons for UCLA and is a member of the U.S. U-23 Men's National Team pool and a member of the 2008 Generation adidas class. Myers became the 41st UCLA product to be drafted in the MLS College or SuperDraft. UCLA holds the distinction of sending more players into the professional ranks through the MLS College and SuperDraft than any other college program. Two of Myers' teammates at UCLA - Anthony Beltran, selected third overall by Real Salt Lake, and Mike Zaher, selected by Toronto FC - became the 42nd and 43rd UCLA products to enter the MLS via the College or SuperDraft.
Myers was the first of eight Generation adidas player to be selected in the first round. With the second overall selection, FC Dallas tabbed U.S. Youth National Team player and Generation adidas member Brek Shea. A midfielder from College Station, Texas, Shea was also a member of the U.S. U-17 National Team.
Generation adidas, which was established ahead of the 2005 MLS season, is a player development program that identifies and nurtures the elite youth soccer talent in the United States. Last year, Generation adidas midfielder Maurice Edu was the No. 1 overall selection for Toronto FC and went on to capture Gatorade Rookie of the Year honors and earn his first U.S. Men's National Team cap in 2007. The Generation adidas program has identified some of the League's top talent in recent years such as Chivas USA Team midfielder Sacha Kljestan, New England Revolution defender Michael Parkhurst and New York Red Bulls forward Jozy Altidore. Teams selected all 10 Generation adidas players in this year's draft among the first 19 picks.
Thirty-one colleges were represented among the 56 players selected. Shea (Texans FC) and another Generation adidas player, Alex Nimo (FC Portland), entered the MLS SuperDraft before attending college. The University of California-Santa Barbara and Santa Clara University led all schools, each with four players selected
On Thursday, Jan. 24, teams will select more players through a supplemental draft to be held via private conference call among the teams. Pre-season training camps for all MLS teams may begin on Jan. 26. The 2008 MLS Regular Season begins on Saturday, March 29.
TEAM-BY-TEAM SELECTIONS:
Chivas USA (1): Keith Savage (Univ. of West Florida/43)
Chicago Fire (6): Dwight Barnett (Lynn Univ./38); Dominic Cervi (Univ. of Tulsa/12); Peter Lowry (Santa Clara Univ./26); Stephen King (Univ. of Maryland/40); Patrick Nyarko (Virginia Tech/7); Austin Washington (Gonzaga Univ./54)
Colorado Rapids (4): Scott Campbell (Univ. of North Carolina/49); Adrian Chevannes (Southern Methodist Univ./36); Brian Grazier (Saint Louis Univ./47); Ciaran O'Brien (California-Santa Barbara/5)
Columbus Crew (5): Steven Lenhart (Azuza Pacific Univ./48); Ricardo Pierre-Louis (Lee Univ./22); George Josten (Gonzaga Univ./20); Andy Iro (California-Santa Barbara/6); Ryan Miller (Univ. of Notre Dame/31)
D.C. United (3): Tony Schmitz (Creighton Univ./52); Andrew Jacobson (Univ. of California/24); Ryan Cordeiro (Univ. of Connecticut/33)
FC Dallas (5): Eric Avila (California-Santa Barbara/19); Josh Lambo (U.S. U-17 national team/8); Ben Nason (Virginia Tech Univ./50); Jamil Roberts (Santa Clara Univ./45); Brek Shea (U.S. U-17 national team/2)
Houston Dynamo (1): Jeremy Barlow (Univ. of Virginia/56); Geoff Cameron (Univ. of Rhode Island/42)
Kansas City Wizards (6): Roger Espinoza (Ohio State Univ./11); Jonathan Leathers (Furman Univ./25); Rauwshan McKenzie (Michigan State Univ./53); Matt Marquess (Santa Clara Univ./39); Chance Myers (UCLA/1); Yomby William (Old Dominion Univ./23)
Los Angeles Galaxy (6): Ely Allen (Univ. of Washington/21); Matt Allen (Creighton Univ./34); Sean Franklin (Cal State Univ.-Northridge/4); Matt Hatzke (Santa Clara Univ./51); Brendon McDonald (Univ. of San Francisco/46); Julian Valentin (Wake Forest Univ./29)
New England Revolution (5): Matthew Britner (Brown Univ./41); Joe Germanese (Duke Univ./27); Rob Valentino (Univ. of San Francisco/13); Michael Videira (Duke Univ./18); Spencer Wadsworth (Duke Univ./55)
New York Red Bulls (3): Eric Brunner (Ohio State Univ./16); David Roth (Northwestern Univ./44); Luke Sassano (Univ. of California/32)
Real Salt Lake (0): Anthony Beltran (UCLA/3); David Horst (Old Dominion Univ./14); Alex Nimo (U.S. U-17 national team/17); Brennan Tennelle (Univ. of California-Santa Barbara/37)
San Jose Earthquakes (1): Shea Salinas (Furman Univ./15)
Toronto FC (0): Brian Edwards (Wake Forest Univ./28); Julius James (Connecticut/9); Joseph Lapida (Univ. of Notre Dame/35); Pat Phelan (Wake Forest Univ./10); Mike Zaher (UCLA/30)
COLLEGE-BY-COLLEGE SELECTIONS:
Azuza Pacific Univ.: Steven Lenhart
Brown Univ: Matthew Britner
Cal State Univ.-Northridge: Sean Franklin
Univ. of California: Andrew Jacobson; Luke Sassano
Univ. of California-Santa Barbara: Eric Avila; Andy Iro; Ciaran O'Brien; Brennan Tennelle
Univ. of Connecticut: Ryan Cordeiro; Julius James
Creighton Univ.: Matt Allen; Tony Schmitz
Duke Univ.: Joe Germanese; Michael Videira; Spencer Wadsworth
Furman Univ.: Jonathan Leathers; Shea Salinas
Gonzaga Univ.: George Josten; Austin Washington
Lee Univ.: Ricardo Pierre-Louis
Lynn Univ.: Dwight Barnett
Univ. of Maryland: Stephen King
Michigan State Univ.: Rauwshan McKenzie
Univ. of North Carolina: Scott Campbell
Northwestern Univ.: David Roth
Univ. of Notre Dame: Joseph Lapira; Ryan Miller
Old Dominion Univ.: David Horst; Yomby William
Ohio State Univ.: Eric Brunner; Roger Espinoza
Univ. of Rhode Island: Geoff Cameron
Univ. of San Francisco: Brandon McDonald; Rob Valentino
Saint Louis Univ.: Brian Grazier
Santa Clara Univ.: Matt Hatzke; Peter Lowry; Matt Marquess; Jamil Roberts
Southern Methodist Univ.: Adrian Chevannes
Univ. of Tulsa: Dominic Cervi
UCLA: Anthony Beltran; Chance Myers; Mike Zaher
Univ. of Virginia: Jeremy Barlow
Virginia Tech Univ.: Ben Nason; Patrick Nyarko
Wake Forest Univ.: Brian Edwards; Pat Phelan; Julian Valentin
Univ. of Washington: Ely Allen
Univ. of West Florida: Keith Savage
ABOUT MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Headquartered in New York City, Major League Soccer is the top-flight professional soccer league in the United States and Canada and features many stars from North America and around the world. The 14 teams that will compete in MLS in 2008 are: the Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids, Chivas USA, Columbus Crew, D.C. United, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, Kansas City Wizards, Los Angeles Galaxy, Red Bull New York, New England Revolution, San Jose Earthquakes, Real Salt Lake and Toronto FC. A new expansion team in Seattle will begin play in 2009. The 2008 Pepsi MLS All-Star Game will be played at BMO Field in Toronto, home of Toronto FC. MLS Cup 2008, the League's 13th championship game, will be played at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calf. home to Chivas USA and the Los Angeles Galaxy. For more information about MLS, log on to the League's official web site at www.MLSnet.com.
