Of all the players selected in the MLS SuperDraft on Friday, perhaps no one had a longer journey to Baltimore than Alex Nimo, Real Salt Lake's third pick of the draft.
He and his family led war-torn Liberia when he was a baby to live in a refugee camp in Ghana. It was there that he started to play soccer.
"That was like my life," said Nimo, a Generation adidas selection from the United States under-17 residency program. "I used to play with friends just to have fun as a kid. When I came here I met Clive Charles and he saw I had potential and saw that I could become a pro someday."
Nimo and his family were granted political asylum and moved to Portland, Ore., where he first met Charles, playing in the FC Portland youth program. Charles, the former Portland men and women's coach and U.S. under-23 national team coach, was a big reason why Nimo realized his dream.
And while Charles, who died of prostate cancer in 2003, wasn't there in person, Nimo said he was there in spirit.
"He's not ever going to leave my heart because he's the person who really pulled me up in the U.S.," Nimo said. "He was like a father, a brother, a counselor. I'm not going to forget him."
With a large family, Nimo said he wasn't sure who called him first after he was picked.
"I got my phone on vibrate and like every five minutes it vibrates and I'm not trying to answer it," he said. "I don't know yet, probably everybody and their father calls, leaving a message."
CHAMPS LEAD THE WAY: Continuing its strong tradition as a feeder school for MLS, Wake Forest University featured prominently on draft day 2008. Three of the mainstays from the Demon Deacons' NCAA national championship-winning side were leading contenders for SuperDraft selection, and several events linked the trio in one way or another on Friday.
Senior Pat Phelan led the way, as Toronto FC used its first pick (ninth overall) to select the lanky midfielder/defender in the first round. Shortly thereafter, Brian Edwards joined him on the TFC roster, as the Reds acquired the final pick of the second round from Los Angeles and used it to grab the goalkeeper.
Edwards was full of praise for his teammate, who was not present for the draft.
"I'm so proud of him, being a first-round pick -- he deserves it all the way," he said of Phelan. "I'm really excited that we're going to get a chance to be together again. ... I'm sure he's already called me -- my phone is going crazy right now. I'm just really excited about it."
The athletic netminder also offered words of support to another teammate.
"I wish Julian the best of luck, he's still waiting right now," he said.
That would be Julian Valentin, one of the more talked-about prospects going into the SuperDraft. Despite being widely recognized for his exploits on the U.S. U-20 national team as well as his brave performance in the NCAA final -- when an opponent's high boot slashed a deep cut on his face -- the Wake Forest defender was not selected as early as some had expected.
But Valentin's name was called just seconds later, as the Galaxy took him with the next pick, making "Scarface" the 29th pick of the day.
THE YOUNGEST: Goalkeeper Josh Lambo, taken by FC Dallas with the eighth pick overall, is the youngest goalkeeper to the taken in the SuperDraft. At 17 years and two months of age, he also has more than a year to become the youngest goalkeeper to play in a game. The youngest 'keeper to play in an MLS game is David Monsalve, who was 18 years, 220 days old when he appeared for Toronto FC last season.
DOUBLE YOUR FUN: When UCLA had two players selected in the first round in defender Chance Myers (No. 1 overall) and midfielder Anthony Beltran (No. 3), and the University of California-Santa Barbara had two players also taken in the first round in Ciaran O'Brien and Andy Iro (back-to-back at Nos. 5 and 6), it marked the 18th and 19th times in MLS draft history a single school had multiple players taken in the first round.
For UCLA, it was the fourth time it's happened -- in the inaugural college draft in 1996 (Adam Frye, Chris Snitko), in 2000 (Steve Shak, Carlos Bocanegra, Sasha Victorine) and 2006 (Marvell Wynne, Patrick Ianni) in addition to this year. It was the first time for UCSB.
UCLA has seen multiple products taken in the first round more than any other school. Maryland, Virginia and Indiana are the only other schools to have it happen more than once, on two occasions for each college power.
The three selections from UCLA in the 2000 SuperDraft marked the only time more than two players from any one school were taken in the first round.
WITH THE MOST: California-Santa Barbara and Santa Clara led all schools with four draft picks each on Friday, while Duke, UCLA and Wake Forest each saw three players selected.
UCLA has dominated the MLS drafts in history, now with 43 products having been taken in the 13 college entry drafts. The universities of Indiana and Virginia are second with 28 contributions each.
In all, 31 schools were represented among 54 draft picks in the 2008 SuperDraft (two players selected, Brek Shea and Josh Lambo, did not attend college).
Contributing: Dylan Butler, Charles Boehm, David Lifton
