SALT LAKE CITY - Real Salt Lake stuck to its hand today at the 2008 MLS SuperDraft at the Baltimore Convention Center by maintaining its draft order and making four selections in the League's annual collegiate and amateur draft. RSL's "Class of 2008" was headed by UCLA D/M Tony Beltran, whom RSL took with the draft's third overall selection.
The RSL Technical Staff - headed by General Manager Garth Lagerwey and Head Coach Jason Kreis - were kept busy early in the draft, and the club's brain trust closed out the first round by taking Old Dominion DF David Horst with the 14th overall selection and tabbing U.S. Under-17 National Team M/F Alex Nimo three picks later. Real Salt Lake rounded out the day by drafting its second UC-Santa Barbara product in as many years, MF Brennan Tennelle, with the 37th overall pick in the third round. Real Salt Lake made one additional transaction just prior to the draft, as the club finalized a deal that sent FW Alecko Eskandarian to Chivas USA in exchange for allocation money.
"We succeeded last year in changing the culture and making our club competitive, and what we needed to do this year, first and foremost, was to make our practices better; to make it a competitive environment every single day at every single spot. All of these players help us do that and add talent at critical areas of our team," said Lagerwey, who participated in his first MLS SuperDraft since joining the club last September. "We are really excited about finding some kids that are fighters and battlers, and all of whom have incredibly high ceilings. We look forward to helping all four guys develop and success at the MLS level."
Player bios for each of RSL's four selections follow:
Tony Beltran
Position: D/M
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 150 lbs.
Date of Birth: Oct. 11, 1987 (20)
Hometown: Claremont, Calif.
Citizenship: USA
College: UCLA
Acquired: Selected by Real Salt Lake in the first round (3rd overall) of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft.
Beltran comes to Real Salt Lake after completing his junior year at UCLA, where he spent two seasons and picked up 2007 Pac-10 Conference First-Team honors after transferring from St. John's University following his freshman campaign. One of 10 members of the 2008 Generation adidas class, the 20-year-old Beltran has played as a defender and as a central and flank midfielder, but he is expected to come in and help solidify the Utah side's backline on the right side. The Claremont, Calif. native has been a regular with the U.S. National Team youth system in recent years, most notably as a member of the U.S. Under-20s, for whom he started all five of the USA's contests in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada last summer, playing alongside new RSL teammates GK Chris Seitz and M/D Nathan Sturgis. Beltran also has another link to the RSL roster, as he grew up playing youth soccer alongside FW Yura Movsisyan with Arsenal FC out of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Lagerwey says: "Tony is a guy that has an unbelievable motor and is a tremendous competitor, a guy that can compete for a starting spot on our team from the get-go. For his age he's had great experience, like playing for the U.S. U-20 team in their World Cup last year, and has succeeded at the very highest levels, and we think that will translate well onto our team. We need guys on our club that will fight and have a strong will, and Tony fits that bill."
David Horst
Position: DF
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 200 lbs.
Date of Birth: Oct. 25, 1985 (22)
Hometown: Pine Grove, Penn.
Citizenship: USA
College: Old Dominion
Acquired: Selected by Real Salt Lake in the first round (14th overall) of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft.
While Beltran brings versatility to RSL, there's no mistaking the towering Horst was brought in to deepen the Utah squad's pool of central defenders. The 22-year-old Horst rounded out a four-year career at Old Dominion University last fall by being named the 2007 CAA Defender of the Year and helping the Monarchs to two straight Sweet 16 appearances in the NCAA Men's College Cup. Horst wasn't just busy during the fall months, as he anchored the defensive unit of the USL Premier Development League's Hampton Roads Piranhas last summer, helping lead to Piranhas to the league's only undefeated regular season record (14-0-2) and a league-high 10 shutouts, a performance that earned him the PDL's Defender of the Year honor.
Lagerwey says: "We think David is an enormous talent... he's an enormous kid, but also an enormous talent. He is an interesting story, a kid that has only really had four years of coaching - his mother was his coach in high school because he was from in a horse-and-buggy town in Pennsylvania. We believe David will be a good fit for us in Salt Lake, coming from a smaller program at ODU. He was the PDL player of the year last summer, so he's got a great pedigree and is an awesome talent, and when you can match him up with [Assistant Coach] Robin Fraser, that's an awfully good combination. Is he going to play for us right away? Probably not; he's going to have some competition on his hands. But at the same time we're all looking forward to watching him develop into something special for us."
Alex Nimo
Position: M/F
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 142 lbs.
Date of Birth: March 21, 1990 (17)
Hometown: Portland, Ore.
Citizenship: USA
Last Club: U.S. Under-17 MNT/Residency Program
Acquired: Selected by Real Salt Lake in the second round (17th overall) of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft.
Despite being the second youngest player eligible in this year's draft, the 17-year-old Nimo brings international experience to RSL thanks to his time with the U.S. U-17 National Team. The Liberian-born Nimo played an integral part in helping the "Stars-and-Stripes" reach the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup, first scoring three goals and two assists in five CONCACAF region qualifying contests before notching two helpers as a starter in all four of the U.S.'s games at the tournament's finals in Korea. A member of the U.S. Soccer Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla. since last January, the young Nimo was initially discovered and developed by legendary coach Clive Charles after his family moved to Portland, Ore.
Brennan Tennelle
Position: MF
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 150 lbs.
Date of Birth: Oct. 5, 1986 (21)
Hometown: San Diego, Calif.
Citizenship: USA
College: UC-Santa Barbara
Acquired: Selected by Real Salt Lake in the third round (37th overall) of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft.
Third round selection Brennan Tennelle comes to RSL with a championship pedigree, as the two-year starter from UC-Santa Barbara helped the Gauchos to the 2006 NCAA College Cup title alongside one of his new teammates, GK Kyle Reynish. After playing in the defensive midfield for his first three seasons at UCSB, the San Diego native moved up into a more forward midfield role during his senior season in 2007, scoring a pair of goals and adding three assists as a starter in 19 of the Gauchos' 21 games last fall. For his collegiate career, the 21-year-old Tennelle registered five goals and five assists while starting 45 of his 61 appearances.
