2023 MLS SuperDraft

2023 MLS SuperDraft
2023 MLS SuperDraft
General information
Sport	Soccer
Date(s)	December 21, 2022
Time	1:00 p.m.
Network(s)	Twitch
Overview
	83 total selections in 3 rounds
League	Major League Soccer
Teams	29
First selection	Hamady Diop, Charlotte FC
	← 2022 2024 →

The 2023 MLS SuperDraft was the 24th edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. It was held on December 21, 2022, becoming the first SuperDraft to be held in December, but retained the 2023 branding.^[1] The draft was conducted via conference call and streamed online. Previously, the SuperDraft had been held in conjunction with the annual January United Soccer Coaches convention.^[2]

Since 2021, the SuperDraft has consisted of three rounds. Teams that received fourth-round picks for this draft via past trades received compensatory picks instead.^[3] The first overall pick is awarded to expansion team St. Louis City SC and the remaining picks are set by 2022 regular season and post-season results in reverse order.^[1]

Format

The SuperDraft format has remained constant throughout its history and closely resembles that of the NFL Draft:

Any expansion teams receive the first picks. MLS announced that St. Louis City SC^[4] would debut in 2023 instead of 2022, and the league's expansion to Sacramento was put on hiatus indefinitely.
Non-playoff clubs receive the next picks in reverse order of prior season finish.
Teams that made the MLS Cup Playoffs are then ordered by which round of the playoffs they are eliminated.
The winners of the MLS Cup are given the last selection, and the losers the penultimate selection.

Player selection

Player key
*	Denotes player who has been selected for an MLS Best XI team
^	Member of 2023 Generation Adidas class
†	Player who was named to an MLS Best XI and Generation Adidas
Signed key
28	Denotes player who signed for a MLS team (Division I)
4	Denotes player who signed for a USL Championship team (Division II)
38	Denotes player who signed for a MLS Next Pro, USL League One or NISA team (Division III)
3	Denotes player who signed for a team outside the United States soccer league system
7	Denotes player who returned to college team
Positions key
GK	Goalkeeper	DF	Defender	MF	Midfielder	FW	Forward

Round 1

P	MLS team	Player	Pos.	College	Conference	Academy team(s)	Other team(s)	Signed
1	Charlotte FC^{[R1 trade 1]}	Hamady Diop	DF	Clemson	ACC	SIMA Águilas	—	Charlotte FC
2	Orlando City SC^{[R1 trade 2]}	Shakur Mohammed	FW	Duke	ACC	Right to Dream Academy Black Rock FC	Manhattan SC	Orlando City SC
3	Colorado Rapids^{[R1 trade 3]}	Moïse Bombito	DF	New Hampshire	America East	CS Saint-Hubert	Seacoast United Phantoms	Colorado Rapids
4	New England Revolution^{[R1 trade 4]}	Joshua Bolma	MF	Maryland	Big Ten	Rising Stars Academy Black Rock FC	Ocean City Nor'easters Westchester Flames	New England Revolution
5	Vancouver Whitecaps FC^{[R1 trade 5]}	J.C. Ngando	MF	UNC Greensboro	SoCon	Amiens Paris FC	South Georgia Tormenta FC 2	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
6	Orlando City SC^{[R1 trade 6]}	Duncan McGuire	FW	Creighton	Big East	Elkhorn SC	Lane United FC	Orlando City SC
7	Real Salt Lake^{[R1 trade 7]}	Ilijah Paul	FW	Washington	Pac-12	Valparaiso United Real Salt Lake Phoenix Rising FC Barca Residency Academy	FC Tucson Crossfire Redmond	Real Salt Lake
8	Sporting Kansas City	Stephen Afrifa	FW	FIU	American	Woodbridge Strikers	One Knoxville SC	Sporting Kansas City
9	St. Louis City SC^{[R1 trade 8]}	Owen O'Malley	MF	Creighton	Big East	North Carolina FC	Boston Bolts Vermont Green FC	St. Louis City SC
10	San Jose Earthquakes^{[R1 trade 9]}	Daniel Munie	DF	Indiana	Big Ten	Saint Louis FC	St. Louis Scott Gallagher SC	San Jose Earthquakes
11	Nashville SC^{[R1 trade 10]}	Joey Skinner	DF	Clemson	ACC	Charlotte Independence	Charlotte Independence 2	Nashville SC
12	Charlotte FC^{[R1 trade 11]}	Patrick Agyemang	FW	Rhode Island	A-10	Hartford Hellions	Western Mass Pioneers	Charlotte FC
13	Austin FC^{[R1 trade 12]}	CJ Fodrey	FW	San Diego State	Pac-12	Albion SC San Diego Surf San Diego Nomads LA Galaxy	San Diego Loyal SC	Austin FC
14	Columbus Crew	Maximilian Arfsten	FW	UC Davis	Big West	California Odyssey	San Jose Earthquakes II	Columbus Crew
15	Portland Timbers	Noel Caliskan	MF	Loyola Marymount	West Coast	1. FC Köln Fortuna Düsseldorf	Flint City Bucks SpVg Frechen 20	Portland Timbers 2
16	Real Salt Lake	Bertin Jacquesson	FW	Pittsburgh	ACC	Strasbourg	—	Real Salt Lake
17	Orlando City SC	Abdi Salim	DF	Syracuse	ACC	Delaware SC Empire United	Ocean City Nor'easters	Orlando City SC
18	Inter Miami CF	Cole Jensen	GK	Xavier	Big East	Elkhorn SC	—	Inter Miami CF
19	Minnesota United FC	Ryen Jiba	DF	SLCC	NJCAA	Sparta United	Park City Red Wolves SC Union Omaha	Minnesota United FC
20	Austin FC^{[R1 trade 13]}	Valentin Noël	MF	Pittsburgh	ACC	Chamois Niortais	—	Austin FC II
21	New York Red Bulls	Elian Haddock	GK	Yale	Ivy	Bavarian SC	—
22	FC Cincinnati	Joey Akpunonu	DF	Bowling Green	MAC	Pacesetter SC	Toledo Villa FC	FC Cincinnati
23	LA Galaxy	Gino Vivi	FW	Central Florida	AAC	Deportivo Saprissa	—	LA Galaxy
24	FC Dallas	Herbert Endeley	FW	Indiana	Big Ten	Minneapolis United	Minneapolis City SC	FC Dallas
25	Real Salt Lake^{[R1 trade 14]}	Emeka Eneli	FW	Cornell	Ivy	Columbus Crew Ohio Premier	Lionsbridge FC Flint City Bucks	Real Salt Lake
26	New York City FC	Malcolm Johnston	MF	Maryland	Big Ten	Vaughan Azzurri	Vaughan Azzurri	Whitecaps FC 2
27	Columbus Crew^{[R1 trade 15]}	Xavier Zengue	DF	Dayton	A-10	St. Paul Blackhawks Minnesota Thunder	Minneapolis City SC	Columbus Crew 2
28	Philadelphia Union	Holden Trent	GK	High Point	Big South	Carolina Rapids NC Fusion Charlotte Independence	South Georgia Tormenta FC 2	Philadelphia Union
29	Vancouver Whitecaps FC^{[R1 trade 16]}	Levonte Johnson	FW	Syracuse	ACC	Master's FA	Capital FC Chicago FC United	Whitecaps FC 2

Round 2

P	MLS team	Player	Pos.	College	Conference	Academy team	Other team	Signed
30	St. Louis City SC	John Klein	MF	Saint Louis	A-10	Portland Timbers	Portland Timbers 2 Chicago FC United St. Louis Scott Gallagher SC Kaw Valley FC	St. Louis City SC 2
31	D.C. United	Ben Stitz	MF	Penn	Ivy	Baltimore Celtic	FC Baltimore Christos	FC Cincinnati 2
32	Toronto FC	Jalen Watson	DF	Penn State	Big Ten	Erin Mills SC Vancouver Whitecaps FC	—	Toronto FC II
33	San Jose Earthquakes	Liam Butts	FW	Penn State	Big Ten	Gwinnett Soccer Academy Atlanta United FC Philadelphia Union	East Atlanta FC	Penn State
34	Houston Dynamo FC	Isaiah Reid	FW	Clemson	ACC	Charlotte Soccer Academy	—	Houston Dynamo 2
35	Nashville SC^{[R2 trade 1]}	Sean Suber	DF	Charlotte	American	Carolina Rapids	—	Huntsville City FC
36	Atlanta United FC	Tyler Young	MF	Campbell	Big South	Carolina Rapids	Charlotte Eagles	Atlanta United 2
37	Sporting Kansas City	Chris Rindov	DF	Maryland	Big Ten	Olney Soccer	—	Sporting Kansas City
38	Seattle Sounders FC	Eythor Björgolfsson	FW	Kentucky	Sun Belt	Ull/Kisa Nardo FK	Vermont Green FC	Tacoma Defiance
39	New England Revolution	Victor Souza	DF	Boston College	ACC	Met Oval New York City FC	Lionsbridge FC	New England Revolution II
40	Charlotte FC	Nick Scardina	FW	Washington	Pac-12	Portland Timbers	PDX FC Crossfire Redmond	Charlotte FC
41	Colorado Rapids	Oliver Semmle	GK	Marshall	Sun Belt	FC Rastatt 04 Karlsruher SC	—	Louisville City FC
42	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Daniel Nimick	DF	Western Michigan	MAC	Leeds United Harrogate Town	Grand Rapids FC South Bend Lions	HFX Wanderers FC
43	Columbus Crew	Clay Holstad	MF	Kentucky	Sun Belt	Birmingham United	Dalton Red Wolves SC	Columbus Crew 2
44	Portland Timbers	Ryan Bilichuk	GK	Elon	CAA	D.C. United Barca Residency Academy	Greenville FC Asheville City SC	Portland Timbers 2
45	Real Salt Lake	Amferny Sinclair	MF	Syracuse	ACC	Alajuelense Once de Abril	Reading United FC Buffalo One Knoxville SC	Real Monarchs
46	Orlando City SC	Luis Grassow	DF	Kentucky	Sun Belt	TSV Neuried SpVgg Unterhaching SV Planegg-Krailling	FC Pipinsried SSV Ulm 1846 TSV Neuried Ocean City Nor'easters	Retired^[17]
47	Inter Miami CF	Bachir Ndiaye	MF	UNC Wilmington	CAA	Onslow Classic	Asheville City SC	Charlotte Independence
48	Minnesota United FC	Emmanuel Iwe	MF	St. Cloud State	NSIC	Joy Athletic Club	Joy St. Louis Park Minnesota United FC 2	Minnesota United FC 2
49	Nashville SC	Alex Meinhard	FW	Tulsa	AAC	Santos Tartu	Santos Tartu	Clemson
50	New York Red Bulls	Ethan Conley	DF	UNC Greensboro	SoCon	Sockers FC Chicago	North Carolina Fusion U23	UNC Greensboro
51	FC Cincinnati	Hunter Morse	GK	Western Michigan	MAC	Michigan Wolves	Detroit City FC Kalamazoo FC	FC Cincinnati 2
52	LA Galaxy	Russell Shealy	GK	Syracuse	ACC	Darlington Academy Concorde Fire Atlanta United FC	Georgia Revolution FC Reading United	Crown Legacy FC
53	FC Dallas	Ryan Wittenbrink	FW	Indiana	Big Ten	FC United Libertyville FC 1974	Chicago FC United	Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC
54	CF Montréal	Milo Garvanian	DF	North Carolina	ACC	Rio Rapids SC Colorado Rapids	South Georgia Tormenta FC 2 Tennessee SC	New Mexico United
55	New York City FC	Braudílio Rodrigues	FW	Franklin Pierce	NE-10	Odivelas Benfica AD Oeiras Os Belenenses Real	Sintra Western Mass Pioneers	Tacoma Defiance
56	Austin FC	Jackson Wälti	MF	Pittsburgh	ACC	SIMA Águilas	—	Austin FC II
57	Philadelphia Union	Stefan Stojanovic	FW	Georgetown	Big East	Sockers FC Chicago	Chicago FC United Philadelphia Union II	Philadelphia Union II
58	Los Angeles FC	Jassem Koleilat	GK	New Hampshire	America East	Laval Sparta Prague	Seacoast United Phantoms	Los Angeles FC 2

Round 3

P	MLS team	Player	Pos.	College	Conference	Academy team	Other team	Signed
59	Seattle Sounders FC^{[R1 trade 17]}	Blake Bowen	DF	San Diego State	Pac-12	OC Surf	—	Tacoma Defiance
60	D.C. United	Aidan Rocha	MF	Georgetown	Big East	Bethesda SC	—	Loudoun United FC
61	Toronto FC	Charlie Sharp	FW	Western Michigan	MAC	Michigan Wolves	Flint City Bucks Seacoast United Phantoms	Western Michigan
62	San Jose Earthquakes	Hunter George	FW	Maryland	Big Ten	Sacramento Republic FC	—
63	Houston Dynamo FC	Frantz Pierrot	FW	Connecticut	Big East	Seacoast United Phantoms FC Westchester	Reading United Boston Bolts Seacoast United Phantoms	Athlone Town
64	Chicago Fire FC	Noah Egan	DF	Vermont	America East	Strikers FC Irvine	Magia FA	Chicago Fire II
65	Nashville SC^{[R3 trade 1]}	Makel Rasheed	DF	Xavier	Big East	McLean Soccer	Asheville City SC	Xavier
66	New York City FC^{[R3 trade 2]}	MD Myers	FW	Rutgers	Big Ten	Philadelphia Union	Ocean City Nor'easters	New York City FC II
67	Chicago Fire FC^{[R3 trade 3]}	Billy Hency	MF	Loyola-Chicago	A-10	Sporting STL	Chicago FC United	Chicago Fire II
68	New England Revolution	Andreas Ueland	DF	Virginia	ACC	Bryne FK	—	Chicago Fire II
69	Charlotte FC	Andrew Privett	MF	Penn State	Big Ten	Baltimore Armour	Christos FC	Charlotte FC
70	Colorado Rapids	PASS	—	—	—	—	—	—
71	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Buster Sjöberg	DF	Syracuse	ACC	IFK Uppsala IK Sirius	Gamla Upsala SK One Knoxville SC	Syracuse
72	Austin FC^{[R3 trade 4]}	Salvatore Mazzaferro	DF	South Florida	AAC	Toronto FC	South Georgia Tormenta FC 2	Austin FC II
73	Portland Timbers	Jaden Jones-Riley	DF	Dayton	A-10	—	Tallahassee SC One Knoxville SC	Portland Timbers 2
74	Real Salt Lake	Moses Mensah	DF	Campbell	Big South	WA All Stars	Des Moines Menace One Knoxville SC	Birmingham Legion FC
75	CF Montréal^{[R3 trade 5]}	Ousman Jabang	DF	Mercer	SoCon	Georgia Soccer Atlanta United FC	Georgia Revolution FC	CF Montréal
76	Chicago Fire FC^{[R3 trade 6]}	Wilmer Cabrera Jr.	FW	Butler	Big East	Colorado Rapids IMG Academy Houston Dynamo FC	Brazos Valley Cavalry FC Rio Grande Valley FC	Real Cartagena
77	LA Galaxy^{[R3 trade 7]}	PASS	—	—	—	—	—	—
78	Nashville SC	Rory O'Driscoll	MF	New Hampshire	America East	Minneapolis United Minnesota Thunder	North Carolina Fusion U23 Minneapolis City SC	Minnesota United FC 2
79	New York Red Bulls	Amos Shapiro-Thompson	MF	Boston College	ACC	New England Revolution Dinamo Zagreb Legia Warsaw	Western Mass Pioneers	New York Red Bulls II
80	FC Cincinnati	London Aghedo	DF	Air Force	WAC	Real SoCal	—	FC Cincinnati
81	LA Galaxy	PASS	—	—	—	—	—	—
82	FC Dallas	Kameron Lacey	FW	Charlotte	AAC	Miramar United SIMA Águilas FC Dallas Orlando City SC	Asheville City SC	Minnesota United FC 2
83	CF Montréal	Nick Christoffersen	GK	Penn	Ivy	Toronto FC	Toronto FC II West Chester United SC Vermont Green FC	Penn
84	Nashville SC^{[R3 trade 8]}	Lyam MacKinnon	FW	Villanova	Big East	Lausanne-Sport	Reading United West Chester United SC	Greenville Triumph SC
85	Portland Timbers^{[R3 trade 9]}	Tyler Clegg	DF	James Madison	Sun Belt	Evergreen Hammers	Evergreen FC Northern Virginia FC Asheville City SC	Portland Timbers 2
86	Philadelphia Union	PASS	—	—	—	—	—	—
87	Los Angeles FC	Noah Dollenmayer	DF	Cal State San Bernardino	CCAA	Sporting San Fernando	FC Golden State Force	Los Angeles FC 2

Round 4

Compensatory pick for a trade done before the SuperDraft was downsized to only three rounds.

P	MLS team	Player	Pos.	College	Conference	Academy team	Other team	Signed
88	Portland Timbers^{[R4 trade 1]}	PASS	—	—	—	—	—	—

Notable undrafted players

Homegrown players

Original MLS team	Player	Position	College	Conference	Notes	Ref.
Seattle Sounders FC	Jacob Castro	GK	San Diego State	Pac-12		^[23]
New York Red Bulls	Jayden Reid	DF	Connecticut	Big East		^[24]

Eligible players who signed outside of MLS in 2023

This is a list of eligible players who signed in leagues outside of MLS prior to the SuperDraft, but were still draft eligible.

Player	Nat.	Position	College	Conference	Team	League	Notes	Ref.
Nathan Opoku		FW	Syracuse	ACC	Leicester City	Premier League		^[25]

Other notable players

Original MLS Team	Player	Pos	Affiliation	Played in MLS	Notes
Houston Dynamo FC	Charles Auguste	MF	Creighton	2023–

Summary

Selections by college athletic conference

Conference	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
NCAA Division I conferences
ACC	7	6	3	16
America East	1	1	2	5
American	1	2	2	5
Atlantic 10	2	1	2	5
Big East	3	1	5	9
Big South	1	1	1	3
Big Ten	4	4	3	11
Big West	1	0	0	1
Colonial	0	2	0	2
Ivy	2	1	1	4
MAC	1	2	1	4
Pac-12	2	1	1	4
SoCon	1	1	1	3
Sun Belt	1	4	1	6
WAC	0	0	1	1
West Coast	1	0	0	1
Non-Division I conferences
CCAA	0	0	1	1
Northeast-10	0	1	0	1
NSIC	0	1	0	1
NJCAA	1	0	0	1
Passes
Passes	0	0	4	4

Schools with multiple draft selections

Selections	Schools
5	Syracuse
4	Maryland
3	Clemson, Indiana, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Western Michigan
2	Creighton, Dayton, Georgetown, Penn, San Diego State, UNC Greensboro, Washington

2023 SuperDraft trades

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Compensatory picks

References

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[R1 trade 1]

[R1 trade 2]

[R1 trade 3]

[R1 trade 4]

[R1 trade 5]

[R1 trade 6]

[R1 trade 7]

[R1 trade 8]

[R1 trade 9]

[R1 trade 10]

[R1 trade 11]

[R1 trade 12]

[R1 trade 13]

[R1 trade 14]

[R1 trade 15]

[R1 trade 16]

[R2 trade 1]

[17]

[R1 trade 17]

[R3 trade 1]

[R3 trade 2]

[R3 trade 3]

[R3 trade 4]

[R3 trade 5]

[R3 trade 6]

[R3 trade 7]

[R3 trade 8]

[R3 trade 9]

[R4 trade 1]

[23]

[24]

[25]

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