With the 2011 MLS Player Combine beginning today, followed next week by the 2011 SuperDraft, the league is abuzz with scouting reports, draft talk, and combine developments. The history of the draft goes all the way back to the inaugural season in 1996 where Brian McBride was chosen first overall by the Columbus Crew.
The Timbers have the second overall pick next week and with the coaching and technical staff currently in Ft. Lauderdale, FL scouting talent, we took a look at the MLS history of the draft to see some of the more interesting picks, where some of our current team came from, and found some names of old Timbers fans will remember.
The inaugural player draft in 1996 went 16 rounds and gave us many memorable names. But it was also quite the breeding ground for future MLS head coaches:
- New Chivas USA head coach Robin Fraser went 4th overall in the 1st round to LA
- Sporting KC’s Peter Vermes was a 3rd rounder in 1996 to New York
- Real Salt Lake’s Jason Kreis selected by Dallas in the 5th round
- San Jose Earthquakes’ Frank Yallop went in the 6th round to Tampa Bay
- While not part of that 1996 draft class, current Timbers assistant coach Amos Magee was drafted by MLS teams twice. In 1998, he was a supplemental 3rd rounder to the Galaxy and then again in 2004 he was a SuperDraft 4th rounder of Tampa Bay.
The U.S. National Team has had many members who went through the MLS Draft. While McBride was a first overall pick, many recognizable names came in the later rounds. Pablo Mastroeni was a 2nd rounder in 1998, Brian Ching (Round 2, LA) and Edson Buddle (Round 3, Columbus) both went in 2001 and Jonathan Bornstein was a 4th round pick in 2004 for Chivas USA.
The 2011 SuperDraft marks the return of the supplemental draft which will be happening the Tuesday following the SuperDraft. Perhaps one of the most successful supplemental selections ever was made in 2004 when the San Jose Earthquakes picked up in the fourth round the future 2010 Golden Boot winner Chris Wondolowski.
Looking at our current roster, many of the current members have roots in the MLS SuperDraft.
Defender
Kevin Goldthwaite
went in the 2nd round to San Jose in 2005, one pick behind midfielder
Ryan Pore
who was chosen by Kansas City.
The 2008 Tom Fitzgerald Award for MLS Player Combine Most Valuable Player went to current Timbers defender
Eric Brunner
. Brunner was a 2nd round pick (16th overall) of New York that year. Fellow new Timbers midfielder
Peter Lowry
was chosen 10 picks later also in the second round by Chicago.
The 2008 SuperDraft was also when defender
David Horst
was drafted in the first round (14th overall) by Real Salt Lake.
2009 was the year of the University of Maryland with three picks in the first round—two of which are now Portland Timbers. Midfielder
Rodney Wallace
went 6th overall to D.C. United and defender
Jeremy Hall
went 11th overall to New York.
Striker
Bright Dike
was the 12th overall pick in the 1st round to Columbus in 2010 but did not sign with the team. He later signed with the USSF D-2 edition of the Portland Timbers and was among the team’s initial MLS signings earlier this fall.
Many former Timbers also found their way through the draft at one time or another. Here are a few names that may ring some bells.
- Chugger Adair went in the 3rd round of the 1996 supplemental draft
- University of Portland’s Chris Brown was a 5th overall 1st round selection of Kansas City in 1999
- Kansas City also picked up fellow UP alum Andrew Gregor in the 2nd round in 2001
- Scot Thompson was a 2nd round selection of LA in 2003
- McKinley Tennyson was chosen by Columbus in 2004 in the 4th round.
- Luke Kreamalmeyer won the Combine MVP award in 2005 and went to Real Salt Lake in the 4th round
- Quavas Kirk was 16 years old when he was drafted by the Galaxy in the 3rd round in 2005
- George Josten was the leading scorer at the 2008 MLS Combine and went in the 2nd round to Columbus
- Keith Savage was a Chivas USA 4th rounder in 2008
-
Collen Warner was the 15th overall pick in the first round in 2010 to Real Salt Lake, thus becoming the first Timbers U-23s player to play in MLS.
