Sporting Kansas City awaits the 2011 MLS SuperDraft on Thursday with three allotted picks, one in each of the event’s three rounds, at the League’s annual amateur player draft, being held in conjunction with the NSCAA Convention in Baltimore, Maryland. Kansas City currently controls the 10th overall, 32nd overall and 46th overall selections in the current draft order.
“We’re looking to add three good players to our roster,” Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes said. “This is a solid draft class. It will be different with two expansion teams getting the top picks, but there is a lot of talent available in this year’s draft.”
The first round of the 2011 MLS SuperDraft, presented by adidas, will air live nationally on ESPN2, beginning at 11:00 a.m. CT. The second and third rounds of the draft will then be streamed live on MLSsoccer.com.
Sporting Kansas City supporters can also follow the event as it transpires through the team’s online outlets at SportingKC.com and The Sporting Way, and can also get as up-to-the-minute updates on Twitter and Facebook.
All 18 MLS clubs will participate in each of the three rounds, in an order predetermined by each team’s record from the 2010 season. The Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Portland Timbers, expansion clubs entering MLS for the 2011 season, were awarded the top two picks, respectively.
The 2011 adidas MLS Player Combine was held January 8th-11th in Lauderhill, Florida, as more than 70 players participated in the invitation-only tryouts for MLS coaches, technical directors and general managers.
“The combine was positive,” Vermes said. “We got a useful picture of all the players, and the level of competition was good.”
This year’s draft will consist of a maximum of 54 picks from more than 150 draft eligible players, comprised of graduating college seniors, 2011 Generation adidas signings and select non-collegiate international players. Generation adidas is a joint program between Major League Soccer and adidas that is dedicated to developing domestic players who are underclassmen and are signed by the League for placement in the MLS SuperDraft.
Teams will be given four minutes to make their selections in the first two rounds, and three minutes for their picks in the third round. Each team is permitted a five minute timeout at any point in the draft to extend their allotted selection window, and there will be a five minute break between each round.
Kansas City selected striker Teal Bunbury with the fourth overall pick in last year’s SuperDraft en route to Bunbury becoming one of the rising stars in Major League Soccer, highlighted by two recent selections for the U.S. Men‘s National Team. Bunbury is one of 10 players currently on the Sporting roster that were drafted by Kansas City via the SuperDraft.
Draft History
1996 MLS College Draft
Matt McKeon – 1st round (1st overall)
Chris Snitko – 1st round (5th overall)
Diego Gutierrez – 2nd round (15th overall)
Dion Sebwe – 3rd round (25th overall)
1997 MLS College Draft
Brian Johnson – 1st round (7th overall)
Ike Udeh – 2nd round (17th overall)
Jake Joy – 3rd round (27th overall)
1998 MLS College Draft
Chris Klein – 1st round (4th overall)
Tom Hardy – 2nd round (20th overall)
Mario Sanchez – 3rd round (32nd overall)
1999 MLS College Draft
Chris Brown – 1st round (5th overall)
John Wilson – 2nd round (14th overall)
Kevin Kalish – 3rd round (26th overall)
2000 MLS SuperDraft
Nick Garcia – 1st round (2nd overall)
John Wilson – 1st round (9th overall)
Peter Byaruhanga – 2nd round (15th overall)
Kerry Zavagnin – 3rd round (30th overall)
Tom Zawislan – 5th round (50th overall)
Casey Sweeney – 6th round (62nd overall)
2001 MLS SuperDraft
Jose Burciaga Jr. – 1st round (12th overall)
Andrew Gregor – 2nd round (24th overall)
Ben Stafford – 3rd round (35th overall)
Pablo Webster – 4th round (48th overall)
Narciso Fernandes – 5th round (59th overall)
Matthew Cross – 6th round (72nd overall)
2002 MLS SuperDraft
O’Neil Peart – 3rd round (32nd overall)
Chris Brunt – 3rd round (37th overall)
Dominic DePra – 4th round (43rd overall)
Davy Arnaud – 5th round (50th overall)
Brian Lavin – 5th round (57th overall)
Dane Erickson – 6th round (64th overall)
Mark Spears – 6th round (65th overall)
2003 MLS SuperDraft
Taylor Graham – 4th round (33rd overall)
Jack Jewsbury – 5th round (43rd overall)
Kevin Friedland – 6th round (53rd overall)
Byron Carmichael – 6th round (60th overall)
2004 MLS SuperDraft
Matt Taylor – 1st round (4th overall)
William Hesmer – 2nd round (17th overall)
Jay Albert – 4th round (37th overall)
Justin Detter – 5th round (47th overall)
Ryan Barber – 5th round (48th overall)
2005 MLS SuperDraft
Scott Sealy – 1st round (11th overall)
Ryan Pore – 2nd round (16th overall)
Christopher Sawyer – 2nd round (24th overall)
John Minagawa-Webster – 3rd round (47th overall)
2006 MLS SuperDraft
Yura Movsisyan – 1st round (4th overall)
Lance Watson – 2nd round (16th overall)
Tyson Wahl – 2nd round (19th overall)
Matt Groenwald – 3rd round (28th overall)
Stephen Shirley – 3rd round (29th overall)
Eric Kronberg – 4th round (40th overall)
2007 MLS SuperDraft
Michael Harrington – 1st round (3rd overall)
Edson Elcock – 3rd round (29th overall)
Kurt Morsink – 4th round (42nd overall)
2008 MLS SuperDraft
Chance Myers – 1st round (1st overall)
Roger Espinoza – 1st round (11th overall)
Yomby William – 2nd round (23rd overall)
Jonathan Leathers – 2nd round (25th overall)
Matt Marquess – 3rd round (39th overall)
Raushawn McKenzie – 4th round (53rd overall)
2009 MLS SuperDraft
Matt Besler – 1st round (8th overall)
Doug DeMartin – 2nd round (22nd overall)
Graham Zusi – 2nd round (23rd overall)
Neal Kitson – 3rd round (42nd overall)
Akeem Priestley – 4th round (50th overall)
2010 MLS SuperDraft
Teal Bunbury – 1st round (4th overall)
Korede Aiyegbusi – 2nd round (20th overall)
Nick Cardenas – 3rd round (36th overall)
Mauro Fuzetti – 3rd round (41st overall)
Ofori Sarkodie – 4th round (52nd overall)
