An unprecedented amount of local soccer talent will feature in next week’s 2009 Major League Soccer SuperDraft in St. Louis.
Two Montgomery County products, Rockville’s Rodney Wallace (Bullis Prep), a sophomore at Maryland, and Silver Spring’s Kevin Alston, a junior at Indiana, were among nine players announced Wednesday as part of the 2009 Generation Adidas class, a group that also includes Maryland juniors Jeremy Hall and Omar Gonzalez.
Generation Adidas players, highly-desired prospects who leave college early to enter the MLS draft, sign contracts that are exempt from the league’s salary cap, enabling them to earn more than the league minimum.
Unlike other major sports, Major League Soccer owns all its player contracts.
Ultimately, Generation Adidas is a win-win but not a guarantee. D.C. United’s most recent first-round pick, Bryan Arguez, never played a first team match after being selected 11th overall in 2007.
This year’s signees and 63 other college seniors will take part in the annual MLS Combine, which begins Friday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Wake Forest midfielder Michael Lahoud (W.T. Woodson High), George Mason forward Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe (Eleanor Roosevelt), Loyola goalkeeper Milos Kocic, Virginia defender Matt Poole (Langley), Maryland defender A.J. Delagarza (Lackey) and midfielder Graham Zusi (at left) all hope to impress coaches and potentially earn themselves a chance to get drafted or invited into a team’s preseason training camp.
“I think it’s overall better than last year’s group, a little bit deeper,” said D.C. United general manager Dave Kasper. United owns the sixth and seventh overall picks in the first round of the draft.
