2011 MLS SuperDraft

2011 MLS SuperDraft
General information
Sport Soccer
Date(s) January 13, 2011
Time 12:00 p.m. (ET)
Location Baltimore, Maryland
Network(s) ESPN2
Overview
54 total selections
First selection Omar Salgado, Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Most selections New England Revolution
Seattle Sounders FC
(5 selections)
Fewest selections Real Salt Lake
San Jose Earthquakes
(1 selection)

The 2011 MLS SuperDraft was the twelfth annual SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. It was held on January 13, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland, during the 2011 NSCAA Convention at the Baltimore Convention Center. The 2011 SuperDraft consisted of three rounds with eighteen selections each, for a total of 54 players selected during the draft. The draft preceded the 2011 MLS season.

Changes from 2010

  • As expansion clubs, Vancouver and Portland received the first and second picks in the SuperDraft.
  • The SuperDraft has contracted in number of rounds, from four to three, making it the shortest SuperDraft in terms of rounds.

Player selection

54 players were selected during the 3 rounds. Vancouver Whitecaps FC had the first overall selection in the 2011 SuperDraft, followed by Portland Timbers. The following eight selections were from teams that failed to qualify for the 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs, starting with the team holding the lowest amount of 2010 regular season points (3 points per win, one point per draw). The subsequent eight selection positions of clubs were sorted by fewest regular season points, from among teams that went out in the same round of the MLS Cup Playoffs. As similar in other drafts, teams were allowed to trade these rights away to other teams for other rights such as players, special roster spots, or other rights of interest. Participating players in the 2011 draw were confirmed in December 2010.

On January 5, 2011, MLS announced that it was eliminating the previously planned fourth-round of the 2011 SuperDraft and re-introducing a three-round Supplemental Draft. Previously traded fourth-round 2011 SuperDraft selections became traded first-round 2011 MLS Supplemental Draft selections.

The selection order was released by the league on January 7, 2011.

Any player marked with an * is part of the Generation Adidas program.

* Denotes player who has been selected for an MLS Best XI team

Round One

Pick # MLS team Player Position Affiliation
1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC *Omar Salgado Forward United States U-20
2 Portland Timbers *Darlington Nagbe Forward University of Akron
Cleveland Internationals
3 D.C. United *Perry Kitchen Midfielder University of Akron
Chicago Fire Premier
4 Chivas USA *Zarek Valentin Defender University of Akron
Reading United
Michigan Bucks
5 Philadelphia Union *Zac MacMath Goalkeeper University of Maryland
6 New England Revolution A. J. Soares Defender University of California, Berkeley
Orange County Blue Star
7 Houston Dynamo *Kofi Sarkodie Defender University of Akron
Michigan Bucks
8 Vancouver Whitecaps FC *Michael Nanchoff Midfielder University of Akron
Cleveland Internationals
9 Chicago Fire Jalil Anibaba Defender University of North Carolina
Carolina Dynamo
10 Sporting Kansas City C. J. Sapong Forward James Madison University
Reading United
11 Houston Dynamo * Will Bruin Forward Indiana University
12 Columbus Crew Rich Balchan Defender Indiana University
Chicago Fire Premier
13 New York Red Bulls *Corey Hertzog Forward Pennsylvania State University
Reading United
14 Chivas USA Víctor Estupiñán Forward LDU Quito
15 Columbus Crew Justin Meram Forward University of Michigan
16 Los Angeles Galaxy Paolo Cardozo Midfielder Quilmes
17 FC Dallas Bobby Warshaw Defender Stanford University
18 Colorado Rapids Eddie Ababio Defender University of North Carolina

Round One Trades

  1. #8: Toronto FC → Vancouver Whitecaps. 25 November 2010: Vancouver acquired this first-round 2011 selection from Toronto FC in exchange for midfielder Nathan Sturgis.
  2. 11: Seattle Sounders FC → Portland Timbers → Houston Dynamo. 13 January 2011: Houston acquired this pick from Portland in exchange for allocation money. Earlier in the same day, Portland had acquired this pick and use of an international roster spot for the 2011 season from Seattle in exchange for pick #20 and allocation money.
  3. 14: Real Salt Lake → Chivas USA. 13 January 2011: Chivas USA acquired this pick from Real Salt Lake in exchange for allocation money.
  4. 15: San Jose Earthquakes → Columbus Crew. 13 January 2011: Columbus acquired this pick and allocation money from San Jose in exchange for forward Steven Lenhart.

Round Two

Pick # MLS team Player Position Affiliation
19 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Jeb Brovsky Midfielder University of Notre Dame
20 Seattle Sounders FC *Michael Tetteh Defender UC Santa Barbara
21 Seattle Sounders FC Leone Cruz Defender Southern Methodist University
Austin Aztex U23
22 Portland Timbers Chris Taylor Defender University of Tulsa
23 Philadelphia Union Michael Farfan Midfielder University of North Carolina
Ogden Outlaws
24 New England Revolution Stephen McCarthy Midfielder University of North Carolina
Carolina Dynamo
25 New York Red Bulls John Rooney Midfielder Macclesfield Town
26 Toronto FC Demitrius Omphroy Defender University of California, Berkeley
Bay Area Ambassadors
27 Seattle Sounders FC Servando Carrasco Midfielder University of California, Berkeley
28 Columbus Crew Cole Grossman Midfielder Duke University
Cary Clarets
29 Seattle Sounders FC Bryan Meredith Goalkeeper Monmouth University
Central Jersey Spartans
30 New York Red Bulls Tyler Lassiter Defender North Carolina State University
31 D.C. United Chris Korb Defender University of Akron
Cleveland Internationals
32 Sporting Kansas City J. T. Murray Defender University of Louisville
Chicago Fire Premier
33 San Jose Earthquakes Anthony Ampaipitakwong Midfielder University of Akron
Bradenton Academics
34 Los Angeles Galaxy Héctor Jiménez Midfielder University of California, Berkeley
Bay Area Ambassadors
35 FC Dallas Charlie Campbell Midfielder University of Louisville
36 Colorado Rapids Colin Givens Defender Michigan State University
Michigan Bucks

Round Two Trades

  1. #20: Portland Timbers → Seattle Sounders FC. 13 January 2011: Seattle acquired this pick and allocation money from Portland in exchange for pick #11 and use of an international roster spot for the 2011 season.
  2. #21: D.C. United → Seattle Sounders FC. 30 April 2010: Seattle acquired this second-round 2011 selection from D.C. United in exchange for midfielder Stephen King.
  3. #22: Chivas USA → Real Salt Lake → Portland. 24 November 2010: Portland acquired this second-round 2011 selection from Real Salt Lake in exchange for forward Arturo Alvarez. Real Salt Lake had acquired a conditional second-round selection in 2010 or 2011 from Chivas USA in exchange for defender Carey Talley on 9 May 2008. Chivas kept its 2010 selection so RSL received this 2011 selection to complete the trade.
  4. #25: Houston → New York Red Bulls. 27 May 2009: New York acquired this second-round 2011 selection and a first-round 2010 MLS SuperDraft selection (pick #14) from Houston in exchange for forward Dominic Oduro.
  5. #27: Chicago → Seattle. 30 July 2010: Seattle acquired this second-round 2011 selection, originally a conditional pick, from Chicago in exchange for midfielder Freddie Ljungberg.
  6. #28: Sporting Kansas City → Philadelphia → Columbus Crew. 22 November 2010: Columbus acquired this second-round 2011 selection from Philadelphia in exchange for midfielder Brian Carroll. Philadelphia had acquired this pick, a second-round 2012 MLS SuperDraft selection, and allocation money from Kansas City in exchange for defender Shavar Thomas on 30 June 2010.
  7. #30: Columbus → New York. 18 March 2009: New York acquired a conditional selection in the 2011 SuperDraft from Columbus in exchange for defender Eric Brunner. The conditional selection became this pick.
  8. #31: New York → D.C. United. 16 September 2010: D.C. United acquired a conditional 2011 second-round selection, which became this pick, from New York in exchange for defender Carey Talley.
  9. #32: Real Salt Lake → Sporting Kansas City. 23 February 2010: Kansas City acquired this second-round 2011 selection and an international roster spot from Real Salt Lake in exchange for midfielder Luis Gil. Kansas City will also receive 25 percent of any future transfer fee received for Gil.

Round Three

Pick # MLS team Player Position Affiliation
37 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Bilal Duckett Defender University of Notre Dame
38 New York Red Bulls Billy Cortes Defender University of Maryland
39 New England Revolution Steven Perry Forward University of Notre Dame
Indiana Invaders
40 Chivas USA Jon Okafor Midfielder Brown University
Central Jersey Spartans
41 Philadelphia Union Levi Houapeu Forward University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Reading United
42 New England Revolution Ryan Kinne Midfielder Monmouth University
Central Jersey Spartans
43 Toronto FC Matt Gold Defender Ohio State University
44 Toronto FC Efrain Burgos, Jr. Midfielder California Polytechnic State University
Chicago Fire Premier
45 Chicago Fire Jason Herrick Forward University of Maryland
46 Sporting Kansas City Konrad Warzycha Midfielder Ohio State University
47 Seattle Sounders FC Alex Caskey Midfielder Davidson College
Atlanta Blackhawks
48 Columbus Crew Bernardo Anor Midfielder University of South Florida
Bradenton Academics
49 Toronto FC Joao Plata Midfielder LDU Quito
50 D.C. United Joe Willis Goalkeeper University of Denver
Real Colorado Foxes
51 Chicago Fire Davis Paul Forward University of California, Berkeley
52 Real Salt Lake Jarad Van Schaik Midfielder University of Portland
53 FC Dallas Scott Gordon Defender Lynn University
Baton Rouge Capitals
54 New England Revolution Alan Koger Forward College of William & Mary

Round Three Trades

  1. #38: Portland Timbers → New York Red Bulls. 22 November 2010: New York acquired this third-round 2011 selection from Portland in exchange for midfielder Jeremy Hall.
  2. #39: D.C. United → New England Revolution. 23 April 2009: New England acquired a conditional SuperDraft pick in 2010 or 2011, which became this pick, from D.C. United in exchange for defender Avery John. New England did not receive a pick from D.C. in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft.
  3. #43: Houston → Toronto FC. 12 March 2010: Toronto FC acquired this third-round 2011 selection from Houston in exchange for defender Adrian Serioux.
  4. #44: Toronto FC → Colorado Rapids → Toronto FC. 25 March 2010: Toronto FC acquired this third-round 2011 selection and midfielder Nick LaBrocca from Colorado in exchange for defender Marvell Wynne. Colorado had acquired this pick from Toronto FC in exchange for defender Ty Harden on 10 February 2010.
  5. #49: New York Red Bulls → Chicago Fire → Toronto FC. 13 January 2011: Toronto FC acquired this pick from Chicago Fire in exchange for goalkeeper Jon Conway. Chicago had acquired this pick, a first-round 2008 MLS SuperDraft selection (#7), and cash from New York in exchange for Master Tactician Juan Carlos Osorio on 18 December 2007.
  6. #50: Real Salt Lake → Los Angeles → Real Salt Lake → Los Angeles → D.C. United. 13 January 2011: D.C. United acquired this pick from Los Angeles in exchange for two first-round selections in the 2011 MLS Supplemental Draft. Los Angeles had acquired this third-round 2011 selection from Real Salt Lake in exchange for a third-round selection (#39) in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft on 14 January 2010. Earlier the same day, Real Salt Lake had re-acquired this pick and pick #15 in the 2010 SuperDraft from Los Angeles in exchange for forward Clint Mathis and pick #16 in the 2010 SuperDraft. Los Angeles had previously acquired the pick from Real Salt Lake in exchange for the rights to forward Clint Mathis on 14 August 2008. The original trade reported that the draft pick acquired by LA was a conditional fourth-round selection in the 2010 SuperDraft. However, RSL kept its 2010 fourth-round pick and instead sent this pick, its 2011 third-round selection, to LA to complete the 14 August 2008 trade for Mathis.
  7. #51: San Jose → Chicago. 6 August 2010: Chicago acquired a conditional draft pick in 2011, which became this selection, from San Jose in exchange for defender Tim Ward.
  8. #52: Los Angeles → Real Salt Lake. 22 January 2009: Real Salt Lake acquired a conditional draft pick in 2011, which became this selection, and allocation money from Los Angeles in exchange for midfielder Dema Kovalenko.
  9. #54: Colorado → New England. 22 January 2010: New England acquired this third-round 2011 selection, goalkeeper Preston Burpo, defender Cory Gibbs, and allocation money from Colorado in exchange for midfielder Jeff Larentowicz and midfielder Wells Thompson.

Selections by position

Round Forwards Midfielders Defenders Goalkeepers
1st 6 4 7 1
2nd 0 9 8 1
3rd 5 10 2 1
Totals 11 23 17 3

Other Draft Day Trades

  • Los Angeles Galaxy acquired forward Chad Barrett from Toronto FC in exchange for future considerations. Ives Galarcep reported that the future considerations consisted of $125,000 in allocation money and TFC assuming a portion of Barrett's salary.

Trade notes

  • Real Salt Lake acquired midfielder Will Johnson from Chicago Fire in a trade on 22 August 2008. In return, Chicago was to receive a natural fourth-round 2009 MLS SuperDraft selection and a second-round 2011 SuperDraft selection from RSL. However, the trade also contained a clause that allowed Chicago to receive allocation money in lieu of the draft picks. Chicago chose the allocation money.
  • San Jose Earthquakes acquired a conditional 2011 SuperDraft selection and a second-round 2010 MLS SuperDraft selection (#28) from Real Salt Lake in exchange for forward Pablo Campos on July 15, 2009. The conditional 2011 selection was contingent on Campos starting 8 games for Real Salt Lake in 2009. Campos started only 5 games so San Jose did not receive the conditional 2011 draft pick.

Notable undrafted players

Homegrown players

Original MLS team Player Position College Conference Notes
New York Red Bulls Connor Lade Defender St. John's Big East
Sporting Kansas City Kevin Ellis Defender Barton (KS) KJCCC

See also