The 2023 MLS SuperDraft took place earlier thanks to the MLS season starting in February. One storyline is yet another new MLS team entering their first-ever MLS SuperDraft, this time it is St Louis CITY SC.
The First Four Draft Picks of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft
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Hamady Diop, Defender from Clemson University and Montverde Academy (Charlotte FC)
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Hamady Diop, the defender who was born in Dakar, Senegal, started all 13 games in his junior year. In that stretch, he scored two goals, both coming last month. His first goal this year came against Notre Dame in a 3-1 win. He also scored a goal in a losing 2-1 effort to UCLA.
He is also the first-ever Senegalese player to be drafted first overall. The six-foot defender, who weighs 186 lbs made the TopDrawer.com Postseason Top 100 Freshman from 2020-21 at the 40th position. Also, in that same year, he won the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week on both March 23 and September 13. Diop would then make Second-team All-ACC and Second-team All-South Region in both 2021 and 2022 according to the Clemson Tigers. Ari Liljenwall of MLS Soccer has the quote from Diop on what it means to be drafted first overall:
“It means a lot. It means they wanted me and they expect a lot from me, which is every young player’s need,” Diop told reporters on his post-draft video call. “I need someone to expect a lot from me because I expect a lot from myself. It’s great, obviously; Charlotte is down the road. So when they trade that much money, it means a lot.
The Generation Adidas player will have a big shot at making the team with a team just entering its second season in the league. This pick also means that Charlotte becomes the first team since D.C. United in 2003 and 2004 to pick consecutive first-round picks in the first round.
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Shakur Mohammed, Forward from Duke University (Orlando City SC)
Shakur Mohammed, the Ghanaian forward, scored 10 goals and dished out two assists with Duke. There were also three times where Mohammed scored two goals in a game this year, this included scoring the two only goals of the game in a 2-0 win over Notre Dame on October 14.
Mohammed is a player that has impressed the Orlando City SC organization and is looking forward to playing with the team. Michael Citro from SB Nation has the quotes of this Ghana player:
In 2021, he was the ACC Freshman of the Year, All-ACC Second Team, ACC All-Freshman Team, All-South Region Third Team, and ACC All-Tournament Team. Then, in 2022, he was the MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist, First Team All-America, ACC Offensive Player of the Year, All-ACC First Team, and the All-South Region First Team (source: Duke University).
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Moïse Bombito, a Defender from New Hampshire University (Colorado Rapids)
3. #Rapids96 (originally belonged to #TFCLive/#TheyWillSeeRed) drafted Generation Adidas and Defender, Moise Bombito.#SuperDraft | #MLS pic.twitter.com/aPXVxDvcSO
— Last Word on Soccer (@LastWordSC) December 21, 2022
The now Colorado Rapids player is from the province of Quebec. Moïse Bombito is from Generation Adidas and is a French-Canadian. The kid who grew up in Montreal, Quebec, scored four goals in 2022, including scoring a goal against UMBC in a 2-0 win.
Bombito started in all 16 games this year. In 2022, he was ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, America East Defender of the Year, All-ECAC First Team, and All-America East First Team. Then, in 2021, he earned the 2021 All-American accolades, named the ICCAC Tournament MVP, while he was selected to the ICCAC All-Tournament Team, and the ICCAC All-Region First Team (source: UNH Wildcats).
The six-foot-three back defender will be looking to make his name with Colorado next year. He is also a team player as noted from his time playing in university (source: UNH Wildcats):
“The brotherhood that I have with my teammates.”
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Joshua Bolma, a Midfielder From UNC Greensboro (New England Revolution)
As a freshman in 2021, Joshua Bolma was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, First Team All-Big Ten 2021, Freshman All-Big Ten 2021, Top Drawer Soccer Freshman All-American, and the Second Team United Soccer Coaches All-Region (source: Maryland University). In 2022, he was the First Team All-Big Ten and the Second Team United Soccer Coaches All-Region.
Bolma, like Mohammed, is also from Ghana. Seth Macomber of SB Nation has a quote of Bolma and his skillsets:
“I can really fit into different roles,” Bolma told media on Wednesday. “As I moved on from high school to college, coach [Sasho Cirovski of Maryland] saw me as more fast-paced and everything else. He tried me on the wing and that went well. I was able to do that as well. I played as a wing and that is when I had my breakout year in Maryland.”
READ MORE: The 2023 CPL–U Sports Draft Overview
Storylines of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft Picks
READ MORE: Ben Bender selected No. 1 overall in MLS SuperDraft
Of the top five MLS SuperDraft Picks, not one of them was from the U.S. In fact, four of the top five MLS SuperDraft picks were from the continent of Africa with Ghana having two players represented.
Proud older brother moment😌 @MalcolmJ_19 #NYCFC https://t.co/NvIdB5OQSu
— Alistair Johnston (@_a_johnston) December 22, 2022
Canada was another story, having four players drafted in the first round, including two in the top ten. Overall, seven Canadians were drafted, showing the growth of the game in Canada with the establishment of the three Canadian MLS teams. With the CanWNT winning Gold in Tokyo 2020 and the CanMNT making the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 36 years, expect the popularity of Canadian soccer to continue to grow. In terms of schools, Syracuse led with five draft picks, followed closely by Maryland with four.
The MLS NEXT Pro league made some history on the draft yesterday as San Jose Earthquakes II’s forward Maximilian Arfsten was drafted 14th overall. It will be interesting how that league grows and how many more of these players get drafted in the MLS SuperDraft.
