Draft day is here, and the eyes of MLS fans everywhere are on the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. For a live stream, check out Center Line Soccer's video stream page. On this page we'll be updating the Earthquakes' selections, and checking in on some of the more significant players going off the board.
So, 257 total players, 55 college seniors at the combine, five from the 2015 Generation Adidas class. Where will they go? Who will the Earthquakes take with the #4 pick overall? Stay tuned.
We've had the Commissioner's introduction, and Don Garber promptly introduced recently retired Landon Donovan who gave a nice speech. Donovan announced Orlando City FC officially on the clock. We are underway.
Round 1
First Pick: Orlando City FC select Forward Cyle Larin out of the University of Connecticut. No surprise here. Larin should make the biggest impact on any player in this draft right away
2: After a five-minute timeout, New York City FC select Forward Khiry Shelton out of Oregon State University
3: Montreal Impact select Forward Romario Williams out of University of Central Florida. Attackers valued highly so far
4: San Jose Earthquakes select Midfielder Fatai Alashe out of Michigan State. Physical defensive midfielder
5: (Acquired from Colorado) Portland Timbers select Midfielder Nick Besler out of the University of Notre Dame. Younger brother of Sporting KC and US Men's National Team Defender Matt Besler
6: (Acquired from Chivas) Toronto FC select Goalkeeper Alex Bono out of Syracuse. Another Generation Adidas player off the board
7: Chicago Fire select Defender Matt Polster out of Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville.
8: Having already added Erick "Cubo" Torres for the summer, Houston Dynamo select Midfielder Zach Steinberger out of Butler University
9: Toronto FC select Defender Clement Simonin out of NC State
10: (Acquired from Philadelphia) Sporting KC select Midfielder Connor Hallisey out of Cal
11: (Acquired from Portland) Toronto FC select Defender Skylar Thomas from Syracuse
12: Sporting KC select Defender Saad Abdul-Salaam out of Akron
13: Vancouver Whitecaps select Defender Tim Parker out of St. John's
14: (Acquired from Columbus) Colorado Rapids select Defender Axel Sjoberg out of Marquette
15: FC Dallas select Defender Otis Earle out of Riverside
16: Seattle Sounders take Midfielder Christian Roldan out of Washington, a Generation Adidas player
17: DC United select Forward Miguel Aguilar out of University of San Francisco
18: New York Red Bulls select Midfielder Leo Stolz out of UCLA
19: (Acquired from Colorado) Columbus Crew selects Defender Sergio Campbell out of Connecticut
20: (Acquired from New England) Sporting KC selects Midfielder Amadoi Dia out of Clemson
21: LA Galaxy select Ignacio Maganto out of Iona, born in Madrid, Spain
Round 2
1 (22): Orlando City SC select Forward Conor Donovan out of NC State
2 (23): NYCFC select Midfielder Connor Brandt out of University of San Diego
3 (24): (Acquired from Montreal) Portland selects Midfielder/Defender Andy Thoma out of Washington
4 (25): (Acquired from San Jose) Orlando City selects Winger Akeil Barrett out of Tulsa
5 (26): Colorado selects Defender Joseph Greenspan out of the US Naval Academy
6 (27): (Acquired from Seattle) Real Salt Lake select Defender Boyd Okwuonu out of North Carolina
7 (28): Chicago Fire select Forward Kingsley Bryce out of St Louis
8 (29): (Acquired from Houston) Toronto FC select Defender Wesley Charpie Out of South Florida
9 (30): (Acquired from Toronto via Sporting KC) Houston Dynamo select Defender Oumar Ballo out of UMBC
10 (31): Philadelphia Union select Forward Dzenan Catic out of Davenport University
11 (32): Portland Timbers select Forward Christian Volesky out of Souther Illinois University, Edwardsville
12 (33): (Acquired from Sporting KC via New England) Seattle Sounders select Goalkeeper Tyler Miller out of Northwestern
13 (34): (Acquired from Vancouver) Portland Timbers select Forward Kharlton Belmar out of VCU
14 (35): Columbus selects Sagi Lev-Ari out of Cal State Northridge
15 (36): (Acquired from Dallas) Houston Dynamo select Forward Rob Lovejoy out of North Carolina
16 (37): (Acquired from RSL) Toronto FC select Forward Edwin Rivas out of CSU Northridge
17 (38): (Acquired from DC United) Vancouver Whitecaps select Forward Kay Banjo out of UMBC
18 (39): New York Red Bulls select Forward Stefano Bonomo out of Cal
19 (40): Seattle Sounders select Midfielder Oneil Fisher out of New Mexico
20 (41): (Acquired from New England) Philadelphia Union select Midfielder Eric Bird out of Virginia
21 (42): (Acquired from LA Galaxy) DC United select Midfielder Dan Metzger out of Maryland
That's it for today. Rounds 3 and 4 will take place on Tuesday, January 20th. Keep it here on Center Line Soccer for all the Earthquakes updates in the later rounds.