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Union select Anding & Okai in draft, trade for Supplemental Draft picks

It was a long wait but the Union selected Don Anding (F, Northeastern) with the eighth pick of the second round the 2013 SuperDraft (26th pick overall).

The general consensus going into the SuperDraft was that the Union would look to gain defensive strength, particularly at left back, and there was some thought that the Union would trade-up for a first round pick. But with only one left back being selected in the first round, and that the 17th pick overall in DC United’s selection of Taylor Kemp, the Union appeared safe in staying where they were to meet their defensive needs.

So, when the Union selected a forward with their first pick of the day, the general sense of surprise was understandable.

The Union’s second and final pick of the draft was delayed when the club called for a 5 minute timeout before making its selection. As it turned out, the Union used that time to trade the 29th pick overall to Real Salt Lake, who were waiting with the 31st pick. In doing so, Philadelphia acquired RSL’s spot in the second round and the 12th and 17th spot in next week’s Supplemental draft.

When it came time for the Union to make their final selection, they went with Reading United alumni Stephen Okai, the Ghanaian midfielder from University of Mobile.

With the draft over, attention now turns to the Supplemental Draft on Tuesday, Jan. 22 where the Union will continue be expected to select for defensive depth. In addition to the 12th and 17th pick in the first round of the Supplemental Draft, the Union will also have the fifth pick of the second round, 24th overall. Unfortunately, several defenders were selected after the Union’s last SuperDraft pick, including local favorite Greg Cochrane, and so the top-ranked options will be more limited than it first seemed.

Of course, there’s still the question of Damani Richards.

Below are the 2013 MLS SuperDraft selections.

First Round

Pick Club Player Note
1 Andrew Farrell, D
Univ. of Louisville
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
* Generation adidas
Pick acquired from Toronto FC in trade (Jan 16, 2013)
2 Carlos Alvarez, M
Univ. of Connecticut
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
3 Kyle Bekker, M
Boston College
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
Pick acquired from Portland Timbers as part of the Ryan Johnson/Milos Kocic trade (Dec 12, 2012)
4 Kekuta Manneh, F
Austin Aztex
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
* Generation adidas
Pick acquired from Toronto FC in trade (Jan 17, 2013). Toronto FC originally acquired the pick from the New England Revolution in trade (Jan 16, 2013)
5 Erik Hurtado, F
Santa Clara University
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
Pick acquired from the Philadelphia Union as part of the deal to sign Bakary Soumare (June 26, 2012)
6 Deshorn Brown, F
Univ. of Central Florida
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
* Generation adidas
7 Walker Zimmerman, D
Furman University
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
* Generation adidas
8 Blake Smith, M
Univ. of New Mexico
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
9 Ryan Finley, F
Univ. of Notre Dame
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
10 Eriq Zavaleta, F
Indiana University
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
* Generation adidas
Pick acquired from Toronto FC in trade (Jan 17, 2013). Pick was originally acquired by Toronto from Vancouver in trade (Jan 17, 2013)
11 Dillon Powers, M
Univ. of Notre Dame
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
Acquired from the Chicago Fire in trade for midfielder Jeff Larentowicz (Jan 16, 2013)
12 John Stertzer, M
Univ. of Maryland
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
13 Jason Johnson, F
Virgina Commonwealth Univ.
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
* Generation adidas
Acquired from Portland Timbers in exchange for rights to sign Kris Boyd (Jan 30, 2012). The Timbers acquired the pick as part of the trade that sent Kenny Cooper to the New York Red Bulls (Jan 12, 2012),
14 Mikey Lopez, M
Univ. of North Carolina
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS* Generation adidas
Pick acquired from Toronto FC in trade (Jan 17, 2013)
15 Tommy Muller, D
Georgetown University
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
16 Emery Welshman, F
Oregon State University
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
Pick acquired from Seattle Sounders in trade (Jan 17, 2013)
17 Taylor Kemp, D
University of Maryland
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
18 Fernando Monge, M
University of California, Los Angeles
HIGHLIGHTSAquired from Houston Dynamo as part of the trade for Brian Ching (Feb 16, 2012).
19 Charlie Rugg, F
Boston College
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS

 

SECOND ROUND

Pick Club Player Note
20 Ryan Hollingshead, M
University of California, Los Angeles
BIO | HIGHLIGHTSAcquired from Toronto FC in exchange for Jeremy Hall (Nov 29, 2011)
21 Donnie Smith, F
Univeristy of North Carolina, Charlotte
BIO | HIGHLIGHTSAcquired from Chivas USA as part of the Shalrie Joseph-Blair Gavin trade (Aug 1, 2012)
22 Ian Christianson, M
Georgetown University
BIO | HIGHLIGHTSAcquired from Portland Timbers as part of the Kosuke Kimura trade (Dec 3, 2012)
23 Luke Spencer, F
Xavier University
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
24 Kofi Opare, D
University of Michigan
BIO | HIGHLIGHTSAcquired from Philadelphia Union in trade that swapped international spot and Kyle Nakazawa (Feb 1, 2012)
25 Kory Kindle, D
California State University, Bakersfield
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
26 Don Anding, F
Northeastern University
BIO | HIGHLIGHTSEXCLUSIVE: Anding 1-on-1
27 Paolo DelPiccolo, M
University of Louisville
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
28 Drew Beckie, D
University of Denver
BIO | HIGHLIGHTSEXCLUSIVE: Beckie 1-on-1
29 Devon Sandoval, F
University of New Mexico
BIO | HIGHLIGHTSPick acquired from Philadelphia Union in trade (Jan 17, 2013). Pick was originally acquired by Philadelphia from the Vancouver Whitecaps as part of the deal to sign Bakary Soumare (Jan 26, 2012)
30 Yazid Atouba Emane, F
Rainbow FC (Cameroon)
BIO | HIGHLIGHTSPick acquired from the Colorado Rapids in trade for midfielder Jeff Larentowicz (Jan 16, 2013)
31 Stephen Okai, M
University of Mobile
BIO | HIGHLIGHTSPick acquired from Real Salt Lake in trade (Jan 17, 2013)
32 Brad Stuver, GK
Cleveland State Univeristy
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
33 Dan Delgado, M
University of San Diego
BIO | HIGHLIGHTSAcquired from Sporting KC as part of the Ike Opara trade (Dec 12, 2012)
34 Dylan Tucker-Gangnes, D
University of Washington
BIO | HIGHLIGHTSAcquired from the San Jose Earthquakes in exchange for Mike Fucito (Jan 17, 2013)
35 Dylan Remick, D
Brown University
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
36 Luis Soffner, GK
Indiana University
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
37 Jimmy Nealis, D
Georgetown University
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS
38 Greg Cochrane, D
University of Louisville
BIO | HIGHLIGHTS

19 Comments

  1. I dunno. I guess they think Left back cover will be there in the supplemental drafts.

  2. Anding may project as a left back or left winger. The word on him is that he’s really fast and left-footed. Some of the high-rated left backs have slipped, so if the Union don’t see Anding as a left back, the Union may grab one in the supplemental draft.

  3. Why. If you read Andings bio on mls, he sounds exactly like Hoppenot.

  4. James "4-3-3" Forever says:

    This is the maddest I’ve been since HACKworth took over. This is Nowak levels of stupidity.
    The draft worked out perfectly with only one LB taken before them. They coulda gotten a top 3 LB prospect and a great CB prospect. That fulfills the depth problem on defense in a way that also injects youth and potential into those positions.
    What we got was our 6th forward when we already have 5. And midfield where if anything we need more clarity, not less.

    • Oh my gosh, relax. The only indication that Andings will be used as a forward is the “F” next to his name. He has been deployed as a left winger and can be used as a left wing back (a-la Sheanon Williams). It was a perfectly fine pick, especially since most other LBs were still available at that point. That means you can pick one up later and have huge VALUE. That is what the Union got in this draft: VALUE.

      • The Black Hand says:

        The club has areas that need strengthening…none of which are a “lightening” fast runner, with very little skill as a footballer.

  5. And then a bunch of defensive players went behind us idk I hope they have a plan?

  6. Can they sign free agents now from those who didn’t get drafted, or do they have to wait for the Supplemental Draft? I see that Penn State kid Gallagher didn’t get drafted at all.

  7. Remains to be seen if this was a good draft, but based on Hackworth’s past– I think this is a bad draft and goes along with his strange obsession with speed and no “quality” as the Brits say.

    Whether you want this guy @ LB or not, you could have picked Cochrane or Nealis or Gallagher and then grabbed ANDING in the sup. draft. Nobody rated him. And the holding mid player is a joke. We definitely don’t need another Lahoud, Okugo, Carrol. Even if Okugo is CB cover.

    • To be honest the speed thing is a carry over from Nowak.
      I remember Perlaza and and Lahoud being sold to the fanbase on their speed. So it seems like this was the plan for a while.

  8. Allow me to chime in here relating to Stephen Okai. He was the NAIA player of the year and a guy that has trialed with Werder Bremen. Other MLS clubs were after him, but they expected him to be available in the Supplemental Draft. Reading’s technical director compared Stephen’s style of play to Michael Essien. This kid is the real deal and will be the steal of the draft.

    Still shaking my head on the Anding selection, but we’ll see how things play out this season.

    There’s still good talent available in the Supplemental Draft. Eric Schoenle dropped, Jose Gomez wasn’t drafted.

  9. I’m reserving judgement until I see who we select in the supplemental draft. Both Anding and Okai are probably going to have to battle the supplemental picks for roster spots. As project picks they don’t seem half bad. Okai played for Reading so he’s obviously not a complete unknown. As for Anding, the old adage goes: You can’t teach speed.

    • I’m reserving judgment until we get into camp. Sounds like the Union has at least one signing lined up, maybe more, and I think we are making these calls without knowing what else is coming in.

  10. A year and a half ago I wrote an article for PSP detailing how Okai would make a good Pro. Just wanted to let the Union know I am available for hire haha.

  11. I have no problem with these picks. Do we really want a pick in the mid-20’s go into his first season knowing the team will be depending on him as a starter? That’s a LOT of pressure and we would all be turning on him as soon as his first error landed in the back of the net.

  12. Whats PSP’s take on JT’s info re: Adu not participating with team at Union camp? See philly.com article…

  13. The two things I thought they needed going into the the draft was a left back and left winger. I see them as having gotten a left winger in Anding (Keon wasn’t super effective there) and the pick of Okai says two things. 1. The U still rely heavily on Reading players and 2. That Carroll is expected to move on soon which means Okai will be the backup for Okugo. Not terribly concerned about the lack of left back pick because we now have 4 or 5 supplemental picks (Some of which are very early) and only on of the 10-15 left backs have been selected.

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