Senior defender Javan Torre was the lone member of the UCLA men’s soccer team to be picked in this year’s MLS SuperDraft – the lowest total of Bruin selections since 2011, when there were none.
Torre was selected Tuesday by the Colorado Rapids in the third round with the 56th overall pick.
UCLA had four seniors who were eligible – Torre, forward Larry Ndjock, midfielder Grady Howe and midfielder Jordan Vale – but it wasn’t until the third of four rounds that a Bruin was selected. The first two rounds were held in Baltimore on Jan. 14 while the final rounds were held via conference call.
MLS eligibility rules stipulate that each of the league’s 20 teams must submit a list of collegiate upperclassmen it is interested in possibly drafting. The pool of selected players – around 240 total this year – then become the eligible talent that can be drafted.
In addition to upperclassmen, college underclassmen can also become eligible if they sign Generation Adidas contracts. The program is a joint deal between MLS and Adidas that develops top freshman and sophomore talent into pros. Every top pick of each SuperDraft since 2003 has been a Generation Adidas player.
Sophomore forward Abu Danladi was in discussions with the league to sign such a deal, but talks fell through in December and failed to gain momentum in early January. Danladi was one of the Bruins’ top offensive weapons in 2015 and would have been selected either first or second overall, according to Goal USA sources.
Danladi can now either seek a European contract or return to Westwood for his junior season.
In January 2015 the New York Red Bulls selected UCLA midfielder Leo Stolz with the 18th overall pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft. Two more Bruins were selected in the third round – goalkeeper Earl Edwards, Jr. and defender Aaron Simmons.
The 2015 draft marked the fourth consecutive year at least two UCLA players were chosen. In 2014, two UCLA players were picked in the second round while another followed in the fourth. The Bruins had a first- and second-rounder in the 2013 SuperDraft and two first-round picks in 2012.
The early rounds of the 2016 draft were noticeably light in Pac-12 talent across the board. Stanford defender Brandon Vincent was selected with the fourth overall pick of the draft but he was one of just three conference players taken in the first two rounds. Husky senior goalie Ryan Herman was taken with the 17th pick and Cardinal senior midfielder Eric Verso was the lone second-rounder.
Compiled by Tanner Walters, Bruin Sports senior staff.