MLS Just Can't Stop Holding Drafts – Union Select Four in Supplemental Draft

Share

Major League Soccer has made a sport of the player acquisition process. There's the SuperDraft, the Re-Entry Draft, the Supplemental Draft, free agency, youth academies, homegrown players, trades, and various online dating sites. Ok, I made up the online dating site thing, but I wouldn't put it past them.

Yesterday was the Supplemental Draft, which consisted of four rounds. The expansion Montreal Impact held the first pick in each round. The Union selected 13th in each of the four rounds. 

They used their first pick, 13th overall, on Penn product Thomas Brandt, Brandt, a 5'11" defender, captained the Quakers and was a first-team All Ivy selection.

With its next pick the Union selected midfielder Krystian Witkowski. Witkowski, who attended Marist (Rik Smiths shout-out!) is listed as a midfielder/forward. He represented Poland at the U-18 level. Perhaps Peter Nowak consulted contacts in his native Poland for inside information on Witkowski.

Forward Antoine Hoppenot was selected with the 39th overall pick. He played his college ball at Princeton, where he was named Ivy League Player of the Year as a junior. Yes, the Union selected two Ivy League players. Team IQ is on the rise.

With its final pick, 52nd overall, the Union chose Santa Clara midfielder Brandon Zimmerman.  Zimmerman represented the US at the U-15 and U-17 level. His older brother Preston, who plays professionally in Germany, was recently the center of a Twitter firestorm after expressing his displeasure with Jurgen Klinsmann's selection process for the USMNT. You can read about it here. 

All four players face a tough road towards making the team. However, supplemental picks have found places on rosters. Look no further than former Union starting left back Jordan Harvey, who entered the league as a supplemental pick by the Colorado Rapids, as a Supplemental Draft success story.

Contact Us