2009 Draft Prospects

[Sullivan]

With three 1st round draft picks, maybe its time to start looking at what Mo might do with them.

This is the first list I've seen, credit to scaryice at climibing the ladder (Professor was right about the other lists - it was created by scaryice too) and since Professor has moved on I'll try and pick up the pieces but I won't have much to offer as Prof gave me a lot of info (like this list minus his usual comments) but is now in a position of conflict, so there's no point in asking him.


G Zack Simmons Massachusetts - best there is and better than Edwards

D Calum Angus Saint Louis
D Chris Clements Tulsa
D David Tyrie Central Conn. St.
D John Pardini Fordham
D Kevon Neaves South Florida
D Liam Parrington Hartwick
D Matt Besler Notre Dame
D Rhett Bernstein Brown
D Yohance Marshall South Florida

M Akeem Priestley Connecticut
M Alejandro Bedoya Boston College
M Andrei Gotsmanov Creighton
M Brad Ring Indiana
M Chris DeAbreau St. Peter's
M Chris Wright New Mexico
M Eric Sweetin Saint Louis
M George John Washington
M Joshua Boateng Liberty
M Kyle Patterson Saint Louis
M Michael Fucito Harvard
M Patrick Murray Furman
M Ryan Maduro Providence
M Sam Cronin Wake Forest
M Toni Stahl Connecticut
M Trevor Banks Old Dominion
M Yan Klukowski Central Conn. St.

F Brad Peters Eastern Illinois
F Chris Pontius UC Santa Barbara
F Daniel Revivo Winthrop
F Graciano Brito Quinnipiac
F Marcus Tracy Wake Forest
F Mike Grella Duke
F O'Brian White Connecticut

[Oldtimer]

O'Brian White is clearly the most exciting prospect on the list. Not only is he a good forward, but being Canadian he is of particular interest to TFC.

[Fort York Redcoat]

If he's the best overall, fine. But I want to see Toronto take the attitude that these Canadians will want to play for us anyway. It may not be where the club is at right now but it's where I think we want to be.

I'm thinking a defender would be a priority as well.

[NF-FC]

with 3 first rounders i'd take OBW, an attacking mid that can take defenders one on one, and another defender

[BuSaPuNk]

We have first overall pick this year?

[TFC 420]

We have first overall pick this year?

No. Seattle has first pick

[Canary Canuck]

O'Brian White is clearly the most exciting prospect on the list. Not only is he a good forward, but being Canadian he is of particular interest to TFC.

This is a common misconception. O'Brian White is NOT Canadian. He was born and raised in Jamaica and had a cup of coffee attending high school in Toronto before heading off to UConn. On top of that he's inelgible to ever play for Canada having represented Jamaica in official competitions at various youth levels and is now over the age of 21 which is FIFA's deadline for switching countries.

[NF-FC]

This is a common misconception. O'Brian White is NOT Canadian. He was born and raised in Jamaica and had a cup of coffee attending high school in Toronto before heading off to UConn. On top of that he's inelgible to ever play for Canada having represented Jamaica in official competitions at various youth levels and is now over the age of 21 which is FIFA's deadline for switching countries.

he hasn't played for Jamaica's senior squad, which means he's still able to switch if he wants to

[Fort York Redcoat]

Yay! He likes our coffee! He's Red and White all the way!

[JonO]

This is a common misconception. O'Brian White is NOT Canadian. He was born and raised in Jamaica and had a cup of coffee attending high school in Toronto before heading off to UConn. On top of that he's inelgible to ever play for Canada having represented Jamaica in official competitions at various youth levels and is now over the age of 21 which is FIFA's deadline for switching countries.

I don't believe that's the point. The point is whether or not he would qualify as "Canadian" under MLS rules, which (and I may be mistaken) does not relate to which team you are eligible to play for internationally...

[BakaGaijin]

I don't believe that's the point. The point is whether or not he would qualify as "Canadian" under MLS rules, which (and I may be mistaken) does not relate to which team you are eligible to play for internationally...

Exactly. He does qualify as a Canadian. He must have landed immigrant status or something to that effect.

[Fort York Redcoat]

Yeah as we all know MLS aren't aligned with FIFA on all things.

This Canadian vs American spots are a real sore point.

[Big Bruva]

Yeah i hear what ya saying, if O'B got drafted to TFC he would want to play here trust me.

He is Jamaican first and Canadian second lol but has a lot of family and friends here.

If he's the best overall, fine. But I want to see Toronto take the attitude that these Canadians will want to play for us anyway. It may not be where the club is at right now but it's where I think we want to be.

I'm thinking a defender would be a prority as well.

[Big Bruva]

O'B will be playing for the Jamaican National team very soon.

This is a common misconception. O'Brian White is NOT Canadian. He was born and raised in Jamaica and had a cup of coffee attending high school in Toronto before heading off to UConn. On top of that he's inelgible to ever play for Canada having represented Jamaica in official competitions at various youth levels and is now over the age of 21 which is FIFA's deadline for switching countries.

[Canary Canuck]

Please explain how he's going to qualify as a domestic.

- Not born here
- Not raised here
- Pretty sure he's not a citizen
- According to Big Bruva will be with the full Jamaican nats very soon.

I fail to see how spending a few years in Toronto is enough to qualify as a Domestic.

[JonO]

Please explain how he's going to qualify as a domestic.

- Not born here
- Not raised here
- Pretty sure he's not a citizen
- According to Big Bruva will be with the full Jamaican nats very soon.

I fail to see how spending a few years in Toronto is enough to qualify as a Domestic.

That's the question right there now, isn't it? Does he or does he not have citizenship or permanent resident status? My understanding is that either of those two would qualify him as Canadian for MLS purposes

[Canary Canuck]

he hasn't played for Jamaica's senior squad, which means he's still able to switch if he wants to

Not the case. Playing in official competitions at youth level which O'brian has done in U17 and U20 world cup qualifying is enough to cap tie a player. They have the chance to to switch before they turn 21. Rene Simoes wanted Jermaine Pennant for Jamaica and was unable to get him due to his participation U21 qualifiers for England. Qatar is in a huge mess right now because they fielded the Brazilian Emerson in a June qualifier against Iraq (which Qatar won 1-0 to advance at Iraq's expense) without knowing that he had played for Brazil at youth level. Under the rules the game must be forfeited and Iraq is going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to get it overturned. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/0...___corrected_1

[arsenal]

Please explain how he's going to qualify as a domestic.

- Not born here
- Not raised here
- Pretty sure he's not a citizen
- According to Big Bruva will be with the full Jamaican nats very soon.

I fail to see how spending a few years in Toronto is enough to qualify as a Domestic.

All he would need is permanent resident status. Same way Guevara, Ruiz, Marshall etc all qualify as domestics for American teams because they got their green cards.

[Hugh Jazz]

I just hope we don't use all three picks to draft players, we should use at least one if not two picks to make strong trades before next season.

There are too many roster restrictions for it to be possible to:
a) field a strong starting XI comprised mostly of veteran players
b) give three first round picks sufficient playing time to develop and integrate into the team.
c) continue working on getting some of the dev. roster players playing with and at the same level of our first team.

Using all three drafts will probably force Mo to make an unfavourable trade mid-season, ala Phelan.

[ccopela]

I just hope we don't use all three picks to draft players, we should use at least one if not two picks to make strong trades before next season.

There are too many roster restrictions for it to be possible to:
a) field a strong starting XI comprised mostly of veteran players
b) give three first round picks sufficient playing time to develop and integrate into the team.
c) continue working on getting some of the dev. roster players playing with and at the same level of our first team.

Using all three drafts will probably force Mo to make an unfavourable trade mid-season, ala Phelan.

I agree with this it would make more sense to trade a first round pick for an established player. I think 1 of the first round picks for a player like Adrian Serioux would make sense. We're not going to get a domestic player that high in the draft anyways so why not trade for him and help our domestic content. Not to mention the fact that he's a decent defender in this league. I'd say trade for Will Johnson as well but he's impressed too much at RSL i think so that's probably out of the question.

[jloome]

I think it's frightening that people even get excited at the prospect of MLS draftees making an impact; if these kids were at the level to compete professionally, most of them would be scouted and signed before hitting MLS, because you can sign a kid to a pro contract once he turns 18.

There have been some good players come out of college (Twellman and McBride would be obvious ones) but you're not going to get many come into the league and have a team-lifting impact. White, by report, has all the tools. But it's an entirely different speed and intensity at the pro level, even in MLS. If we get him, I wouldn't expect 10 goals out of him out of the gate; it's unrealistic.

[Fort York Redcoat]

Edu is like a best case scenario. Highly touted with a good first year then sell him for millions as he starts to nosedive. The draft will most likely be trade bait for players more accomplished. Still, it's something to look forward to.

[Big Bruva]

Just to clear things up after talking to O'Brian he is a landed immigrant

[Ossington Mental Youth]

gotta agree too much emphasis is put on these draft picks to do well right out the gate. Im pretty sure that Obrien is canadian or has canadian citizenship. hes been here since he was 16 then moved to the states to go to uni...

[ccopela]

anyone know if Tosaint Ricketts is on the MLS draft radar at all? Probably not first round but he impressed with Canada U-20 and U-23 teams and he's had at least 1 trial in Europe. I think he'd be a great late round pick up for TFC.

[Ossington Mental Youth]

I think hes already playing in Europe in Norway or something to that effect

[Ossington Mental Youth]

Just to clear things up after talking to O'Brian he is a landed immigrant

There ya have it folks
Without getting into semantics hes more or less considered a Canadian and would be considered an international in teh US

[ccopela]

I think hes already playing in Europe in Norway or something to that effect

No He's definitely still playing in Wisconsin for Green Bay because I just checked there website and he's started their last few games

[Ossington Mental Youth]

nice!
Gotta figure he'd be a target too, also maybe for San Jose but outside of that i doubt he'll go high in the draft

[ccopela]

nice!
Gotta figure he'd be a target too, also maybe for San Jose but outside of that i doubt he'll go high in the draft

He's scored a couple goals so far this year. He's also had a bit of exposure to American teams seeing as he scored a hat trick against the Americans in a pre U-20 world cup exhibition game. I'd find it hard to believe he won't be drafted from what I've seen of him. But I've never seen him in collegiate soccer and I am by no means an expert