By Ridge Mahoney and Will Kuhns
Will he or won't he?
The first of the 48 SuperDraft picks has all manner of intrigue attached to it, and whether or not Real Salt Lake coach John Ellinger uses that first selection to take U.S. under-17 midfielder Nikolas Besagno, as has been rumored, the building of two expansion franchises is just one of the subplots to what transpires at the MLS SuperDraft in Baltimore on Friday.
Nike Project-40 is no more, it has been replaced by ''Generation adidas,'' pseudo-hip term straight out of Madison Avenue. Generation Anything may or may not strike a chord with this generation of young Americans, but for players like Besagno, whom Ellinger coached at the U.S. U-17 residency program in Bradenton, Fla., before taking the Real Salt Lake job, this program and the institution of a limited reserve-team schedule offers opportunities for playing time their predecessors didn't have.
The draft's relevance and importance must be weighed against those other mechanisms MLS uses to acquire players, and of course, those processes and procedures and classifications and definitions have been revamped yet again. There will also be another draft, in perhaps two or three weeks, of another four rounds so teams can fill their developmental rosters as well as their regular 18-man squads.
Senior internationals per team have been increased from three to four, each team may sign up to three transitional internationals (aged 24 or younger) and the expansion teams are permitted to additional TIs for their first two seasons. The rules on discovery players are still being formulated.
Two teams have already used allocations: Ellinger has brought the — shall we say — flamboyant Clint Mathis back from Germany, and the Fire has acquired former U.S. under-20 John Thorrington. Dallas won a weighted lottery to get former U-20 defender Alex Yi, which further crowds a Dallas backline from which someone — maybe Steve Jolley — could be soon departing. There are also teams interested in Yi.
Defenders were also involved in a trade between San Jose and Los Angeles. Chris Aloisi went north and Todd Dunivant went south in a deal by which the Quakes acquired Alejandro Moreno and sent goalkeeper Steve Cronin. The teams also swapped first-round picks.
''There are a lot of defenders in this draft,'' said Crew coach Greg Andrulis, whose drafting last year of backliners Chad Marshall and Chris Wingert helped rebuild his team. ''There may not be the glamour players there were last year, like Freddy Adu, Clint Dempsey, Chad Marshall, those kinds of players who came in right away and made a difference, but there are a few teams with a lot of needs to fill on their rosters.''
Real Salt Lake and CD Chivas USA will pick — in that order — at the start of each of the four rounds, and rumors have been buzzing that Chivas USA coach Thomas Rongen will trade away that No. 2 pick in the first round.
GENERATION ADIDAS
Here are the dozen players that comprise the first ''Generation adidas''
M Nikolas Besagno (U.S. U-17s) 16
G Brad Guzan (South Carolina) 20
D Drew Moor (Indiana) 20
D Hunter Freeman* (Virginia) 20
D Michael Parkhurst (Wake Forest) 20
F Chad Barrett* (UCLA) 19
F Will John* (St. Louis) 19
F Ryan Pore (Tulsa) 21
D Tim Ward* (St. Louis) 17
F Quavas Kirk (U.S. U-17s) 16
F Jamie Watson (North Carolina) 18
F Christian Jimenez (South Florida) 18
*U.S. under-20
According to one college coach who has seen the U-17s on several occasions, Besagno, a holding midfielder from Maple Valley, Wash. ''already has a pro's body'' and is ''the real deal.'' Other reviews from his performance at the MLS Combine were not quite so complimentary.
The U-20 players on Sigi Schmid's team could be called away frequently for camps and preparation games as well as the World Youth Championship in the Netherlands June 10-July 2. That will be a consideration if they are taken to fill an immediate need.
Along with UC Santa Barbara's New Zealand international, Tony Lochhead, a senior, underclassmen Moor, Freeman and Parkhurst are among the main reasons this draft is thought to be strong defensively. Guzan is an excellent prospect but struggled in the torrential conditions during the combine. Jimenez is a crafty playmaker who will need a season or two or three of seasoning. The forwards have scored goals at the college level, and many coaches are eager to see what Pore can do at the pro level.
AMERICAN COLLEGIANS
The rest of the college bloc is thought to be solid if not necessary jaw-dropping, except for Indiana's Danny O'Rourke — capable of starting in MLS soon, according to many — and one or two others. A player like Washington's C.J. Klaas, whom several teams have been tracking for years and might be able to play in midfield as well as the back, gets extra marks for versatility.
M Danny O'Rourke (Indiana) 21
M Mike Enfield (UCLA) 21
D Jack Stewart (Notre Dame) 21
D Troy Roberts (California) 21
M Marcus Storey (North Carolina) 22
D C.J. Klaas (Washington) 21
M Luke Kreamalmeyer (Bradley) 22
D Steve Arias (Connecticut) 22
D Kevin Goldthwaite (Notre Dame) 22
D James Riley (Wake Forest) 22
G Chris Sawyer (Notre Dame) 22
M Amir Lowery (Wake Forest) 21
F Edwin Ruiz (Hartwick) 25#
F Orlando Ramirez (Fresno Pacific) 21
F Knox Cameron (Michigan) 21
D Tim Merritt (North Carolina) 22
#green card holder
Cameron showed particularly well at the rain-drenched combine but both have established reputations. Cameron is still regaining his form after knee surgery which kept him out for most of last year.
Kreamalmeyer won the Combine MVP award for an impressive display of tenacity and savvy and has been invited to attend the festivities in Baltimore. Stewart came to the Combine with high grades and should go high in the second round if not the first, Roberts has been solid for California in all four of his seasons
INTERNATIONAL COLLEGIANS
After Lochhead, Simone Salinno, who is from Italy, leads a host of players who are highly regarded internationals who will count against the league's restrictions unless they can get a green card. In order of their standing according to informal polls, they include:
D Tony Lochhead (UC Santa Barbara) 22 New Zealand
M Simone Salinno (St. John's) 23 Italy
F Scott Sealy (Wake Forest) 23 Trinidad & Tobago
D Guy Melamed (Boston College) 25 Israel
D Gonzalo Segares (VCU) 22 Costa Rica
M/F Thabizo Khumalo (Coastal Carolina) 24 South Africa
F Antouman Jallow (Wisconsin-Milwaukee) 23 Sweden
M Kevon Harris (Old Dominion) 23 Jamaica
F Alon Lubezky (Hartford) Israel 24
F Mubarike Chisoni (Coastal Carolina) 23 Zimbabwe