Clemson defender Hamady Diop was the first pick in Major League Soccer’s SuperDraft on Wednesday by Charlotte FC.
MLS expansion team St. Louis City SC traded out of the No. 1 overall spot, swapping first-round selections (plus $400,000 in General Allocation Money) with Charlotte FC, last season’s expansion team.
Charlotte FC has made the No. 1 pick in consecutive drafts, having picked Ben Bender out of Maryland in the 2022 draft. This is the first time a team picked No. 1 in consecutive drafts since D.C. United selected Alecko Eskandarian and Freddy Adu with the top selections in the 2003 and 2004 drafts.
The 6-foot, 186-pound Diop was a second-team All-ACC selection during both the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
There will be three rounds in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft.
2023 MLS SuperDraft first-round picks
1. Charlotte FC (from St. Louis SC) — Hamady Diop, defender, Clemson
2. Orlando City SC (from DC United) — Shakur Mohammed, forward, Duke
3. Colorado Rapids (from Toronto FC) — Moise Bombito, defender, New Hampshire
4. New England Revolution (from San Jose Earthquakes) — Joshua Bolma, midfielder, Maryland
5. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (from Houston Dynamo FC) — J.C. Ngando, midfielder, UNC Greensboro
6. Orlando City SC (from Chicago Fire FC) — Duncan McGuire, forward, Creighton
7. Real Salt Lake (from Atlanta United FC) — Ilijah Paul, forward, Washington
8. Sporting Kansas City — Stephen Afrifa, forward, Florida International
9. St. Louis City SC (from Seattle Sounders FC) — Owen O’Malley, midfielder, Creighton
10. San Jose Earthquakes (from New England Revolution) — Daniel Munie, defender, Indiana
11. Nashville SC (from Charlotte FC) — Joey Skinner, defender, Clemson
12. Charlotte FC (from Colorado Rapids) — Patrick Agyemang, forward, Rhode Island
13. Austin FC (from Vancouver Whitecaps FC through Houston Dynamo FC) — CJ Fodrey, midfielder, San Diego State
14. Columbus Crew — Maximilian Arfsten, forward, San Jose Earthquakes II
15. Portland Timbers — Noel Caliskan, midfielder, Loyola Marymount
16. Real Salt Lake — Bertin Jacquesson, forward, Pittsburgh
17. Orlando City SC — Abdi Salim, defender, Syracuse
18. Inter Miami CF — Cole Jensen, goalkeeper, Xavier
19. Minnesota United FC — Ryen Jiba, defender, Union Omaha
20. Austin FC (from Nashville SC through Charlotte FC and St. Louis SC) — Valentin Noel, midfielder, Pittsburgh
21. New York Red Bulls — Elian Haddock, goalkeeper, Yale
22. FC Cincinnati — Joey Akpunonu, defender, Bowling Green
23. Los Angeles Galaxy — Gino Vivi, forward, Central Florida
24. FC Dallas — Herbert Endeley, forward, Indiana
25. Real Salt Lake (from CF Montréal) — Emeka Eneli, forward, Cornell
26. New York City FC — Malcolm Johnston, midfielder, Maryland
27. Columbus Crew (from Austin FC through Houston Dynamo FC) — Xavier Zengue, defender, Dayton
28. Philadelphia Union — Holden Trent, goalkeeper, High Point
29. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (from Los Angeles FC) — Levonte Johnson, forward, Syracuse
