1996 MLS College Draft

College draft for soccer teams August 2023 The 1996 Major League Soccer College Draft was held on March 4, 1996, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. History As Major League Soccer prepared for its first season, the league began stocking teams with players. As the teams were being created at the same time, the league adopted a measured approach to building rosters. First, the league allocated four "big name" players to each team. Then on February 6 and 7, 1996, the league held its 1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft. Over sixteen rounds, teams selected players from any source. Then on March 4, 1996, the league held a three-round draft of collegiate players. The 1996 MLS Supplemental Draft was held later the same day. ^ Denotes player who has been inducted to the US Soccer Hall of Fame * Denotes player who has been selected for an MLS Best XI team Round 1 Pick # MLS team Player Position Affiliation 1 Kansas City Wiz#1: D.C. United → Kansas City Wiz. 3 March 1996: Kansas City Wiz acquired this first-round pick and goalkeeper Garth Lagerwey from D.C. United in exchange for goalkeeper Jeff Causey. "R1 trade" Matt McKeon M St. Louis University 2 D.C. United#2: New York/New Jersey MetroStars → D.C. United. 3 March 1996: D.C. United acquired this first-round selection from New York/New Jersey MetroStars in exchange for first-round (#1) and third-round (#21) picks in the 1996 MLS Supplemental Draft. "R1 trade" Eddie Pope D University of North Carolina 3 Dallas Burn#3: San Jose Clash → New York/New Jersey MetroStars → Dallas Burn. 4 March 1996: Dallas Burn acquired this first-round selection from New York/New Jersey MetroStars in exchange for a first-round pick (#8) in the 1996 MLS Supplemental Draft. On 26 February 1996, in the first trade in league history, New York/New Jersey had acquired this first-round pick and midfielder Rhett Harty from San Jose Clash in exchange for defender Troy Dayak. "R1 trade" Brandon Pollard D University of Virginia 4 Tampa Bay Mutiny Adam Frye D UCLA 5 Kansas City Wiz Chris Snitko GK UCLA 6 New England Revolution Paul Keegan F Boston College 7 Los Angeles Galaxy Guillermo Jara F University of San Diego 8 Dallas Burn Jeff Cassar GK Florida International University 9 Colorado Rapids Mike Gentile M University of Wisconsin–Madison 10 Columbus Crew Mac Cozier F UNC-Charlotte Round 1 trades R1 trade Round 2 Pick # MLS team Player Position Affiliation 11 New York/New Jersey MetroStars#11: D.C. United → New York/New Jersey MetroStars. 4 March 1996: New York/New Jersey MetroStars acquired this second-round pick, a second-round selection (#11) in the 1996 MLS Supplemental Draft, and goalkeeper Matthew Olson from D.C. United in exchange for a first-round pick (#8) in the 1996 Supplemental Draft. "R2 trade" Scott Lamphear D University of Wisconsin–Madison 12 New York/New Jersey MetroStars Miles Joseph F Clemson University 13 San Jose Clash Derick Brownell F Santa Clara University 14 Tampa Bay Mutiny Casey Sweeney M Butler University 15 Kansas City Wiz Diego Gutierrez M Rockhurst University 16 New England Revolution Imad Baba M Clemson University 17 Los Angeles Galaxy Greg Vanney M UCLA 18 Tampa Bay Mutiny#18: Dallas Burn → Tampa Bay Mutiny. 4 March 1996: Tampa Bay Mutiny acquired this second-round pick from Dallas Burn in exchange for a second-round selection (#14) in the 1996 MLS Supplemental Draft. "R2 trade" Steve Ralston M Florida International University 19 Colorado Rapids Paul Grafer GK William & Mary College 20 Columbus Crew Ricci Greenwood F Seattle Pacific University Round 2 trades R2 trade Round 3 Pick # MLS team Player Position Affiliation 21 D.C. United Jesse Marsch M Princeton University 22 New York/New Jersey MetroStars Hamisi Amani-Dove F Rutgers University 23 San Jose Clash Eddie Lewis F UCLA 24 Tampa Bay Mutiny Nate Daligcon D Seattle Pacific University 25 Kansas City Wiz Dion Sebwe D Park University 26 New England Revolution Paulo Dos Santos M University of Rhode Island 27 Los Angeles Galaxy Ante Razov F UCLA 28 Dallas Burn Brandon Cavitt M Sacramento State University 29 Colorado Rapids PASS 30 Columbus Crew Todd Miller M Westminster College Round 3 trades No trades reported. References 2 "ref" 2014 SuperDraft Book http://pressbox.mlssoccer.com/sites/g/files/g211536/f/201401/2014_SUPERDRAFT_BOOK_0.pdf Major League Soccer 4 December 2014 December 5, 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20141205085614/http://pressbox.mlssoccer.com/sites/g/files/g211536/f/201401/2014_SUPERDRAFT_BOOK_0.pdf live MLS: Transactions http://www.socceramerica.com/article/15591/mls-transactions.html Soccer America 4 March 1996 4 December 2014 December 9, 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20141209142408/http://www.socceramerica.com/article/15591/mls-transactions.html live Soccer Report https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/27/sports/soccer-report.html Yannis Alex New York Times 27 February 1996 4 December 2014 March 6, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160306153934/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/27/sports/soccer-report.html live Category:Major League Soccer drafts Draft MLS College Draft Category:Soccer in Florida Category:Sports in Fort Lauderdale, Florida Category:Organized events in Fort Lauderdale, Florida MLS College Draft