So they moved up the draft and you can just feel the excitement amongst the fans. Okay, so you can't and some out there feel it is superfluous to even have the draft anymore. Although, like other American sports traditions such as playoffs to establish a league champion, the draft continues to mean something overall to sports in this part of the world.
Many consider the A-League's draft as something of an exercise in futility while the league likely considers it the main way of deciding who gets the rights to some of the more coveted players around the league. Of course the alternatives are either allowing the league to decide where a player moves or wide open free agency that could send salaries skyward.
Either of those options could prove frightful for USL front offices and fans alike whether one side likes one option and the other does not. Either way, the draft does allow me the opportunity to opine a bit on some of the possible newcomers to the league. There's also the fact that it gives fans a little bit of a glance at what the front offices of many of the league's clubs believe is needed.
So here I am shaken out of my annual winter slumber to give you folks my take on this year's college daft…. I mean draft.
The Top Teams
These are the clubs that did the best with their picks in this year's draft. These teams include Charleston, Vancouver, Indiana, and Cincinnati among others.
Charleston did well by having lots of picks and making some adventurous choices of players who are on the cusp of being signed by MLS. The shrinking job market of MLS, though, may give the Battery some quality youth off the bench next season if they can sign Ryan Kneipper, Pat Noonan, or Matt Crawford. Noonan would do well to become Paul Conway's understudy while Kneipper is a good physical specimen who could become quite a strong player in the air against A-League opposition. Crawford could also develop quite nicely but would have to really bide his time in the ranks of a deep Battery midfield. Doug Warren would be the perfect young compliment to Todd Hoffard and Dusty Hudock to be groomed as the new number 2 if Hudock looks to retire in the near future or if the Battery for some reason want to trade away Hoffard.
Vancouver made an astute pick by taking Kevin Harmse. He's young and has a lot of potential. He showed some impressive flashes in Charleston, SC in November with the Canadian U20s and should help provide a little extra off the Whitecaps bench if they can sign him. It is possible that Harmse, like so many other Canadian youngsters, will look to develop in the European reserve system. The Whitecaps also selected Gordon Chin who has trained in England with Portsmouth's reserve squad and has collected four caps in the Canadian youth set-up. Both of these players could do well with 2-3 years of 'conditioning' in the A-League with the Whitecaps before moving to Europe. Harmse is currently receiving interest from Norwegian club Moss.
Indiana also did well in selecting Ben Higginbotham and John Swann who are a pair of players that fit in well with what Jimmy McDonald will be trying to accomplish in Indy. Their youth movement showed some dividends towards the end of last season and all indications right now are that they should be headed for more improvement in 2003. I would also look for this club to try to pick up a few other college youngsters from the free agent ranks prior to the first practices of the year.
Pittsburgh is turning into the University of South Carolina - North at this point after selecting forward turned midfielder Joey Worthen last season and now taking defender Tim Glowienka from Columbia. Glowienka is a speedy, though slightly undersized, defender who has a good head on his shoulders and a fair amount of speed. He will need to learn from the veterans and put on a little more muscle but his usually positive attitude, continuous hustle, and his previous experience with Bradenton in the PDL should make him an asset to the Hounds in the future. We could also see him turned into a midfielder in a defensive stopper role. Brent Jacquette is another player that could provide youth and depth to the Hounds back-line. He and Glowienka continue last year's trend as Jacquette was picked out of Penn State, the same school that Derek Potteiger was picked from in last season's draft (while Glowienka came from Worthen's alma mater).
Cincinnati did well in picking midfielder Ryan Mack out of Jerry Yeagley's Indiana program and defender Jason Cole from St. Louis. Mack does have a slight chance of making it to MLS but it is likely that he could wind up in the A-League for some time. Their biggest question is whether or not they can afford to sign these kids. If Cole is able to line up in front of Ueltschey (provided he returns to the team) and Mack can settle into midfield for 15 or 20 games this season the Riverhawks could really make some progress. If not, it's another all too typical season for this team. Still, these were a couple of astute picks by the club.
Minnesota tried to patch up the one thing that caused them consistent problems last season and that was a lack of depth in back. Graham Taylor out of Stanford, at 6'4" and nearly 200 pounds, provides an imposing presence in the back but playing alongside U.S. Under 20 defender Chad Marshall had to make him look even better this year. Brown defender, Dustin Branan, will be looking to make Mom and Dad (also known as the operators of the PDL's Greenville Lions) proud as he comes into the Thunder fold. Nominated All-Ivy and considered a very steady defensive presence he also provides another big youngster (6'3" 195) for the Minnesota defense.
Richmond and Atlanta each had one pick thanks to a complicated trade that also involved the Battery last season. The Kickers took dynamic Stanford attacker Roger Levesque with their choice and the Silverbacks chose Chris Goos from UNC - Greensboro. If Josh Henderson does indeed stay "retired" Levesque could be a slightly bigger, stronger version (6'2" compared to Henderson's 6') provided of course that he signs with the Kickers and not MLS which is rumored to be highly interested in the Hermann nominee. Goos provides another option for the crowded Atlanta midfield and if not overlooked should develop into a fine A-League player provided he gets some decent playing time. Either way, for each team to only have one pick they did well.
Rochester took two players who should provide more than enough to cover for what they just lost in trading away Greg Simmonds. Damani Ralph and Alex Blake look like players who may be able to contribute off of the bench in the next couple of seasons if brought along at a reasonable pace by Pat Ercoli. After making the trade with Richmond and then picking these two (in addition to getting David Hayes from Richmond) it really looks like Ercoli succeeded at pulling a fast one on the other teams in the league. We'll see if they can sign this pair and if they can prove themselves but on paper this draft looks good for the Rhinos.
For some reason I really like Milwaukee's draft. I think Nick Walls could be converted if Sucevic can't find a place at forward for him. Mike Tranchilla is a guy who theoretically should wind up in MLS but it appears that he's been a little overlooked by the league. Even if he does get picked by an MLS club I still think he'll play in the A-League next season. If the Rampage sign him, keep Miguel Saavedra around to get him balls out of midfield, and John Wolyniec is alongside him their chances of a repeat will increase. This was a good draft for the Rampage if they can get the right signatures.
Wait and See
El Paso and Syracuse among others comprise this group of teams that will be waiting to see if their picks will bear fruit. So will we.
El Paso pretty much mystifies me with their choosing Tim Pierce. This guy really looks headed for an MLS bench role (read: Sigi Schmid's pine with the Galaxy) or a lower division European stint. For some reason I doubt this kid will sign with El Paso. If he does then the Pats might finally have found a young guy who can get the ball a little closer to net than several of last season's players. Hamlet Diaz is a mystery but then again the overall Patriots team is one as well. The defense for the Pats was bad enough so it doesn't hurt that they grabbed a youngster to bolster their defensive depth. Interestingly, though, he was a gifted goal-scorer at the NCCAA (yes, two Cs) level and wore the 9 shirt at Roberts Wesleyan. Despite this he was listed by the league and Pats as a defender. We'll have to wait and see where he actually winds up but at 5'11" who knows? Regardless the A-League will be a huge step up for this guy.
Syracuse chose Michael Ritch who scored 29 goals last season for Auburn - Montgomery with the first pick in the draft but those goals largely came against suspect opposition. Still, 29 goals is 29 goals and Syracuse needed to pick somebody. Even so, it seems a little suspect that Laurie Calloway thinks this much of a youngster that hasn't quite played at the highest level. Guido Cristophori seems like a local pick to fill out the numbers but we'll just have to wait and see what kind of supporting cast these kids get.
Portland really epitomizes the "wait and see" category of the draft. Curtis Spiteri will be a good back up for Napoleon in coming years and Ryan Coiner could be someone who pitches in off of the bench in about 3-4 years but he's not quite there yet. If he sees a lot of time then he could have even more of an impact even sooner but we'll just have to… wait and see.
Montreal's big question will be to see when or if their picks will be able to step up to the full Impact squad. Larry McDonald appears to be a solid defender and at the age of 25 he should already be close to having the mental aspect of his game down. Andrew Oliveiri is another in a nice crop of young goalkeepers available in this draft especially with his PDL experience. He should provide good cover for whomever Bob Lilley decides to go with regularly in net.
Calgary selected a rail of a midfielder in Terry Bell out of the University of British Columbia who may be able to contribute to next year's Storm squad but after last year's run there's only a select few who might feel secure in their places on that team. If the Storm are able to woo Flavio Monteiro into signing for them it will be a huge coup but that's another wait and see item. Bell is a bit of a question mark and Monteiro is certainly a player many clubs may be after as well they should. If Bell can add some size to his frame and make the transition and if Monteiro can be enticed to Canada the Storm will have managed quite a nice draft. However, those are some serious considerations that are awaiting outcomes.
Ummm… Not so Good
The title says it all. Who knows what these teams were going for and who knows if they really addressed any of their needs?
What I'm not too sure about is Charlotte taking Messiah's Hayden Woolworth instead of his college teammate, forward Greg Giordano, whose numbers look a little better on paper but this is why they have the coaching jobs and I'm just… well, you folks know. They did select forward Lee Paul who could fit in well with their plans but he's not a player that looks likely to take the league by storm.
Virginia Beach opted to take a pair of project players under their wings in selecting Machel Millwood and Francis Wakhishi. Millwood has some USL experience after playing with Chesapeake in the PDL and Wakhishi does bring some interesting skills to the table but there's a nagging feeling that there was a better selection out there for a club in so much need in so many areas.
Toronto took Justin Thompson, who may be able to produce at this level, and Chris Williams with their picks in the draft. The biggest reason they got put into this category is because it simply doesn't look like either of these picks is enough of an upgrade or a fix of any kind for this team. It really seems like Toronto doesn't think much of the draft as a mechanism to help them get closer to the league championship. Then again, do we really have any proof that the draft does help at all in that aim?
Seattle needed to do something about their defense and maybe even goalkeeping as I just haven't been convinced by Preston Burpo in the past while their back line got shown up in the playoffs last year. It's all well and good to pick a couple of defenders who are at least 6' tall but it seems strange that these were the two Seattle picked. Zac Tallman is a bit overrated from what I saw of him this year for what was a surprisingly porous University of Washington defense (especially in a 6-3 defeat to Oregon State) and you're asking a lot of Michael Pardini to produce at this level. Tallman may turn out to be a good player in the long run but one has to wonder how much scouting the Sounders did and how seriously they take the draft?
So there you have it, my marathon take on the 2002 A-League draft. Really, the draft is all about how seriously you take it. Some players, fans, and clubs take it a lot more seriously than others. It's always hard to tell who the winners and losers will be this early but it's always interesting to talk about it. So how seriously do you take the draft?
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