If the Portland Timbers perception agrees with prevailing opinion, then this morning one of two Akron Zips will become the franchise’s first selection in the Major League Soccer Super Draft.
Forward Darlington Nagbe and defender/midfielder Perry Kitchen helped Akron win its first national title in any sport in the fall and are expected to be the first two players selected during today’s three-round draft.
The Timbers, who in March will kick off their inaugural MLS season, hold the second pick in the league’s draft of available college players. They also hold the No. 20 and No. 22 overall picks.
The draft, being held in Baltimore, begins at 9 a.m. PST. The first round will be carried live on ESPN2 (Comcast cable channel 36).
Kitchen and Nagbe are projected as the top two picks by many observers. Unless technical director Gavin Wilkinson and head coach John Spencer pull off a surprise, Portland figures to end up with one of those two not selected with the top pick by the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Nagbe is a junior who on Friday was named national player of the year by Division I college coaches after scoring seven goals and dishing out 13 assists this season.
Kitchen, a defender and defensive midfield player, was the captain for the under-17 U.S. National Team for the 2009 World Cup in Nigeria. He has been praised for his leadership and soccer intelligence, and scored a pair of key goals from long range in the playoffs for Akron.
Akron defenders Kofi Sarkodie and Zarek Valentin, Indiana forward Will Bruin, and North Carolina defender Jalil Anibaba, are other possible high draft picks.
A total of 54 players, most of them from American colleges, will be selected in today’s three-round draft. Next week, MLS will hold a supplemental fourth round.
