:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70374013/Isaiah_Parker.0.jpg)
Major League Soccer’s yearly selection of college players takes place today. You can stream the draft starting at 2 PM central on mlssoccer.com and the league’s social media accounts Even for the most die-hard of soccer followers and MLS fans, college soccer is a relative unknown. The Dynamo currently hold the 4th pick in today’s first round, so let’s take a look at a few players who could be putting on orange jerseys (for the Dynamo or Dynamo 2) this upcoming season.
F Isaiah Parker, Saint Louis
A Generation Adidas player, Parker scored 3 goals and added 7 assists for Saint Louis as a freshman in 2021. The Illinois native played for FC United Soccer Club before going to college and helped that club when multiple titles in the lower division. Some pundits see Parker more as a wingback at the MLS level. His high ceiling makes him an enticing pick at number four.
F Ousseni Bouda, Stanford
Houston has a number of winger/forward types on the roster already but a player like Bouda may be hard to pass on. The Dynamo could do well to grab a Generation adidas attacker with high upside and let him learn the ropes early on. Bouda was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2019 before missing the 2020 season due to injury. He scored five goals and added nine assists in his junior season in 2021, earning first team all-conference honors.
F Kyle Holcomb, Wake Forest
Holcomb is a goal scorer and his consistent scoring at the college level bodes well for a transition to professional soccer. Like Bouda, he could be a player that the Dynamo look to develop with Dynamo 2. Even with the reported arrival of Seabstian Ferreira, center forward remains a thin spot in the Houston roster. Holcomb could be that player if this is the direction Pat Onstad and the front office go.
D Ryan Sailor, Washington
The Dynamo took a center back from the University of Washington in last year’s draft (Ethan Bartlow) and they could do it again this time around. Sailor was a First Team All-American and Pac-12 Defender of the Year in 2021. The big man can also be a weapon on the offensive end with 10 goals scored in his last two seasons at Washington.
GK Ryan Celentano, Indiana
Steve Clark signed as a free-agent but the 35 year-old won’t be the long term solution in goal. If the new front office isn’t impressed with Michael Nelson, perhaps they take a goalkeeper. Celentano is another Generation adidas player and this season became the first goalkeeper in Big Ten history to win Goalkeeper of the Year multiple times. He posted eleven shutouts in 2021, including a streak of seven in a row.