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Entering today's Supplemental Draft D.C. United held three picks, but in the end the Black-and-Red used only one of them, taking UCLA forward/midfielder Evan Raynr in the second round. Raynr was picked by some to go as early as the tail end of the SuperDraft (which is effectively the first two rounds of a broader "college draft" that also includes the four-round Supplemental Draft) but dropped to the 36th Suppie pick (or 74th pick overall). The word on Raynr is that he's a technical player who probably projects as a wide attacker in MLS - so he should fit right in with the likes of Chris Pontius and Nick DeLeon. In college, he wasn't the biggest goal threat for the Bruins, but he led the Pac-12 in assists and assists per game last season and was in the top ten in the country in both categories (top five in the latter), earning his way to second team all conference honors. Because he had an outside chance at having his name called in Indianapolis last week, MLS put together this (very) little highlight video for us:
United passed on its next selection, withdrawing the team from further participation in the draft.
Elsewhere in the Supplemental Draft, D.C. United Academy alum and Ohio State product Chris Hegngi went to the Portland Timbers with the 22nd Suppie pick. Recall that D.C. declined to sign Hegngi to a homegrown deal this winter - we'll have to see if he catches on with the Timbers.
Here is a list of other players with local connections who were taken today:
- Will Bates, a forward out of Virginia was selected by the Seattle Sounders with the fifth pick today.
- Andy Riemer went one pick later, the Georgetown forward/midfielder being taken by the LA Galaxy.
- Eric Schoenle, West Virginia defender, went twelfth to the Philadelphia Union.
- The Montreal Impact took Juan Arbelaez, a defender out of VCU, with the 47th pick today.
- George Mason's Taylor Morgan, a forward originally from Southampton, England, went 58th to Toronto FC. Got to wonder if he'd have been taken by United - in lieu of some guy named PASS - if Kevin Payne was here instead of there. Another guy we'll keep an eye on to see if he pans out.
Lending some weight to the popular theory that Kevin Payne is a loyal reader of B&RU, TFC also took Jose Gomez, a ChestRockwell favorite and our selection in the SB Nation mock draft. There are rumors that Gomez may be more interested in signing with a Mexican side than with MLS, so his slide from potential first round selection into the depths of the Suppies may have something to do with that.
A full list of the players selected today can be found here.
Let us hear your thoughts on Evan Raynr and the rest of the Supplemental Draft in the comments.