(Dave Kasper, Chris Pontius, Rodney Wallace, Tom Soehn)
Greetings from America's Ballroom at the St. Louis Convention Center in very chilly downtown St. Lou. Today's the big day for teams around the League as everyone looks to add a few promising young players to their roster.
Cristina gave you all the important information and links in her previous post, so be sure to read up.
Today's draft will consist of four rounds and 60 total picks. I'll be bringing you periodic updates from the draft floor and introduce you to the team's newest players. Should be fun.
12:07 PM: I have nothing exciting to report. The draft floor is still quiet, save for a few last minute adjustments being made by various crews.
12:09 PM: Check that, Mr. Soccer Insider is in the house. Very exciting indeed!
12:18 PM: A reminder that the most updated draft order can be found at mlsnet.com's DraftTracker. Sick!
1:09 PM: The coaching staff is in the house and rocking their matching DCU team suits and ties.
1:17 PM: D.C. United Co-Managing Partners Will Chang and Victor MacFarlane are also in the house, talking strategy with the coaching staff and President & CEO Kevin Payne and General Manager Dave Kasper. In a suit and tie, Mr. MacFarlane is also sporting a DCU cap.
1:56 PM: Things are starting to roll now - fans are in the building, players are in their seats and Commissioner Don Garber is giving his opening remarks ahead of the start of the draft...
2:10 PM: And we're underway.. Seattle just made their first ever pick, and we're just a few picks away from making two in a row..
2:29 PM: United's first pick of the 09 draft is local product Rodney Wallace. The defender from the University of Maryland (a Generation adidas player) scored three goals and provided three assists during the 2008 season.
2:37 PM: United's second pick is UC Santa Barbara's Chris Pontius. The forward notched 14 goals and 4 assists during his senior season.
2:46 PM: As a reminder, United's next picks come in the second round, #21 and 26.
3:39 PM: PSHEW! Just ran through a ton of interviews with Rodney and Chris - both seem like great guys and are, understandably, very excited about being drafted. R
odney of course is a hometown kid being from Rockville. One neat note - Rodney and Chris played on the same team at the MLS Combine and had good things to say about the other. I grabbed each for a few minutes and will have a Q&A up soon. Our next pick is just around the corner.
3:50 PM: Milos Kocic was the guy named by our coaches - a goalkeeper out of Loyola College in Maryland. Assistant Coach Chad Ashton tells me he's a big guy - in the 6-4 range. Another pick just around the corner..
4:11 PM: Wake Forest defender Lyle Adams was the choice with the 26th overall pick. One more to go (36th overall) and that will wrap up United's 2009 SuperDraft (barring any trades, of course)..
5:00 PM: The fifth and final United draft pick is midfielder/forward Brandon Barklage from St. Louis University.
