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Clemson’s Hamady Diop selected No. 1 in MLS draft by Charlotte FC

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Clemson defender Hamady Diop was the first pick in Major League Soccer’s SuperDraft on Wednesday by Charlotte FC.

MLS expansion team St. Louis City SC traded out of the No. 1 overall spot, swapping first-round selections (plus $400,000 in General Allocation Money) with Charlotte FC, last season’s expansion team. 

Charlotte FC has made the No. 1 pick in consecutive drafts, having picked Ben Bender out of Maryland in the 2022 draft. This is the first time a team picked No. 1 in consecutive drafts since D.C. United selected Alecko Eskandarian and Freddy Adu with the top selections in the 2003 and 2004 drafts.

The 6-foot, 186-pound Diop was a second-team All-ACC selection during both the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

There will be three rounds in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft. 

2023 MLS SuperDraft first-round picks

1. Charlotte FC (from St. Louis SC) — Hamady Diop, defender, Clemson

2. Orlando City SC (from DC United) — Shakur Mohammed, forward, Duke

3. Colorado Rapids (from Toronto FC) — Moise Bombito, defender, New Hampshire

4. New England Revolution (from San Jose Earthquakes) — Joshua Bolma, midfielder, Maryland

5. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (from Houston Dynamo FC) — J.C. Ngando, midfielder, UNC Greensboro

6. Orlando City SC (from Chicago Fire FC) — Duncan McGuire, forward, Creighton

7. Real Salt Lake (from Atlanta United FC) — Ilijah Paul, forward, Washington

8. Sporting Kansas City — Stephen Afrifa, forward, Florida International

9. St. Louis City SC (from Seattle Sounders FC) — Owen O’Malley, midfielder, Creighton

10. San Jose Earthquakes (from New England Revolution) — Daniel Munie, defender, Indiana

11. Nashville SC (from Charlotte FC) — Joey Skinner, defender, Clemson

12. Charlotte FC (from Colorado Rapids) — Patrick Agyemang, forward, Rhode Island

13. Austin FC (from Vancouver Whitecaps FC through Houston Dynamo FC) — CJ Fodrey, midfielder, San Diego State

14. Columbus Crew — Maximilian Arfsten, forward, San Jose Earthquakes II

15. Portland Timbers — Noel Caliskan, midfielder, Loyola Marymount

16. Real Salt Lake — Bertin Jacquesson, forward, Pittsburgh

17. Orlando City SC — Abdi Salim, defender, Syracuse

18. Inter Miami CF — Cole Jensen, goalkeeper, Xavier

19. Minnesota United FC — Ryen Jiba, defender, Union Omaha

20. Austin FC (from Nashville SC through Charlotte FC and St. Louis SC) — Valentin Noel, midfielder, Pittsburgh

21. New York Red Bulls — Elian Haddock, goalkeeper, Yale

22. FC Cincinnati — Joey Akpunonu, defender, Bowling Green

23. Los Angeles Galaxy — Gino Vivi, forward, Central Florida

24. FC Dallas — Herbert Endeley, forward, Indiana

25. Real Salt Lake (from CF Montréal) — Emeka Eneli, forward, Cornell

26. New York City FC — Malcolm Johnston, midfielder, Maryland

27. Columbus Crew (from Austin FC through Houston Dynamo FC) — Xavier Zengue, defender, Dayton

28. Philadelphia Union — Holden Trent, goalkeeper, High Point

29. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (from Los Angeles FC) — Levonte Johnson, forward, Syracuse

This post appeared first on USA TODAY