I was surprised to see a few omissions from the draft eligible list. This is a list that I saw that had a list of all of the players eligible to be drafted at the 2009 list.
It’s quite possible that the list that I have is wrong (for example, Keum Sung Kim is listed as attend Loyola – MARYLAND, close it’s the other one).
Additionally, it’s possible that some of these players have another year of eligibility. One other possibility is that a player has told MLS is that he is not interested in playing MLS. I’m sure that there are other reasons.
Here’s the list of the most surprising omissions:
- Danny Irizarry (OSU) – A team mate of new Columbus coach, Robert Warzycha and a critical central midfielder for the team that went to the 2007 NCAA finals. He was my 13th ranked player!
- Craig Henderson (Dartmouth) – A New Zealand international and Olympian. He was the engine for the Dartmouth Attack
- Tim Gabel (OSU) – Does Columbus not like OSU? Gabel is a rock at left back and may have been the key piece that lost the 2007 NCAA championship when he left injured.
- Seth Sinovic (Creighton) – Originally scheduled to be at the combine, but suffered an injury. Now not even on the list? Doesn’t make sense.
- Bright Dike (Notre Dame) – Since he didn’t play in 2007, he may have a year left of eligibility. Big forward in a class that is missing forward depth.
- Alen Husidic (UIC) – This surprised me, because I spoke to him at the combine (where he was watching his brother – and working the night spots, ahh to be young!). He told me that he was already on the list. Another source told me that 2 teams had requested that he be included.
It’s quite possible that this list is wrong. We’ll know in a few hours!
Jan 15, 2009 at 8:11 am
Sinovic is returning for 1 more year of college play per 3rddegree. Many years a few players make their way onto the draft list after the “initial” list is distributed, typical MLS. As with Keum Sung Kim, don’t 100% trust anything MLS releases.
Jan 15, 2009 at 8:31 am
Thanks for the Seth news. Buzz is the man.
Jan 15, 2009 at 11:01 am
this list is the one that they gave the media today. so if it’s wrong.
Jan 15, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Turns out one player not on the list (Karkas) was drafted.
some intern might have missed some names in the g-k section of the alphabet (Jordan Graye and Nate Jafta too?) when putting together the list? It could be that Ohio State didn’t follow up with MLS to get their players listed? Not a big deal anyway. Dike didn’t play in 2007, so I’d look out to see if he might return for a 5th year with a late medical redshirt.
Jan 15, 2009 at 8:45 pm
2/3 of the way through the draft, mlsnet finally put the list online. That and the elimination of an mlsnet video feed of the later rounds might point towards the theory of the league headquarters being stretched a bit thin.
Jan 16, 2009 at 9:32 am
I’m following up with MLS on Karkas.
Good analysis, maybe the G-K were left off. Because Sinovec and Dike could be going back to school.
Thanks.
Jan 16, 2009 at 7:48 pm
After further review, it’s not possible that it’s a consecutive range that is missed. For example, skipping the guys at the combine and GA, the following guys are included in the list between Gabel and Irizarry, Grasso, Griffin, Guppy, Gustafson, Gwyther, Hall, Imamura.
I have no valid explanation.
Jan 22, 2009 at 1:58 am
Hello Joe, I love your blog. I remember last season at the draft you did grades for each team on their draft, you doing that this year by any chance?
Feb 2, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Falco – thanks.
I’m tied up with work stuff for the next several weeks. I doubt that I’ll put together anything.