1997 MLS College Draft

The 1997 Major League Soccer College Draft was held on February 1 and 2, 1997 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.^[1] The draft took place in conjunction with the Umbro Select College All-Star Classic. The first round of the draft took place at halftime of the game and was broadcast live by Prime Sports. The second and third rounds of the draft took place February 2, 1997, beginning at 9:00 a.m. EST in the Fort Lauderdale Airport Hilton.^[2] The 1997 MLS Supplemental Draft took place on the afternoon of February 2.^[3]

*	Denotes player who has been selected for an MLS Best XI team

Round 1

Pick #	MLS team	Player	Position	College
1	Colorado Rapids	Tahj Jakins	D	UCLA
2	Tampa Bay Mutiny[R1 trade 1]	Mike Fisher	M	University of Virginia
3	Columbus Crew	Rob Jachym	M	University of Hartford
4	San Jose Clash	Alberto Montoya	M	Santa Clara University
5	New York/New Jersey MetroStars	Brian Kelly	M	Duke University
6	Dallas Burn	Temoc Suarez	F	University of North Carolina
7	Kansas City Wizards	Brian Johnson	M	Fresno State
8	Tampa Bay Mutiny	Mike Mekelburg	M	University of South Florida
9	Los Angeles Galaxy	Steve Jolley	M	William & Mary College
10	D.C. United	Danny Care	D	Clemson University

Round 1 trades

1. #2: New England Revolution → Tampa Bay Mutiny. 5 November 1996: Tampa Bay Mutiny acquired this first-round pick from New England Revolution in exchange for New England signing head coach Thomas Rongen.^{[ref 1]}

Round 2

Pick #	MLS team	Player	Position	Affiliation
11	Colorado Rapids	Ross Paule	M	Creighton University
12	New England Revolution	Scott Coufal	GK	Indiana University
13	Columbus Crew	John Smith	F	Rollins College
14	San Jose Clash	Jason Annicchero	D	Santa Clara University
15	New York/New Jersey MetroStars	Will Kohler	M	Harvard University
16	Dallas Burn	Alan Branigan	D	Rutgers University
17	Kansas City Wizards	Ike Udeh	F	Alabama A&M
18	Tampa Bay Mutiny	PASS
19	Los Angeles Galaxy	Shawn Boney	M	Southern Connecticut State
20	D.C. United	Tom Presthus	GK	Southern Methodist University

Round 2 trades

No trades reported.

Round 3

Pick #	MLS team	Player	Position	Affiliation
21	Colorado Rapids	Mike Feniger	F	East Stroudsburg
22	New England Revolution	Steve Klein	M	Bowling Green State University
23	Columbus Crew	Todd DeNault	F	University of South Florida
24	San Jose Clash	Chris McDonald	M	University of San Francisco
25	New York/New Jersey MetroStars	Andrew Lewis	D	Princeton University
26	New England Revolution[R3 trade 1]	J.T. Roberts	M	Northern Kentucky University
27	Kansas City Wizards	Jake Joy	M	Midwestern State University
28	Tampa Bay Mutiny	Musa Shannon	F	Robert Morris University
29	Los Angeles Galaxy	Kevin Hartman	GK	UCLA
30	D.C. United	Brandon Leib	D	Georgetown University

Round 3 trades

1. #26: Dallas Burn → New England Revolution. 2 February 1997: New England Revolution acquired this third-round pick and a first-round selection (#3) in the 1997 MLS Supplemental Draft from Dallas Burn in exchange for a first-round selection (#2) in the 1997 Supplemental Draft.^{[ref 2]}

References

1. "MLS: 1997 Collegiate Draft Results (Feb. 2)". www.socceramerica.com.
2. "Pro Draft Will Be Part Of Umbro College Soccer Classic". Archived from the original on July 1, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
3. mlssoccer. "1997 MLS College Draft | MLSSoccer.com". mlssoccer. Retrieved October 3, 2024.

1. "MLS: Mutiny trade Hattrup to Dallas". Soccer America. January 31, 1997. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
2. "MLS: 1997 Collegiate Draft Results (Feb. 2)". Soccer America. February 2, 1997. Retrieved August 14, 2015.