2004 MLS SuperDraft

2004 MLS SuperDraft
2004 MLS SuperDraft
General information
Sport	Soccer
Date(s)	January 16, 2004
Time	10:00 am (EST)
Location	Charlotte, North Carolina
Network(s)	Fox Sports World
Overview
	60 total selections
First selection	Freddy Adu, D.C. United
Most selections	Chicago Fire; (10 selections)
Fewest selections	D.C. United; New England Revolution; (4 selections)
	← 2003 2005 →

The 2004 MLS SuperDraft, held in Charlotte, North Carolina on January 16, 2004, was the fifth incarnation of the annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The draft was most notable at the time for the selection of one of the youngest athletes in American sporting history, Freddy Adu, with the first pick by D.C. United after a trade from the Dallas Burn. The trade was initiated by the league after Adu had signed in November 2003 with the intent of playing for D.C., his local team.

The draft also included Clint Dempsey (1st round), who later won MLS Rookie of the Year, and teenager Michael Bradley (4th round), the son of MetroStars coach Bob Bradley. Both players went on to earn over 120 caps with the U.S. national team and play overseas for European teams before returning to MLS.

Player selection

Columbus selected Chad Marshall 2nd overall. He is a 3x MLS Defender of the Year and 4x MLS Best XI selection. He earned 12 caps with the US Men's National Team.

New England selected Clint Dempsey 8th overall. The 2004 MLS Rookie of the Year is a 4x MLS All-Star, 3x U.S. Soccer Player of the Year, and the 2017 MLS Comeback Player of the Year. He earned 141 caps with he US Men's National Team, representing the United States at the 2006, 2010, and 2014 FIFA World Cup. With 57 goals, he and Landon Donovan are tied for most goals for the USMNT. He was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2022.

Key

*	Denotes a player contracted under the Project-40 program
^	Denotes player who has been selected to an MLS All-Star Game
§	Denotes a player who won the MLS Rookie of the Year
†	Denotes player who has been selected for an MLS Best XI team
~	Denotes a player who won the MLS MVP

Round one

Pick #	MLS Team	Player	Position	Affiliation
1	D.C. United	Freddy Adu*^	F	Project-40
2	Columbus Crew	Chad Marshall*†	D	Stanford University
3	Los Angeles Galaxy	Joseph Ngwenya	F	Coastal Carolina University
4	Kansas City Wizards	Matt Taylor	F	UCLA
5	San Jose Earthquakes	Ryan Cochrane*	D	Santa Clara University
6	Dallas Burn	Ramón Núñez	M	SMU
7	Dallas Burn	Clarence Goodson*	D	University of Maryland
8	New England Revolution	Clint Dempsey*^§†	M	Furman University
9	Chicago Fire	Scott Buete	M	University of Maryland
10	San Jose Earthquakes	Steve Cronin*	GK	Santa Clara University

Round one trades

Round two

Pick #	MLS Team	Player	Position	Affiliation
11	Chicago Fire	Leonard Griffin	D	UCLA
12	Columbus Crew	Chris Wingert	D	St. John's University
13	Los Angeles Galaxy	Josh Gardner*	M	University of Cincinnati
14	Los Angeles Galaxy	Ned Grabavoy*	M	Indiana University
15	Colorado Rapids	Adolfo Gregorio	M	UCLA
16	Colorado Rapids	Adrian Cann	D	University of Louisville
17	Kansas City Wizards	Will Hesmer	GK	Wake Forest University
18	MetroStars	Seth Stammler	D	University of Maryland
19	Chicago Fire	Matt Pickens	GK	SMS (now Missouri State)
20	Chicago Fire	Sumed Ibrahim	M	University of Maryland

Round two trades

Round three

Pick #	MLS Team	Player	Position	Affiliation
21	MetroStars	Zach Wells	GK	UCLA
22	Los Angeles Galaxy	Memo Arzate	M	UC Santa Barbara
23	New England Revolution	Jeremiah White	F	Wake Forest University
24	D.C. United	Kevin Ara	M	Harvard University
25	Colorado Rapids	Kevin Taylor	D	University of Michigan
26	MetroStars	Olivier Occéan	F	So. Connecticut State University
27	San Jose Earthquakes	Mike Wilson	M	Stanford University
28	Chicago Fire	Khari Stephenson	M	Williams College
29	Dallas Burn	Ty Maurin	M	UCLA
30	San Jose Earthquakes	Lindon Pecorelli	M	University of Connecticut

Round three trades

Round four

The MetroStars selected Michael Bradley 36th overall. the 3x MLS All-Star, was named the 2015 U.S. Soccer Player of the Year. He's earned 151 caps with the US Men's National Team and was selected to the 2010, and 2014 FIFA World Cup squads.

Pick #	MLS Team	Player	Position	Affiliation
31	Dallas Burn	David Wagenfuhr	D	Creighton University
32	Columbus Crew	Jamal Sutton	F	SMS (now Missouri State)
33	Los Angeles Galaxy	David McGill	M	UC Santa Barbara
34	D.C. United	Josh Gros^	M	Rutgers University
35	Colorado Rapids	Kevin Richards	D	University of Notre Dame
36	MetroStars	Michael Bradley*^	M	Project-40
37	Kansas City Wizards	Jay Alberts	M	Yale University
38	Chicago Fire	Denny Clanton	D	University of Dayton
39	Chicago Fire	Phil Hucles	D	The College of William & Mary
40	San Jose Earthquakes	Marin Pusek	M	UAB

Round four trades

Round five

Pick #	MLS Team	Player	Position	Affiliation
41	Columbus Crew	Adom Crew	M	Brown University
42	Columbus Crew	Luke Vercollone	M	Seton Hall University
43	Los Angeles Galaxy	Jason Perry	D	Oakland University
44	D.C. United	Kevin Hudson	M	SMU
45	Colorado Rapids	Gary Sullivan	D	Adelphi University
46	MetroStars	Johnny David	M	Fairleigh Dickinson University
47	Kansas City Wizards	Justin Detter	F	University of Notre Dame
48	Kansas City Wizards	Ryan Barber	D	UMKC
49	Chicago Fire	Ian Pilarski	M	Cornell University
50	San Jose Earthquakes	Tighe Dombrowski	M	UW-Milwaukee

Round five trades

Round six

The LA Galaxy selected Alan Gordon 53rd overall. Gordon won 2 MLS Cups and a U.S. Open Cup with the Galaxy and a Supporters' Shield with the San Jose Earthquakes.

Pick #	MLS Team	Player	Position	Affiliation
51	Chicago Fire	Ryan McGowan	M	Seton Hall University
52	Columbus Crew	Matthew Haefner	GK	University of Pennsylvania
53	Los Angeles Galaxy	Alan Gordon	F	Oregon State University
54	Dallas Burn	Edwin Miranda	D	Cal State Northridge
55	Colorado Rapids	John Pulido	M	Florida International University
56	New England Revolution	Félix Brillant	F	Franklin Pierce College
57	Los Angeles Galaxy	Chris Aloisi	D	Syracuse University
58	New England Revolution	Andy Dorman	M	Boston University
59	Chicago Fire	Tony McManus	D	UAB
60	MetroStars	Jeff Parke	D	Drexel University

Round six trades

Trade Note

MetroStars received a conditional 2004 SuperDraft pick from Chicago Fire in exchange for the rights to midfielder Andy Williams on March 27, 2003. Instead of the conditional pick, MetroStars received defender Edgar Bartolomeu from Chicago on June 25, 2003, to complete the trade.

Notable undrafted players

Clyde Simms (MF, East Carolina University) — 220 MLS appearances.
Troy Perkins (GK, Evansville)

References