Cornell sophomore forward Alex Harris, the first Big Red product to be named co-Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, has signed a Generation Adidas contract with Major League Soccer in advance of Friday's MLS SuperDraft.
Wisconsin freshman forward Dean Boltz, UC Santa Barbara freshman midfielder Manu Duah and North Carolina freshman defender Tate Johnson also signed Generation Adidas contracts and will be eligible for the draft.
Generation Adidas is a joint program between MLS and Adidas "dedicated to developing exceptional talent in a professional environment." GA players — top collegiate underclassmen and youth internationals — are prized because they slot into a club's supplemental roster and as such do not count toward a club's salary cap budget.
The league also added Saint Louis University junior defender Max Floriani as a pre-signed senior.
Canadian youth international Kimani Stewart-Baynes was a member of last year's Generation Adidas class, taken fourth overall by the Colorado Rapids out of Maryland.
Expansion San Diego has the first pick in Friday's three-round draft, followed by San Jose, Chicago, Sporting Kansas City and New England.
Toronto FC was slated to select ninth overall but traded the pick to San Diego last week in a deal for Brazilian winger Thiago Andrade. CF Montreal picks 13th and the Vancouver Whitecaps 15th.
There are 477 eligible players representing 150 different schools, according to MLS.
Harris is coming off a historic season for Cornell with 19 goals and five assists to rank second nationally in goals and points (43). The native of Vancouver, Wash., scored 31 goals and added nine assists in 34 career games and was the unanimous Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 2023 after setting the school record for goals by a freshman (12).
Boltz earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year honours after scoring 10 goals and adding four assists for Wisconsin. He joined the Badgers after being named the MLS Next MVP in the under-19 age group, scoring 19 goals for Sockers FC Chicago.
Previous Big Ten Freshman of the Year winners who have gone on to MLS include Aidan Morris, Jack Maher and former Toronto FC defender Eriq Zavaleta.
Ghana's Duah started all 14 games for the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos after starring for MLS Next's Santa Barbara Soccer Club.
Johnson started 16 games this year, playing the full 90 minutes in 13 of them. His father Brian played five seasons in MLS, winning the MLS Cup in 2000 with the Kansas City Wizards alongside current Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes.
Brian Johnson went on to become an assistant coach with Real Salt Lake and a U.S. national youth team coach before becoming sporting director at MLS Next club Tampa Bay United.
Floriani has appeared in 56 games (53 starts) for St. Louis University since 2022 with four goals and seven assists. In 2024, he earned first-team All-Conference honours while anchoring a backline that led the league in goals-against average and shutouts percentage.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 18, 2024
The Canadian Press
