Philadelphia Union Academy alums among players eligible for MLS SuperDraft

Four players who spent time in the Philadelphia Union Academy are among the 141 players eligible for selection in Thursday’s MLS Draft.

YSC Academy grads Joey DeZart (Jackson, N.J. / Wake Forest), Andrew Verdi (Ivyland, Pa. / Michigan) and Lamine Conte (Philadelphia, Pa. / Louisville) and former academy midfielder Jack Skahan (Memphis, Tenn. / North Carolina) are on the list. Other players with local ties include Lehigh goalkeeper Will Smith (Devon, Pa. / Conestoga HS), Ramapo forward Joseph Fala (Cape May Court House, N.J. / Middle Township HS) and Temple goalkeeper Simon Lefebvre (Ossun, France).

As is custom in the annual MLS draft, a number of players available have connections to USL League Two teams Reading United and Ocean City Nor’easters.

In addition to DeZart, Conte, Smith and Lefebvre, Reading United alums Aaron Molloy (, Jelani Pieters, Rok Taneski, Ivan Blaskic, Will Baynham, Louka Masset, Joris Ahlinvi and Adrien Awana are on the list.

Nor’easters alums Deri Corfe (Chester, England / Wright State), Stephen Elias (Rye, N.Y. / Seton Hall), Gustavo Fernandes (West Babylon, N.Y. / Stony Brook) and Keegan Meyer (Silver Spring, Md. / High Point) are also on the list.

The full list is available at www.mlssoccer.com/superdraft/2020/prospects.

The 2020 SuperDraft will be conducted during a jointly produced MLS and ESPN show streamed live on Twitter beginning at 12:30 p.m. EST on Thursday.

The SuperDraft will be conducted in four rounds with 26 players selected in each round. The first two rounds will take place during the stream, while Rounds 3 and 4 will take place on January 13.