Clemson’s Hamady Diop selected No. 1 in MLS draft by Charlotte FC

Clemson defender Hamady Diop was the first pick in Major League Soccer’s SuperDraft on Wednesday by Charlotte FC.

MLS expansion team St. Louis City SC traded out of the No. 1 overall spot, swapping first-round selections (plus $400,000 in General Allocation Money) with Charlotte FC, last season’s expansion team. 

Charlotte FC has made the No. 1 pick in consecutive drafts, having picked Ben Bender out of Maryland in the 2022 draft. This is the first time a team picked No. 1 in consecutive drafts since D.C. United selected Alecko Eskandarian and Freddy Adu with the top selections in the 2003 and 2004 drafts.

The 6-foot, 186-pound Diop was a second-team All-ACC selection during both the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

There will be three rounds in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft. 

2023 MLS SuperDraft first-round picks

1. Charlotte FC (from St. Louis SC) — Hamady Diop, defender, Clemson

2. Orlando City SC (from DC United) — Shakur Mohammed, forward, Duke

3. Colorado Rapids (from Toronto FC) — Moise Bombito, defender, New Hampshire

4. New England Revolution (from San Jose Earthquakes) — Joshua Bolma, midfielder, Maryland

5. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (from Houston Dynamo FC) — J.C. Ngando, midfielder, UNC Greensboro

6. Orlando City SC (from Chicago Fire FC) — Duncan McGuire, forward, Creighton

7. Real Salt Lake (from Atlanta United FC) — Ilijah Paul, forward, Washington

8. Sporting Kansas City — Stephen Afrifa, forward, Florida International

9. St. Louis City SC (from Seattle Sounders FC) — Owen O’Malley, midfielder, Creighton

10. San Jose Earthquakes (from New England Revolution) — Daniel Munie, defender, Indiana

11. Nashville SC (from Charlotte FC) — Joey Skinner, defender, Clemson

12. Charlotte FC (from Colorado Rapids) — Patrick Agyemang, forward, Rhode Island

13. Austin FC (from Vancouver Whitecaps FC through Houston Dynamo FC) — CJ Fodrey, midfielder, San Diego State

14. Columbus Crew — Maximilian Arfsten, forward, San Jose Earthquakes II

15. Portland Timbers — Noel Caliskan, midfielder, Loyola Marymount

16. Real Salt Lake — Bertin Jacquesson, forward, Pittsburgh

17. Orlando City SC — Abdi Salim, defender, Syracuse

18. Inter Miami CF — Cole Jensen, goalkeeper, Xavier

19. Minnesota United FC — Ryen Jiba, defender, Union Omaha

20. Austin FC (from Nashville SC through Charlotte FC and St. Louis SC) — Valentin Noel, midfielder, Pittsburgh

21. New York Red Bulls — Elian Haddock, goalkeeper, Yale

22. FC Cincinnati — Joey Akpunonu, defender, Bowling Green

23. Los Angeles Galaxy — Gino Vivi, forward, Central Florida

24. FC Dallas — Herbert Endeley, forward, Indiana

25. Real Salt Lake (from CF Montréal) — Emeka Eneli, forward, Cornell

26. New York City FC — Malcolm Johnston, midfielder, Maryland

27. Columbus Crew (from Austin FC through Houston Dynamo FC) — Xavier Zengue, defender, Dayton

28. Philadelphia Union — Holden Trent, goalkeeper, High Point

29. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (from Los Angeles FC) — Levonte Johnson, forward, Syracuse