Hamady Diop is 1st Senegalese player to go No. 1 in MLS Draft
NEW YORK (BVM) 鈥� Hamady Diop, who is native to Dakar, Senegal and played three seasons at Clemson, was selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft by Charlotte FC.
Charlotte snagged the No. 1 pick for the second year in a row after expansion franchise St. Louis City SC traded away the draft pick 鈥� in exchange for $400,000 in General Allocation Money split over the next 2 years as well as up to $50,000 in conditional GAM and the 20th overall pick.聽
Diop is making history as the first Senegalese player to be selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft. Notably, he wasn鈥檛 projected to go this high in the draft. He was predicted in the to go No. 13 overall to the Vancouver Whitecaps.聽
Clemson soccer has now produced two No. 1 overall picks within recent years. Robbie Robinson, a Chilean-American who plays for Inter Miami, was snagged first during the 2020 MLS SuperDraft.
Diop (6-foot, 186 pounds) is a 20-year-old left-footed defender deemed as one of the most talented players in the ACC. As a junior with the Tigers this past season, he started in 13 games and helped the team to a 13-7-1 record. He also scored Clemson鈥檚 lone goal versus UCLA in the NCAA Tournament. As a sophomore, he was a part of the Tigers team that won the 2021 NCAA College Cup.聽
Diop is also a part of the coveted 2023 Generation Adidas class 鈥� making this the 12th straight year a GA player has gone No. 1 in the MLS Draft.
