Real Salt Lake took full advantage of SuperDraft's new underclassmen rules
Real Salt Lake's first-round picks of Marshall's Matthew Bell and Portland's Kevin Bonilla seem the most likely to sign with the team in 2024.
The 2024 MLS SuperDraft was unlikely any in the league’s prior history, and that isn’t just a cliche.
This one was the first year of several new rules, the biggest being that underclassmen — sophomores, juniors, and seniors with remaining collegiate eligibility — were all eligible for to be selected in the league’s annual college-level entry draft.
Also unlikely several previous iterations, all 84 picks of the three-round draft included a selection. Perhaps leaving the option to “draft-and-stash” a player for another year (or even two) of college incentivized teams to make sure of their allotment of picks.
Real Salt Lake made two selections in the first round in Marshall winger Matthew Bell and Portland defender Kevin Bonilla, two MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalists from a year ago with primarily 2-3 of collegiate experience.
Bell’s decision to turn pro by reporting to preseason training camp with RSL or returning to the Thundering Herd will come at a later date. For now, the former Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year from Kingston, Jamaica, can see himself fitting into RSL’s system — whenever that time comes.
The 6-foot winger set a single-season program record with 10 goals and 12 assists, just the second player in Marshall history to register multiple 10-goal campaigns.
“I can't wait to get started and hopefully we'll build an everlasting relationship. And I hope to be at the Club for many, many years and hopefully I can win some championships,” said Bell, the son of Christopher and the late Nicola Bell.
“I was speaking with the coaches during the showcase and they really explained to me how I would fit their style of play and how they would use me. I think that’s what I want for my career as well. I'm excited to see what it brings and I'm just really excited. I don't even know what to say because it's such a big moment for me in my life. It's just really exciting at the moment and I'm just so so eager to play.
“I think I'm the type of player who can come in and impact right away, but I also know that if the coaching staff feels I need to be in the second team, I'm open to that too. I'm open to learning and growing as a player because this is just the start of my career. I'm also very ambitious, and I'm very goal oriented, and I think I could potentially impact the first team, and hopefully get a lot of minutes this year, and just grow as a player and help the Club to win trophies.”
Bonilla, a dual USA-Honduras citizen, grew up in Dallas and matriculated through the FC Dallas Academy before earning West Coast Conference Defender of the Year honors. The first Pilot first-round draft pick since RSL selected Collen Warner in 2010, Bonilla would join former college teammate Delentz Pierre in Claret-and-Cobalt, either for RSL or its third-division affiliate Real Monarchs.
“I’m excited to just have the opportunity, to be honest with you,” Bonilla said. “It's been a tough road the past couple four years in terms for my family stuff and other things going on. But just the team believing in me and giving me the opportunity is all I could ask for. Now it's just on me to put the work in.
“I think first goal for anybody is to play, I understand that it's going to take me impressing and me doing what I do. And you know, the whole reason you guys brought me here is for a certain reason in terms of how I play this year and past couple years. So I understand the challenge at hand and I'm ready for it.”
RSL sporting director Kurt Schmid said that, while the club has often drafted with an eye toward the future — that’s the purpose of a collegiate draft, right? — this year’s new underclassmen availability made for an increased future-focused draft room.
“We thought that it was a good idea to pick some players who were a little less on the radar this year with an eye to go back to school, and us evaluating that,” Schmid said. “Having that optionality with almost all of our picks gives us a lot of different paths forward, and the discussions we’ll have in days and weeks. It was definitely something we targeted and tried to take advantage of.”
Noted soccer prospect writer Travis Clark gave RSL a draft-day A for its selections, indicating that both Bell and Bonilla are “more than capable of winning roster spots,” either with Salt Lake’s first team or Real Monarchs.
Louisville teammates Damien Barker John and Josh Jones could also opt for the pro route with an RSL team that now controls their MLS rights — or both could go back to school for another season.
Here are the other second- and third-round picks selected by Real Salt Lake — each of which has at least one year of collegiate eligibility remaining:
FW Damien Barker John, So., Louisville
Hometown: Queens, N.Y.
Height: 5-foot-8
Weight: 150 pounds
2023 All-ACC Second Team
2023 All-South Region Third Team
Nine (9) goals / three (3) assists
Third Louisville player since 2001 to register three (3) multi-goal games
DF Josh Jones, Jr., Louisville
Hometown: Hatfield, Penn.
Height: 6-foot-5
Weight: 210 pounds
All-ACC Third Team
Three (3) goals / two (2) assists in 1,514 minutes
DF Maximus Jennings, So., Georgetown
Hometown: Montclair, N.J.
Height: 6-foot
Weight: 170 pounds
35 appearances / 33 starts in two NCAA seasons
Five (5) goals / one (1) assist
Named Hoyas’ 2022 Most Improved Player
D/M Ruben Mesalles, Jr., Duke
Hometown: Sarasota, Fla.
Height: 6-foot
Weight: 165 pounds
Seven (7) goals / 15 assists
56-game career across three Blue Devil seasons