Deakin Signs Contract With Orlando City SC

March 6, 2017

ORLANDO, Fla. — Major League Soccer’s Orlando City SC announced the signing of former Gamecock men’s soccer player Danny Deakin. He was selected with the team’s 20th pick in the third round of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft with the club’s only selection back on Jan. 17.

“We’re excited to boost our squad with Danny,” Lions General Manager Niki Budalic said. “Danny has impressed us since his arrival, and we look forward to seeing how he progresses with the team.”

The Lions opened their season with a 1-0 win over New York City FC on Sunday. Deakin did not play in the match.

“We are really pleased for Danny to move on and begin this next step in his career,” said head coach Mark Berson. “He worked really hard at the University of South Carolina. We’re very pleased of all that he has accomplished here and all that he will accomplish in the future.”

The Sheffield, England, native, played two seasons on the pitch for Carolina. He started every match and finished his career with 44 points (18G, 8A) in 41 games. He led Carolina in points in each of the last two seasons with 24 (11G, 2A) in 2015 and 20 (7G, 6A) in 2016. He earned First Team All-Conference USA honors and First Team NSCAA All-Southeast Region honors twice (2015-16). He finished the regular season in 2016 tied for ninth in the nation with five game-winning goals.

He was also excellent in the classroom. Deakin was a CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-American and graduated with a 3.932 GPA in December. In addition to the All-America accolades, Deakin was named CoSIDA Academic All-District 4 and earned a spot on the C-USA All-Academic team.