Deakin Selected by Orlando City SC In 2017 MLS SuperDraft
Jan. 17, 2017
LOS ANGELES — Former South Carolina men’s soccer standout Danny Deakin was selected by Orlando City Soccer Club with the 20th pick in the third round of the 2017 Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The Sheffield, England, native was the team’s only selection in the draft.
Deakin becomes the fifth MLS draft pick in school history and first since 2007 when forward Mike Sambursky was picked by the Houston Dynamo in the third round.
“It’s great to see Danny get drafted,” said head coach Mark Berson, “One of his goals when he came to South Carolina was to put himself in this position. He’s worked extremely hard to carry on the tradition of our former Gamecocks that have gone on to have professional careers. We wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”
Deakin was nothing short of spectacular in his two seasons as a Gamecock. 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.
