PHOTO | MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER

Stanford forward Ousseni Bouda, a two-time All-Pac 12 player, is one of eight college underclassmen designated Generation Adidas and eligible for the Jan. 11 MLS SuperDraft. Charlotte FC has the first overall pick.

Who will Charlotte FC take with the first pick in Tuesday’s MLS SuperDraft?

The league on Thursday named eight college players to the 2022 Generation Adidas class to go along with a list of 176 draft-eligible players. Charlotte, the league's newest team, selects first, starting at 3 p.m.

Generation Adidas is a joint venture between the apparel giant, MLS and U.S. Soccer to raise the level of young professional soccer players in the United States. The program offers professional-ready players in the developmental system who are not yet eligible for the MLS SuperDraft early entry, which allows MLS teams to compete with foreign clubs without comparable restrictions on player signing. Generation Adidas alumni include Freddy and Maurice Adu, Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and Ben Olsen.

Generation Adidas players don’t count against the MLS senior roster and usually earn a higher salary than the league minimum. Entering the program automatically classifies a player as professional, and ends their college eligibility although they are guaranteed scholarships to continue their education should their professional career goes bust.

More on the Generation Adidas players:

Forward – Ousseni Bouda (Stanford), Isaiah Parker (Saint Louis University) and Thorleifur Ulfarsson (Duke)

• Bouda, the 2019 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, started 22 matches at Stanford while scoring five goals and 15 points. After missing the 2020-21 season due to injury, he led the Cardinal in points (19), assists (conference-best nine) and tied for the lead in goals (five) to earn first-team all-conference for the second time.

Bouda, a native of Burkina Faso in west Africa, spent four years at the Right to Dream Academy in Ghana before enrolling at the Millbrook School in Millbrook, N.Y., where he scored seven goals in a game and 61 in a season to earn USA Today In 2019, he set several school records, including most goals in a single game (seven), single season (61) and career (156) on the way to earning USA Today All-USA Boys Soccer Player of the Year as well as 2018 Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

• Parker tallied three goals and seven assists in 21 matches (17 starts) while earning 2021 first-team Freshman Best XI honors from Top Drawer Soccer and Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team. Before SLU, Parker competed for FC United Soccer Club, where he helped the U17 and U19 teams to U.S. Soccer Development Academy and MLS Next playoffs.

• Ulfarsson, the 2021 ACC Offensive Player of the Year, finished his sophomore season with 15 goals on his way to first-team All-American honors from the United Soccer Coaches, College Soccer News and Top Drawer Soccer.

A native of Kopavogur, Iceland, Ulfarsson earning ACC All-Freshman and Duke’s Most Valuable Offensive Player honors in the spring while pacing the Blue Devils with four goals and an assist. In his native Iceland, Ulfarsson began playing with the club Breidablik, located south of Reykjavik, at age 6 and earned a place on the club’s U23 squad from 2017-20 as a teenager, helping the club to runner-up finishes in each of those three seasons.

Midfielder – Ben Bender (Maryland), defenders Erik Centeno (Pacific) and Kipp Keller (Saint Louis)

• Bender, an All-Big Ten pick in his first two seasons at Maryland, was the unanimous Big Ten Midfielder of the Year in 2021 after scoring seven goals and tallying five assists in 18 games. He also earned first-team All-American honors from the United Soccer Coaches.

As a freshman, Bender started all 11 games for the Terrapins and scored two goals. Bender prepped at Calvert Hall College High School in Towson, Md., where he was named a 2019 Allstate All-American and was a two-time All-MIAA selection.

• Centeno was the only freshman to start in all 16 games at Pacific, where he scored six goals and added five assists to earn first-team All-West Coast Conference and Freshman of the Year.

A native of Stockton, Calif., Centeno played at Weston Ranch High School and Sacramento Republic FC Academy.

• The 2021 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year and second team All-American, Keller started all 21 games for Saint Louis in last year, while leading the Billikens to an NCAA top-15 finish in goals against average (0.81 goals per contest). He helped Saint Louis to an undefeated regular season for the first time in 50 years.

Goalkeeper – Roman Celentano (Indiana) and Patrick Schulte (Saint Louis).

• Celentano is the first Big Ten goalkeeper to win the conference’s Goalkeeper of the Year award multiple times (2020-21 and 2021). In 2021, Celentano notched a career-best 11 shutouts, including a run of seven straight in October, the second-longest single-season streak in school history.

A two-time first-team All-Big Ten pick, Celentano earned Best XI first-team accolades from Top Drawer Soccer and earned second-team All-American by United Soccer Coaches as a sophomore after conceding six goals over 1,490 minutes and for a 0.36 goals-against average to help the Hoosiers advance to the national championship game. He was named the Defensive Most Outstanding Player of the 2020 NCAA tournament.

• A two-time Atlantic 10 first team pick, Schulte earned Most Outstanding Player in the 2021 A-10 championship match. He started all 21 games for the Billikens, posting a 16-1-4 record, including clean sheets and an A10-best 0.81 goals against average.

Schulte’s 34 career wins in goal is fourth-best in school history. Prior to arriving on campus, Schulte was the starting ‘keeper for Saint Louis FC U19 Academy team that advanced to the USSDA playoffs in 2019 and earned a call to U.S. U18 Men's National Team camp.

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