SEATTLE – The Washington men’s soccer team had two selected in the first round of the 2024 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas in Nate Jones and Kalani Kossa-Rienzi on Tuesday afternoon.
Jones became the highest draft pick in program history after being selected fifth overall by Austin FC. He was later traded to the Colorado Rapids. Kossa-Rienzi was the next Husky off the board after being selected 23rd overall by the Seattle Sounders.
This season Jones was selected to First Team All-Pac-12 and United Soccer Coaches First Team All-Far West Region after tallying a career-high three goals and two assists while holding down the Husky backline. In 58 career games, Jones compiled almost 4,000 minutes with five goals and three assists.
Jones will join the growing list of UW center defenders on current MLS rosters including Ethan Bartlow (Houston Dynamo), Ryan Sailor (Inter Miami) and Kendall Burks (Chicago Fire).
In four seasons on Montlake, Kossa-Rienzi registered six goals with 11 assists over 76 appearances. In 2022, Kossa-Rienzi tallied a career-high three goals and matched a career-high three assists (which he also did in 2020 and ’21).
Kossa-Rienzi joins fellow former Huskies Dylan Teves and Christian Roldan with the Sounders along with Gio Miglietti with Tacoma Defiance.
Under head coach Jamie Clark, the Huskies have seen 30 players drafted or selected to Homegrown contracts by MLS Clubs including 12 since 2020.
For more information on the UW men’s soccer team, follow @UW_MSoccer on X and Instagram.
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