Penn drafted at No. 10
Forward selected in the 1st round of MLS SuperDraft
Inter Miami CF’s new front office — led by sporting director Chris Henderson — made their first mark on the club’s roster Thursday, taking forward/wingerJoshPenn(Indiana) at No. 10, center back Aime Mabika (Kentucky) at No. 26 and left back Joseph Hafferty (Oregon State) at No. 37 the MLS SuperDraft.
Penn, 20, signed a USL Academy contract with USL Championship team Indy Eleven in 2019. He made five appearances, including two starts, before joining Indiana.
With the 2020 college soccer season in peril because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Penn signed his first professional contract with Indy Eleven over the summer.
“We obviously know what he brings to the squad — pace on and off the ball, a willingness to take on defenders, and the ability to finish around the penalty area in various ways,” Indy Eleven coach Martin Rennie said when the club signed Penn.“He’sanexcitingyoungplayer.”
Penn scored six goals and added two assists in 22 games en route to being named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team and All-Big Ten Second Team after his lone season with the Hoosiers in 2019.
“[He] was good with Indiana,”
MLSsoccer.com’s Matthew Doyle said of Penn during the draft’s broadcast, “but he didn’t set the world on fire. He knows what he’ s doing around the box. He’s a guy with a lot of pace and is clever about finding his spots. There’s no question given his pedigree and productivity he’s a first-round talent.”
Penn scored one goal in two appearances for the U-19 United States men’s national team.
While listed as a forward, Penn gained experience playing as the left winger with Indy Eleven. He’ll join an Inter Miami attack that includes Julian Carranza, Gonzalo Higuaín, Lewis Morgan, Matias Pellegrini, Rodolfo Pizarro and Robbie Robinson — who Inter Miami took with last year’s No. 1 pick.
Mabika will add size and depth to an Inter Miami team that only had Ni co Fig al, Lean dro González Pirez and Christian Makoun as the center backs on the roster entering the draft.
The 6-foot-6 center back was named the Conference-USA player of the year and C-USA co-defensive MVP after his redshirt junior season in 2019.
“[He’s] a physical presence in the back,” Charlie Davies, former U.S. men’s national team and MLS forward, said of Mabika. “This is what they needed. Somebody who’s athletic and big. I think this will be a successful pick. I believe this kid has a nice ceiling. He’d fit nicely next to [Leandro Gonzalez Pirez].”
Added Doyle: “Inter Miami needed a ton of help on that backline.
If Mabika comes to camp fit, shows he’s technical enough to play and shows he can be dominant in the air, he’ll have a chance to earn some minutes, at the very least a roster slot, which isn’t a given when you’re picked 26th.”
Hafferty was a part of the Seattle Sounder Academy — the club Henderson was apart of for 13 years before joining Inter Miami earlier this week — from 2013-17 before joining Oregon State.
He was named to the All-Pac-12 first team after his junior season in 2019 and made 53 appearances (50 starts) with the Beavers over a three-year collegiate career.
Hafferty joins Patrick Seagrist as the left backs on Inter Miami’s roster. Brek Shea also has experience at the position.
The first nine selections ahead of Inter Miami’s first pick in the draft went: Midfielder Daniel Pereira (Virginia Tech.) to expansion team Austin FC at No. 1; forward Calvin Harris (Wake Forest) to FCC inc inn a ti at No. 2; midfielder Philip Mayaka (Clemson) to the Colorado Rapids at No. 3; forward Kim ar ni Smith( Clemson) and defender Michael DeShields (Wake Forest) to D.C. United with the No .4 and No .5 picks;
defender Ethan Barthlow (Washington) to the Houston Dynamo at No. 6; midfielder Bret Halsey (Virginia) to Real Salt Lake at No. 7; forward Derek Dodson (Georgetown) to Orlando City at No. 8; forward David Egbo (Akron) to the Vancouver Whitecaps FC at No. 9.
Inter Miami passed on using their final two selections of the draft — the No. 81 pick and the compensatory pick they would’ve received at the end of the third round, suggesting there wasn’t a player available later in the draft that they believed would make their 30-man roster.
The 2021 MLS season is expected to start in March, but schedule announcements haven’t been made with the league and MLSPA in the middle of negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement after the league’s owners invoked the force majeure clause that could result in the termination of the current CBA if the two sides don’t come to an agreement.