Toronto FC: Draft history has been hit and miss

Toronto FC’s first draft picks have had a wide range of experiences since their MLS SuperDraft days:

2007: MAURICE EDU, FIRST

The midfielder from the University of Maryland, a Generation Adidas player at the draft, made 25 appearances and scored four goals in his first season, winning him the league’s rookie of the year honour. The success of that year earned Edu a transfer from Toronto to Rangers FC of the Scottish Premier League.

2008: JULIUS JAMES, NINTH

James, a defender from the University of Connecticut, played 13 games for Toronto in his inaugural MLS year. He was moved to the Houston Dynamo in a trade for Dwayne DeRosario following the 2008 season, making 82 league appearances with Houston, DC United and Columbus Crew between 2009 and 2012.

2009: O’BRIAN WHITE, FOURTH

White, a Toronto native also from the University of Connecticut, spent two seasons with Toronto FC, scoring four goals in 33 appearances. Vancouver Whitecaps selected the striker in the 2010 expansion draft; he was then almost immediately traded to the Seattle Sounders. White underwent two surgeries to remove a blood clot in his left leg in 2011. The Sounders bought out his contract a year later because of the health issue. He hasn’t played professionally since.

2010: ZACHARY HEROLD, 24TH

Toronto’s top pick came in the second round in 2010. But before playing his first game, then 17-year-old Herold, once a fixture with the United States’ under-17 men’s national team, was forced to retire. During preseason medicals, doctors learned Herold suffered from a condition called HCM, which causes abnormal thickening of a part of the heart muscle. In Herold’s case, strenuous exercise could have caused a potentially fatal irregular heart rhythm, or arrhythmia.

2011: D. OMPHROY, 26TH

Demitrius Omphroy, a defender with the University of California, played only one minute for Toronto FC. He made headlines for his battle with multiple sclerosis, diagnosed with the autoimmune disease almost a year before signing with the Reds. The club released Omphroy after his first season.

2012: LUIS SILVA, FOURTH

The University of California-Santa Barbara midfielder spent two seasons with the Reds, winning the Canadian championship in his first year. After making 33 appearances and scoring five goals for Toronto, he was acquired by DC United, where he spent three seasons. Silva moved to Real Salt Lake in 2015.

2013: KYLE BEKKER, THIRD

The midfielder from Oakville made 29 appearances with the Reds over two seasons. Bekker was traded to FC Dallas in January 2015.

He played eight times for last year’s Western Conference champions before joining the Montreal Impact in July.

2014: NICK HAGGLUND, 10TH

Defender Hagglund is one of only two Toronto FC No. 1 draft picks that remain with the club.

2015: ALEX BONO, SIXTH

The Generation Adidas player is the only goalkeeper Toronto has selected with its first pick. Laura Armstrong, with files from CP