Since the Major League Soccer SuperDraft’s inception in 2000, Syracuse has had a total of three players selected. This year alone, Alex Bono, Skylar Thomas and Jordan Murrell are likely to be taken after the Orange’s record-breaking 2014 season. Head coach Ian McIntyre will be in Philadelphia on Thursday for the draft, and he offered his thoughts on the professional prospects of his three former standouts.

Alex Bono

First Bono turned pro while in Baldwinsville, New York. Then it was off to St. Louis for the MAC Hermann Trophy ceremony. Now he’s in Carson, California training with the U.S. Men’s National Team.

The next step for Bono’s whirlwind of a winter will be to wait, albeit not for long, to hear his name called on Thursday in Philadelphia, though he’ll still be out west. MLS Draft expert Ives Galarcep’s final mock draft has Bono going No. 6 to Toronto FC as the first keeper to come off the board.

McIntyre implied that he thinks his goalie will be the first player taken at his position, and the fact he’s attached to a Generation Adidas contract doesn’t hurt, either.

“There’s a lot of very talented goalkeepers and Alex is right in that conversation,” McIntyre said. “He is also the goalkeeper with the Generation Adidas contract, which has major benefits to teams and the fact that he’s kind of like a free player his first couple of years when it comes to their salary cap.

“But take that away, I don’t know if there’s a better one than Alex out there.”

Skylar Thomas

The center back is coming off a showing at the MLS Combine he said went well, and that allowed him to mesh with other elite prospects at his position.

Galarcep’s MLS Draft Big Board has Thomas at the 47th-rated prospect, and going No. 45 to the Montreal Impact. MLSsoccer.com has the big man going as high as No. 6, and McIntyre is confident of Thomas’ prospects despite his landing spot being up in the air.

“I think Skylar has a really good opportunity to find a home,” McIntyre said. “I would expect him to be in a training camp come the start of the MLS season.”

Thomas said the combine coaches told him his footwork needs to get better and that he simply needs to continue to dominate the back with his 6-foot-3 stature. He thinks his speed, strength and athleticism lend themselves well to the pro level and just had a simple statement for what he thinks he needs to do to impress at the next level.

Said Thomas: “Basically, I just have to boss the game in the air and on the ground.”

Jordan Murrell/Nick Perea

Much to the surprise of some in the soccer community, Murrell was not one of the 64 seniors invited to the combine.

McIntyre thought it was tough on Murrell not to receive an invite, but that MLS teams will still have an interest in the wing back who shows up at No. 50 on Galarcep’s mock draft.

“With Jordan, he’s a left-sided player and that’s a great quality to have,” McIntyre said. “His skill set, his ability on the ball, he’s technical. There’s a lot of quality players out there and it’s a tough job for any coach or general manager to make that right pick and the right fit for their team.”

Yet despite the projections, the SU head coach said there is no real science to the draft and that he will simply have to wait and see what happens.

“The draft is kind of an unknown situation where you don’t know until you see one your guys’ names come up there,” McIntyre said. “But I think we’ve got a number of guys that have a chance to find a home and have a chance to make that transition to the next level.”

Published on January 15, 2015 at 12:08 am

Contact Matt: [email protected] | @matt_schneidman