Sporting Kansas City selected a pair of college seniors in the fourth and final round of the 2018 MLS SuperDraft on Sunday, taking 21-year-old forward Will Bagrou of Mercer University (No. 75 overall) and 21-year-old defender Wilfred Williams of Oakland University (No. 82 overall).
Bagrou and Williams round out Sporting KC's 2018 SuperDraft class, joining first-round selections Eric Dick (No. 13 overall) and Graham Smith (No. 18 overall) [cl.exct.net]. All four players are set to join the club for preseason training, which begins Monday in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Bagrou enjoyed a prolific four-year career with the Mercer Bears, amassing 37 goals and 16 assists in 84 appearances from 2014-17. A four-time member of the All-Southern Conference First Team, he was named the 2017 Southern Conference Male Athlete of the Year as a senior last fall. The 6-foot-2 forward ranks third on the program's all-time goal scoring chart and places fifth all-time in assists.
A Utah native who moved to Georgia in high school, Bagrou was a USC Second Team All-South Region honoree as a freshman and a USC Third Team All-South Region recipient in his final season. In addition to garnering a slew of individual accolades, Bagrou paced the Bears to the Southern Conference regular-season title in 2014 and then the tournament title - and the NCAA Tournament berth that goes with it - in 2016 and 2017.
Born in Monrovia, Liberia, Williams was a member of the U.S. Boys' National Team player pool at the U-14 and U-15 level. He spent his first college season at the University of Memphis before transferring to Eastern Florida State as a sophomore. There he captained the Titans to the 2015 NJCAA national semifinals and earned First-Team NJCAA All-American honors. He also received the 2016 "Heart of a Titan" Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Eastern Florida Athletics Department.
In two seasons at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, Williams assisted three goals in 34 games as a regular backline starter for the Grizzlies.
