SANDY, Utah – Real Salt Lake selected Syracuse defender Jordan Murrell with the 57th overall pick (3rd round) and University of South Florida midfielder Lucas Baldin with the 77th overall pick (4th round) in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft on Tuesday.
“We are happy with what we accomplished in the SuperDraft this year and today we were able to select two players that we envision to have the type of upside potential to help our club,” Real Salt Lake Technical Director Craig Waibel said. “Murrell is talented left sided defender that can play multiple positions. He has a very high soccer IQ and we are looking forward to having his physical presence and steady play in our back line. Baldin can play different roles in the attacking half of the field. He is clean on the ball and will add another goal-dangerous option to our attack.”
Murrell had five goals and 20 assists in four seasons at Syracuse, starting in all 74 of his appearances for the Orange. Born in the United Kingdom, he moved to Canada at a young age and played with the Toronto FC Academy and for the Canadian U-18 National Team before enrolling at Syracuse in 2011. During his senior season, he had two goals and seven assists, matching his totals from his career-high totals from his sophomore season.
Baldin had a breakout season in 2014 for USF, notching five goals and nine assists in 20 matches. In his career he had 10 goals and nine assists in 59 matches. Prior to attending South Florida, Baldin played for Toluca’s U-20 team and Cruz Azul’s U-17 team in Mexico.
RSL opens training camp on Friday with entrance physicals. The club will host Open House on Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium from 1-4 and will head to Casa Grande, Ariz., for the first leg of training camp on Monday.
Name: Jordan Murrell
Position: Defender
Height: 5-10
Weight: 165 lbs.
Birthdate: May 2, 1993
Hometown: Markham, Ontario, Canada
College: Syracuse
Acquired: Selected in the third round (57th overall) of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft on Jan. 20, 2015
Name: Lucas Baldin
Position: Midfielder
Height: 5-8
Weight: 150 lbs.
Birthdate: June 5, 1991
Hometown: Huixguilucan, Mexico
College: University of South Florida
Acquired: Selected in the fourth round (77th overall) of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft on Jan. 20, 2015
