Camilo may have headed south of the border, down old Mexico way, but Vancouver Whitecaps are looking to the future and part of it may be coming from New Mexico.
The Whitecaps were busy in the third and fourth rounds of the MLS SuperDraft this morning, landing three exciting players with a lot of promise and trading one of their third round picks for an international spot.
The end result is a pair of New Mexico Lobos midfielders and a Canadian striker heading to the Caps preseason training camp.
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Caps head coach Carl Robinson started his career with Wolves and he's bring a couple of New Mexican wolves to Vancouver.
Defensive midfielder Michael Kafari was the Caps' third round selection, taken 51st overall.
Kafari is a 22 year old Ghanaian who has spent the past four years in New Mexico, racking up 4943 minutes of playing time and playing a key role in helping the Lobos to 11 clean sheets this past season.
He actually played his Freshman year in the forward role, netting two goals, before making the switch to midfield for the remainder of this three years. He holds a US passport, so will not take up an international spot on the Caps' roster if signed.
He will be joined in Vancouver by his Lobos teammate Michael Calderon, as the pair battle for a MLS contract.
Attacking midfielder Calderon was the Whitecaps final selection in today's draft.
If you've been listening to the AFTN podcasts and my ramblings online, then you'll already know that we're very high on Calderon and have been banging on about drafting him for a few months now, even going as far as speaking to some at the Caps about him, although he was already on their radar.
I saw him play a lot this year, both online and twice in live action (away to Santa Barbara and Seattle). He impressed me last year in games I saw and has continued to do so this past NCAA season. He is very technically gifted and when given time on the ball seems able to spray passes around the pitch.
At 25, he comes a little older than others in the draft, but what I've seen is a player close to being MLS ready and one that would thrive in a full time professional development environment.
Calderon has been a member of the Costa Rican U17 and U20 teams, and played his first two years of college football at Farleigh Dickinson before making the switch to New Mexico in 2012.
It was a move that saw his game step up a gear and he grabbed four goals and eight assists in 19 appearances during his Junior year. He followed that up this season with six goals and five assists from 22 appearances (second on the team for both), as the Lobos went all the way to the NCAA Final Four before losing out in the semi finals.
Robinson likes the creativity he has seen from Calderon.
<i>"Although small in size he can unlock defences and I think us as a club last year that's what we missed. I've seen something in him that I would like to take a closer look."</i>
Calderon played as an attacking midfielder with New Mexico. A traditional number ten. Although he thrived there at college level, is that still where Robinson sees him fitting in to the Whitecaps in MLS?
<i>"Definitely. That's the role I see him in. The way I'm going to play, I'm going to play with a number ten player, so I've got to look at all the options in that. He was one of the number 10 positional players that stuck out to me in the draft. I'll give him the opportunity in his best position."</i>
Apart from age, something that may have counted against Calderon with other teams is that he would take up an international spot, although he is due to get married later this year, so that could change.
A lot of mock drafts had him in their Top 50, and it was expected that he would be taken in third round, maybe even the second.
Was Robinson surprised that he dropped so deep and the Whitecaps were able to pick him up with the 64th pick overall?
<i>"I was very surprised. Maybe his age turns a lot of people off, because he is 25, so maybe that was a turn off for some but it definitely wasn't a turn off for me because technically you could see that he has a lot of attacking qualities in him."</i>
Whitecaps scouts watched New Mexico several times last year and had a good look at both players. They also got some added information on them from Whitecaps Residency product Ben McKendry, who is now in his second year with the Lobos.
<p>"The inside intel we had from Ben McKendry at New Mexico has been a big part of what we saw as well about their characters off the field ,as well as on the field. Ben spoke nothing but high praise for both of these players."</i>
And what of McKendry himself? He had another great season with the Lobos, recording five goals and an assist in his 22 matches. Could we seeing three New Mexico midfielders in Vancouver's midfield some time soon?
<i>"Obviously we're in contact with Ben very regularly and we have constant communication with him. He's definitely on our radar. He's a midfield player that's got a lot of talent.
"I think going to college has been fantastic for him. He's grown, not only as a person but as a player as well. If you've seen the way he plays recently, he plays with a confidence, but I like that type of player.
"I like my young players to play with a swagger in their step, but obviously still be grounded. He's very much on our radar and very much a big part of us moving forward.
"When we do something with that, that will need to be a question we follow up on, but he's got a big future ahead of him."</i>
Often players drafted deep in the draft don't make the final cut, and they will both have to battle hard to earn a spot on the Caps' MLS squad, although both could be loaned out to develop elsewhere, which would allow Vancouver to monitor their progress and still hold their MLS rights.
The other Whitecaps' selection in today's draft was Toronto born striker Mackenzie Pridham, who comes from Cal Poly and was picked first in the fourth round by the Caps (58th overall).
After a slowish start with the Mustangs, including a redshirt year in 2010, Pridham had two break out seasons, scoring 25 goals in 39 appearances in his Junior and Senior years. Those stats also saw him pick up back to back Big West Offensive Player of the Year honours.
Robinson describes him as <i>"one of the hardest working players I've seen."</i>
Pridham has been capped by Canada at U17 level and has been involved in U20 camps. He spent six weeks last summer training with Toronto. They had the pick two after Vancouver took him, so you have to wonder if they were planning on selecting him themselves.
It's going to be interesting to see how all three players, along with Christian Dean, Andrew Lewis and Mamadou Diouf fare in the preseason camp. They all look to be good picks, with the later ones more promising than those of recent seasons.
Further news also came out today that Lewis will be loaned to MLS, and the Whitecaps, from New York Cosmos, with a transfer fee to be decided later if Vancouver want him. Not an ideal situation, so he will really need to shine in the preseason if the Caps feel it is worth taking a punt on him.
All of the draftees, and the rest of the players, will report to Vancouver for Saturday when the preseason camp gets underway with a day of medicals.
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