Racing Louisville FC used the No. 1 pick in Wednesday’s 2021 National Women’s Soccer League College Draft on defender Emily Fox out of the University of North Carolina. Fox is in camp with the senior United States women’s national team.
That pick kicked off an eventful and prolonged first round — nearly two hours in total — which saw multiple trades which involved six figures of allocation money moved. Sky Blue FC drafted University of North Carolina midfielder Brianna Pinto with the No. 3 overall pick, then traded the No. 4 pick to Kansas City in exchange for $175,000 in allocation money. Kansas City moved up to the position to select Stanford defender Kiki Pickett. Sky Blue also traded away the No. 8 pick to the Washington Spirit in exchange for $100,000 in allocation money and the Spirit’s natural second-round pick in 2022.
Washington also made headlines with the No. 2 overall pick. The Spirit selected Trinity Rodman — the U.S. youth international star and, yes, daughter of former NBA great Dennis Rodman — who never played an NCAA game for Washington State due to the pandemic-delayed college season. Rodman was the top recruit in the country in 2020. She said on Wednesday that now felt like the right time to make the move to the pros.
Portland Thorns FC also moved up in the draft, jumping from No. 6 to No. 7 to draft Yazmeen Ryan out of TCU. Portland gave up an international roster spot in 2021, the No. 7 pick and the No. 32 pick to move up.
Racing Louisville took local standout Emina Ekic with the No. 5 overall pick, making her the first University of Louisville player to be selected in an NWSL College Draft.
Full 2021 NWSL College Draft results
First Round
1. Emily Fox (UNC) | Racing Louisville FC
2. Trinity Rodman (Washington State) | Washington Spirit
3. Brianna Pinto (UNC) | Sky Blue FC
4. Kiki Pickett (Stanford) | Kansas City
5. Emina Ekic (Louisville) | Racing Louisville FC
6. Yazmeen Ryan (TCU) | Portland Thorns FC
7. Madison Haley (Stanford) | Chicago Red Stars
8. Tara McKeown (USC) | Washington Spirit
9. Viviana Villacorta (UCLA) | Orlando Pride
10. Deanne Rose (Florida) | North Carolina Courage
Second Round
11. Taylor Otto (UNC) | Racing Louisville FC
12. Sam Coffey (Penn State) | Portland Thorns FC
13. Kirsten Davis (Texas Tech) | Racing Louisville FC
14. Mikayla Colohan (BYU) | Orlando Pride
15. Victoria Pickett (Wisconsin) | Kansas City
16. Lucy Parker (UCLA) | Kansas City
17. Addie McCain (Texas A&M) | Kansas City
18. Kelsey Turnbow (Santa Clara) | Chicago Red Stars
19. Anna Heilferty (Boston University) | Washington Spirit
20. Alyssa Malonson (Auburn) | North Carolina Courage
Third Round
21. Parker Goins (Arkansas) | Racing Louisville FC
22. Amirah Ali (Rutgers) | Portland Thorns FC
23. Taryn Torres (Virginia) | Sky Blue FC
24. Kerry Abello (Penn State) | Orlando Pride
25. Brianna Alger (Washington State) | Chicago Red Stars
26. Joelle Anderson (Pepperdine) | Houston Dash
27. Makamae Gomera-Stevens (Washington State) | Houston Dash
28. Jimena Lopez (Texas A&M) | OL Reign
29. Sydney Schneider (UNC-Wilmington) | Washington Spirit
30. Myra Konte (Vanderbilt) | North Carolina Courage
Fourth Round
31. Emily Smith (Cal-Berkeley) | Racing Louisville FC
32. Channing Foster (Mississippi) | Chicago Red Stars
33. Delanie Sheehan (UCLA) | Sky Blue FC
34. Kaylie Collins (USC) | Orlando Pride
35. Alissa Gorzak (Virginia) | Chicago Red Stars
36. Alex Loera (Santa Clara) | Kansas City
37. Hannah Betfort (Wake Forest) | Portland Thorns FC
38. Brookelynn Entz (Kansas State) | Kansas City
39. Mariana Speckmaier (Clemson) | Washington Spirit
40. Tess Boade (Duke) | Sky Blue FC
