Real Salt Lake entered the 2009 MLS SuperDraft without expectations and without any glaring needs.
With that in mind, the club said all along it would select whom it deemed the best player left with its No. 12 pick regardless of position or playing experience. RSL decided the player that fit that billing best was forward Jean Alexandre from Lynn University.
“He is extremely athletic, extremely strong and very versatile,” said RSL coach Jason Kreis. “We played against him in training camp down in Florida in 2008, and he was the best player on the field that day, and that includes our players on the team.
“From that moment on, we started looking at how we could sign him and found out he was playing in college, so the only way to get him was through the draft. We are very excited to get him. We were nervous that he would be picked before our selection, so for him to slide down to us was a great relief.”
Alexandre is a native of Haiti and was called up to the Haitian National Team in 2008, making three appearances. He was a four-year player at Division II Lynn, where he was named the 2008 Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year. He also earned a first-team All-American selection according to Daktronics.
“It still hasn’t sunk in all the way. I am still trying to process the fact that I really was drafted and will be playing professional soccer,” said Alexandre. “It has always been a dream of mine to play professionally, and now I am excited that I have the chance to do it with Real Salt Lake.
“I think what I can bring to the team is my physical presence,” he added. “I can win balls in the middle on the ground or in the air, and God has blessed me with the physical skills to be a strong, good soccer player.”
Listed at 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, Alexandre led Division II in points per game. He scored 23 goals and had seven assists in 19 games played. Through his career, he totaled 34 goals and 16 assists in 63 total games.
“He is very good with the ball, and can cover a lot of ground. We feel he can play four, five or even six positions for us,” added Kreis. “He is an outstanding player with unlimited potential.”
Having previously traded their second- and third-round pick, Real had to wait until the pick No. 54 to select Raphael Cox out of the University of Washington. The 5-foot-7, 145-pounder is a left-footed, wide midfielder. He was a three-year starter and two-time Pac-10 honoree. He finished his collegiate career with 14 goals and 17 assists.
RSL surprised even the people in charge of the MLS draft with its No. 57 selection. The team grabbed Futhi Bhembe from Alabama A&M. Bhembe is a relative unknown. He is a 26-year-old forward and was the fifth-leading scorer in all of college soccer.
“I think we added some interesting players,” said RSL general manager Garth Lagerway. “In Alexandre, we thought he was the best athlete at the combine and we are excited to get him. With the others, we will see if they can come in and make our squad. We think they have a chance to do that.”
