Speaking a day after he was taken in the second round of Major League Soccer's SuperDraft, Coastal Carolina standout Cyprian Hedrick said Friday he was a bit surprised when Sporting Kansas City took him with the 30th overall pick in the draft.
In fact, he had stopped watching the draft online moments earlier and was getting ready to head out for a run when his agent alerted him that he might want to start watching again.
"I was very surprised because between talking to my coach and my agent, I knew there was a level of interest, [but] I didn't know how much," Hedrick said over the phone. "In my mind I thought my best chance of getting drafted would be the supplemental draft on Tuesday. ...
"I was actually on my way out the door. I stopped watching it the middle of the second round because it went on commercial. Luckily my agent had just texted me as I was walking out of my hosue saying, 'Hey are you watching? Are you ready?' ... That's how much of a surprise it was to me."
As the 30th overall selection, Hedrick is the second-highest MLS draft pick in Coastal Carolina program history behind Joseph Ngwenya, who went third overall in 2004.
The midfielder and 2011 Big South defensive player of the year said he leaves Tuesday to join the team in Kansas. He'll have to prove his abilities once he gets there before earning a contract.
"Just getting the opportunity is amazing in itself," he said. "Any opportunity to play at the next level -- the MLS level -- is a great opportunity. ... I'm extremely excited about it, and I'm ready to go to Kansas and show these guys I mean business and I'm ready to play."
For more, here's the story from Thursday: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2012/01/12/2597581/ccus-hedrick-picked-in-mls-superdraft.html
| Ryan Young, ryoung@thesunnews.com
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