SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University defender Josh Phillips is listed as one of the top center backs remaining as the MLS SuperDraft enters its final day Tuesday with the third and fourth rounds.
The first two rounds were held Monday with goalkeeper Andre Blake of the University of Connecticut the No. 1 pick. There are 39 picks remaining Thursday when the SuperDraft concludes.
Phillips, the 2013 West Coast Conference Defender of the Year, is called a "great header of the ball who'll get picked because he's left-footed," according to Simon Borg of MLSsoccer.com.
Phillips, from Olympia, Wash., was an All-Far West Region third team selection this past season. He joined Nick Barclay in 2008 as the only other Bulldog to earn WCC Defender of the Year accolades. A mainstay on the Bulldog defense he was instrumental in Gonzaga allowing opponents just 0.95 goals/match. The 10 wins for the Bulldogs this season marked the first double-digit wins season since 2000, and Gonzaga's 5-4-3 WCC record for third place is the highest finish since 2008. He earned All-WCC second-team honors in 2011.
According to MLSsoccer.com, scouts call Phillips a "hard-nosed defender who is very good in the air...I never saw him lose a challenge in the air...really good leadership...wears his heart on his sleeve...pretty good athlete, but can be exposed at times...he's a hard man; he gets stuck in - every MLS team needs a guy like that."
Phillips is attending a invitation-only camp in Sacramento.
Nick Hamer, a product of Spokane and the WCC Player of the Year last fall, is also hopeful of having his named called Tuesday. He had a tryout with the Portland Timbers over the weekend.
Hamer was also an All-Far West Region third-team pick. He became the second WCC Player of the Year for the Bulldogs, joining Jeff McAllister in 1997. He scored three goals and had a team-leading six assists, all three of his goals and half of his assists coming in WCC play. He was one of four Bulldogs to start all 19 matches this past season. It was the second straight first-team honor for Hamer after being a second-team pick as a sophomore in 2011 and making the WCC All-Freshman team in 2010.
