SAN JOSE, Calif. - The San Jose Earthquakes selected Ousseni Bouda with the eighth overall pick in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft on Tuesday. The Burkina Faso native will return to the Bay Area to play professional soccer after wrapping up his collegiate career at Stanford this fall.
"I've been to several games and I have teammates who are going to be on the team as well and I'm so happy and very excited to get picked by the Earthquakes," said Bouda. "I have a flight tomorrow to San Francisco, so I'm excited to come in as early as I can and get to work. It's a dream come true, I'm now a professional soccer player and I'm about to play for a great organization and I really just can't wait to start."
Bouda officially became eligible for this year's MLS SuperDraft after signing a Generation Adidas contract last week. He was one of eight collegiate men's soccer student-athletes to earn such a contract from the MLS this year.
The dynamic forward will not be the only Cardinal on the Earthquakes, as he will join 2019 graduate and fellow MLS draft pick Tanner Beason. He will also link up with former Stanford teammate Will Richmond, who signed a Homegrown Player Contract with the San Jose Earthquakes earlier this week.
"Will is a great player, a great guy and we're close friends," said Bouda. "Obviously both wingers as well, I've really enjoyed working with him and I'm happy to be teammates with him again."
During an impressive junior year, Bouda recorded nine assists, five goals, and a total of 19 points, leading the team in all three categories. His assist total was good for ninth in the NCAA and he finished 12th in assists per game with 0.56. The junior forward played in 17 games, starting each, and was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Region first team and to the All-Pac-12 first team this season. Bouda also earned recognition as Pac-12 Player of the Week twice (Sept. 13 and Oct. 4), Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week (Oct. 5), and College Soccer News National Team of the Week (Sept. 7).
Bouda missed his sophomore season due to injury, but made an immediate impact as a freshman in 2019. He earned 2019 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors and ranked second for the Cardinal with 15 points, totaling five goals and five assists in his first season. He was the only freshman on the All-Pac-12 first team in 2019.
Bouda's selection makes this the seventh consecutive MLS SuperDraft where a Cardinal men's soccer student-athlete was selected. During Jeremy Gunn's tenure as the Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer, there have been 12 athletes selected in the MLS SuperDraft.