Kiki Pickett, a former Dos Pueblos High soccer star, is expected to be a high first-round pick in Wednesday’s National Women’s Soccer League player draft.
Pickett is in her senior year at Stanford. She won two NCAA College Cup national titles (2017 and 2019).
She is three-time Pac-12 champion and earned All-Pac 12 first-team honors in 2019. In Stanford’s run to the national title, she scored two goals and recorded nine assists.
Pickett has blazing speed, which would be valuable to any team. A scouting report says “she is a player that could slot in at various positions for teams looking to add depth or flesh out their formation immediately.”
With the pandemic delaying the NCAA soccer season to spring 2021, the NWSL waived the requirement for certain college athletes to register for the draft and play in the league. All Division I players with three years of intercollegiate soccer eligibility prior to the 2020-2021 academic year are now available for draft selection. Should a player be selected by a club, the team will hold the player rights until the beginning of the 2022 preseason.
The NWSL consists of 10 teams (Portland Thorns FC, Houston Dash, Washington Spirit, Sky Blue FC, North Carolina Courage, Chicago Red Stars, OL Reign, Orlando Pride, Utah Royals and the expansion Racing Louisville FC.
Racing Louisville holds the first pick.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.