University of North Carolina Athletics
Lovejoy, Okwuonu Selected In 2015 MLS SuperDraft
January 15, 2015 | Men's Soccer
Okwuonu was selected with the 27th overall pick by Real Salt Lake, while Lovejoy was taken by the Houston Dynamo with the 36th pick.
From Edmond, Okla., Okwuonu started 89 games in his four seasons in Chapel Hill as one of the premier center backs in college soccer. He earned All-America honors in each of his final three seasons with UNC, while also being named ACC Defender of the Year as a junior in 2013.
Okwuounu was All-America selections by both College Soccer News and the NSCAA in 2014.
Lovejoy, who hails from Greensboro, N.C., played in 71 games at Carolina from 2010-12 and 2014. He compiled 56 career points on 20 goals and 16 assists.
A third-team All-ACC selection in 2014, Lovejoy ranked third in the conference with eight assists, a figure that ranked him 14th nationally.
Both players started all 26 matches during the 2011 national championship season for the Tar Heels. Okwuonu was an ACC All-Freshman Team pick that year, before earning first team All-ACC plaudits from 2012-14. Lovejoy played on two College Cup teams in 2010 and 2011 and helped lead three Carolina squads to the NCAA Quarterfinals.
Carolina has had 39 players selected in the MLS SuperDraft since 2000.
The ACC led all conferences with nine players taken in the SuperDraft. The third and fourth rounds will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 20.
