Maryland men’s soccer’s Kimani Stewart-Baynes was selected with the No. 4 overall pick by the Colorado Rapids in the 2024 Major League Soccer SuperDraft Tuesday.
The Big Ten Freshman of the Year signed a Generation adidas contract before the draft, joining Virginia’s Stephen Annor Gyamfi as the only two players to sign such contracts. Stewart-Baynes joins Joshua Bolma and Ben Bender as former Terps to sign Generation adidas contracts before being selected. Bender was the first overall selection in 2022 and Bolma was the No. 4 selection in the 2023 draft.
The selection marks the fourth straight year a Terp was selected in the first round and the third straight year one was a top five pick.
[Maryland men’s soccer couldn’t overcome its inexperience in historically poor season]
The freshman lit up Ludwig Field in his only season as a Terp. He tallied three goals and seven assists during the 2023 campaign, including four assists over the final five games of the season. He provided the assist to the game-winning goal and added a goal of his own in Maryland’s 2-0 victory over then-No. 10 UNC Greensboro, the Terps’ only ranked win last season.
Stewart-Baynes spent part of his youth career in his hometown of Toronto, Ontario, with Vaughan Soccer Club and will head west to start his professional career. He was part of a League 1 Reserve Division title winning team in 2022 when he notched 17 goals to help Vaughan’s U-19 squad secure the title. Former MLS draftees and Maryland alums Dayne St. Clair and Malcolm Johnston also represented Vaughan SC.
