Houapeu, Sapong try to earn spots in draft
It’s not unusual to have multiple prospects from the Washington area get invitations to the annual Major League Soccer Combine in South Florida.
What is unusual is when those multiple prospects at the combine and in next week’s MLS SuperDraft don’t come from the area’s college soccer powerhouses. Maryland-Baltimore County forward Levi Houapeu (Watkins Mill) and James Madison forward C.J. Sapong (Forest Park) have just that kind of opportunity to make an impression.
They also happen to be close friends assigned to the same team at the combine, which runs Jan. 7-11 at Central Broward Regional Park in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The MLS draft is Jan. 13 in Baltimore.
“That’s my boy,” Sapong said of Houapeu, whom he met as a high school junior when both were on a recruiting visit to American. They shared the appeal of being among the best high school players in the area and a common African heritage. Houapeu moved to Washington from Ivory Coast as a 12-year-old, while Sapong’s parents both hail from Ghana.
Both players eventually went their separate ways for college, but they’ve also been teammates, both as a part of D.C. United’s under-20 team and last summer with Reading in the Premier Development League, a national under-23 men’s league.
“Coming into our senior [year], we actually had a talk,” Houapeu said. “We just told each other to pretty much leave everything on the table this year. Be ready, fit and have a wonderful season and carry our teams as far as possible. We both did that.”
Houapeu, a 5-foot-8, 160-pound speedster with natural instincts bred from growing up playing in African streets, went on to score 15 goals for the second straight season and led the Retrievers (12-4-4) to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1999, advancing to the second round. Sapong, a mature and versatile target forward at nearly 6-2 and 185 pounds, won Colonial Athletic Association player of the year honors with 12 goals and nine assists for the Dukes (9-7-2).
Both have seen interest from a half-dozen MLS clubs, and they hope to convince their combine coaches in South Florida that they could be a complementary pairing.
“We have played against each other probably more times than we’ve played with,” Sapong said. “Every time we get on the field, we’ve felt a connection because we both kind of have the same type of playing style. We both stay hungry and play with a chip on our shoulder.”
