SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento State sophomore forward Donovan Sessoms and senior goalkeeper Mac Learned were two of the nearly 500 players listed as eligible for the 2025 MLS SuperDraft released by the league this week.
"We are happy to see that Donovan and Mac are on the MLS SuperDraft list, and we will be watching the draft with great interest tomorrow," Head Coach Michael Linenberger said. "We are here to help them earn a college degree, and we are here to help them try to realize their dreams of playing professional soccer. We hope those dreams will come to fruition tomorrow."
The draft begins Friday (Dec. 20) at 11 a.m. PT and will consist of three rounds. The order is set by taking the reverse order of the Supporters' Shield standings at the end of each season, taking postseason performance into account, with the expansion San Diego FC holding the No. 1 selection in each round. The San Jose Earthquakes, Chicago Fire, Sporting Kansas City, and New England Revolution round out the top five.
An All-Big West first team selection (only the sixth in program history) and a two-time Big West Offensive Player of the Week, Sessoms wrapped up his first season in the green and gold with one of the finest offensive seasons in program history. The sophomore from Antelope, Calif., finished the 2024 season with 10 goals — seven of those against conference opponents — and 20 points overall, ranking him in a tie for ninth on the school's single-season goals list and 10th on the single-season points chart.
His 10 goals are the most since Chris Bettencourt finished with 11 in 2010, while the 20 points are the most since Max Alvarez ended the 2009 season with 23 points. Half of his scores this year went for game-winners, a total that ranks second on the school's single-season list behind Bettencourt's six in 2010 and ended the year ranked tied for fifth in the nation.
Sessoms finished the season ranked third in the Big West in shot attempts (48) and led the league with 2.67 shots per match. He also finished fifth in the league in points, fourth in points per match (1.11), fourth in goals, and third in goals per match (0.56).
Learned started all 18 matches in net for the Hornets in 2024, finishing with 81 saves and a .717 save percentage in over 1,500 minutes of action. He led the Big West in both total saves and saves per match (4.50) while standing third in save percentage. Nationally, Learned was No. 11 in the NCAA in total saves and No. 19 in saves per match.
For his career, Learned wrapped up his four years with the Hornets ranked No. 7 in saves (201) and saves per match (4.28), tied for fifth in matches played (47), sixth in matches started (44), and sixth in minutes played (3,869).
To be eligible for the SuperDraft, college players must be collegiate sophomores or above, Generation adidas players, any former college player who left college with remaining eligibility one year prior to the current SuperDraft, any other players specifically made available by the League (such as pre-signed college seniors or international players).
Any drafted player who opts to return to college in the fall of 2025 or turns professional, will not be draft-eligible in the future.
