Just two days after the completion of the MLS SuperDraft, Louisville City announced the signing of Senegalese striker Abdou Mbacke Thiam to the club. The 6’0″ 162lb. Thiam, who just finished his college career as an all-conference player and all-region at UConn, will wear No. 14.

“[Signing with Louisville City is] one of the best moments in my life because this team is one of the best teams in the USL and now they’re getting one of the best players in college soccer. I’m so excited to have this wonderful opportunity after a great career at UConn.”

from LouisvilleCityFC.com

Excuse me, that’s the best team in the USL, thankyouverymuch, Abdou. Just kidding, we have fun around here! Except I’m not kidding.

Anyway, here’s what John Hackworth had to say in the press release:

“Abdou had an outstanding career at UConn under coach Ray Reid. He is a proven goalscorer and is versatile enough to play any of our attacking positions. [Assistant] Danny [Cruz] and I liked what we saw when evaluating him on video and our opinions were reinforced by his performance at the MLS Combine. More importantly, when we met with Abdou in Orlando, it was clear that his personality and character would fit our locker room culture.”

also from the club website

A character fit! That’s good. I honestly hadn’t heard of this kid, but I barely pay attention to my own college soccer team so that isn’t too surprising. UConn isn’t exactly a national powerhouse like IU, Maryland or UCLA, but Ray Reid is a legend in the American soccer coaching pantheon.

Thiam scored 46 goals in his collegiate career and made first or second team all-conference all four years. He was mostly developed in Senegal by Diambars FC (I think), which was founded by Patrick Vieira. How Reid found him and brought him to the States is beyond me, but we can be thankful that he did. From the highlights I’ve seen, he’s a player with some pace and imagination with the ball, not to mention a good sense for spacing in possession. I can’t give you much more background than that, but this is an exciting signing!

We still could probably use a right back and a deep-lying central midfielder, but there’s still time. Welcome to Louisville, Abdou!