UCLA Men's Soccer Defender Ahmed Longmire Goes to Nashville SC in MLS SuperDraft

Longmire becomes the first Bruin to go in the first round of the SuperDraft since Frankie Amaya went No. 1 overall in 2019.

(Photo Courtesy of Don Liebig/ASUCLA)

One of the core members of the Bruins’ defensive structure has been drafted in the first round of the MLS SuperDraft.

Nashville SC traded up to draft UCLA men’s soccer defender Ahmed Longmire with the No. 10 overall pick of the 2022 MLS SuperDraft on Tuesday. Previously holding the No. 26 pick, Nashville swapped picks with the Colorado Rapids in a trade involving general allocation money headed west, allowing the third-year club to draft the now-former Bruins center back.

Longmire transferred to UCLA in 2020 after spending his previous two seasons at Utah Valley University, where he earned First Team All-WAC honors. Through his junior and senior seasons in Westwood, Longmire was selected to the All-Pac-12 Second Team and was also named an All-Pac-12 honorable mention in his final year.

Coach Ryan Jorden used Longmire as a regular in his defense, playing the Las Vegas native the most minutes during the delayed 2020 campaign and starting him in seven of the eight games he played in 2021 action.

Helping lead UCLA to an 11-7-1 record, Longmire was able to participate in three shutouts – victories against UC Irvine, CSUN and Stanford. In 2020, Longmire was able to help his team tally five shutouts.

Standing at 6-foot-3, Longmire’s height could play a large factor in Nashville’s defense, especially within set pieces.

United States Men’s National Team members Dan Lovitz and Walker Zimmerman are already in the fold in Tennessee, making it possible for Longmire to develop under the MLS veterans and earn playing time as Lovitz and Zimmerman get older.

The Music City franchise is entering its third year of action. Having played in the MLS is Back Tournament and two full seasons of MLS action in 2020 and 2021, the new addition to the highest tier of United States soccer has been defensively sound early on.

During the 2021 campaign, Nashville improved their goals allowed by 11, only allowing 22 goals compared to the 33 scored against them in 2020. Dramatically improving their position in the standings in 2021, the surging club finished No. 3 in the Eastern Conference.

Nashville drafted 22-year-old defender Jack Maher No. 2 overall in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft, and he has become a regular within the starting lineup since. Should the staff trust its youth once again, Longmire may have been drafted by a club comfortable playing him meaningful minutes early on in his professional career.

The preseason will start in the coming weeks before the regular season opens on Feb. 27, giving Longmire ample opportunities to make a statement for the squad that traded up 16 spots to select him in the meantime.

The last time UCLA had a player drafted in the first round of the MLS SuperDraft was when midfielder Frankie Amaya went No. 1 overall to FC Cincinnati in 2019. The Bruins did not have a player selected in 2020, although leading scorer forward Milan Iloski signed a homegrown player contract with Real Salt Lake that offseason, and his brother Eric Iloski became the team’s lone product of the 2021 SuperDraft when he went No. 46 overall to Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

The Bruins' starting goalkeeper, Justin Garces, signed a homegrown player contract with Atlanta United on Monday.

Longmire's fellow UCLA defender Ben Reveno got drafted by the New England Revolution with the No. 52 overall pick in the second round later Tuesday afternoon. Reveno also came to Westwood as a transfer, playing two years at UC Irvine before suiting up for the Bruins from 2019 to 2021 and starting in 47 out of a 49 possible matches.

Ben Reveno is going coast to coast!

Congrats to Ben on being a second-round pick in the 2022 MLS #SuperDraft by the @NERevolution.#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/ghcVwhGW92

— UCLA Men's Soccer (@UCLAMSoccer) January 11, 2022

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