Photo: Lauren McKinney
By Billy McGee – @iambillymcgee
With the MLS NEXT Pro regular season concluding and the first round of playoffs kicking off this weekend, the league’s awards have been handed out, including the best XI that features a few former college soccer players. Here’s the list of MLS NEXT Pro Best XI players who got their start at the collegiate level:
GK, Sam Joseph, Virginia Tech – The 23-year-old goalkeeper kept 12 clean sheets for Portland Timbers2 on his way to the Best XI selection. In his college career he started off at UCLA, where he played three years before transferring to Virginia Tech for the 2025 season. At Tech he started 16 games and kept seven clean sheets, including against No. 3 Ohio State in their season opener.
Defender, Nicklas Lund, Oregon State – Another Portland Timbers2 player, Lund played four years at Oregon State, capping his collegiate career off playing the full 90 minutes in all but one game for the Beavers and earning an All-WCC First Team selection in his senior season in 2024.
Midfielder, Palmer Ault, Indiana – The St. Louis City2 midfielder notched an impressive eight goals and seven assists in MLS NEXT Pro in his first professional season this year. Before turning pro, he starred at Butler for three years, being named first-team All-Freshman in 2022 and Second-team All-BIG EAST in 2023 and 2024 before transferring to Indiana for his senior year. At Indiana he was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, was a unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection, and was a MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist.
Honorable mentions: Cooper Flax (NYCFC II/Wake Forest), Tate Robertson (Chattanooga FC/Bowling Green)
