UCLA men’s soccer players take different paths to reach 2015 MLS draft

They entered their UCLA soccer careers with directly opposite expectations.

Redshirt senior forward Andrew Tusaazemajja said he didn’t think he’d have a shot of playing Major League Soccer, while senior defender Aaron Simmons said he’d always had the goal of playing professionally in the back of his mind.

Yet on Jan. 8, both players found themselves in the same place – Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – for the MLS Player Combine.

They were among a select group of 55 seniors from across the country who received an invitation to the event after being handpicked by a group of NCAA Division I coaches and MLS representatives. The list also included two other Bruins – midfielder Leo Stolz and goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. – making UCLA the most represented university at the event.

For Tusaazemajja, getting to the combine was an arduous process at times. He went through a serious ankle injury during his third year at UCLA, one that almost derailed his soccer career.

“He was on the cusp of maybe not wanting to play in his fifth year because (of the ankle injury),” said coach Jorge Salcedo.

Salcedo said that he had a talk with Tusaazemajja, telling him about how important his return was to the UCLA team. After speaking with Salcedo, Tusaazemajja decided to come back and became a consistent starter for the highly ranked Bruins in his final year of eligibility.

“Andrew, I think, is the epitome of perseverance and really taking the opportunity at UCLA and doing everything you can with it,” Salcedo said.

After overcoming his injury and improving his play to where he was starting for one of the best teams in the nation, Tusaazemajja said his confidence grew and that he no longer considered it a long shot to play in MLS.

“Playing competitively with some of the best players in the nation (at UCLA) – that basically helped me improve on my skill and elevate my game,” Tusaazemajja said. “So by my senior year … I felt like I was prepared to take my game to the next level.”

One of the standout players that Tusaazemajja had to face every day in practice was Simmons – an All-Pac-12 defender who had been eyeing MLS ever since he entered college. Simmons said he transferred to UCLA from Southern Methodist University after his sophomore year with the intention of gaining more national visibility at a more prominent soccer program.

“The whole reason why I came to UCLA (was) so I could have a better opportunity to try to go to the MLS,” Simmons said. “(Being invited to the combine was) a very big moment for me and kind of something that I’ve been working forward to and have had in the back of my mind the whole time.”

It turns out that the two ended up mutually preparing each other for the MLS Combine. After both were invited, the two UCLA seniors ended up facing off against each other once again this week during the scrimmage portion of the combine.

Tusaazemajja said that Simmons’ team won, but added that he still had a lot of fun playing against his former UCLA teammate and participating in the combine.

It may not have been what Tusaazemajja had expected a few years ago, but by the end of the MLS SuperDraft Thursday afternoon, he could be a Major League Soccer player. For Simmons, a projected first-round pick, a draft selection would be the realization of a long sought-after dream.

Whatever happens, they will always be Bruins.

“Even though they aren’t currently part of our program, they’ll always be a part of our program, and they’ll always have a long-lasting effect on me,” Salcedo said of the UCLA players eligible for the draft.