Date Posted: 1/23/2007

BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Willy Guadarrama of Campbell University was selected by the Kansas City Wizards in the fourth round of the 2007 Major League Soccer supplemental draft on Jan. 18. Guadarrama is the first Fighting Camel to be picked by an organization since the United States’ top soccer league was formed in 1996.

Guadarrama will report to Kansas City on Jan. 30 for pre-season training. The team will then move on to Bradenton, Fla., in early February for another pre-season camp.

“This is an exciting opportunity for Willy and we give him our full support,” said Campbell head coach Doug Hess. “I know he is excited about pre-season camp with Kansas City. Willy has worked hard to put himself in a position to get drafted and play professionally, so we are hopeful that things will work out.”

A pre-season All-America choice, Guadarrama led the Atlantic Sun Conference in game-winning goals (4), while ranking second in goals scored (9) and points (21). The Cedar Park, Texas native finished his three-year career tied for 12th among Campbell’s all-time goal scoring leaders (36), while ranking 13th in points (82) in 56 matches. He was named to the first-team all-conference, second-team All-South and A-Sun all-tournament squads.

Despite having one year of eligibility remaining, Guadarrama graduated in December with a degree in sport management in order to begin his pursuit of a professional soccer career. He was selected as the 2005 Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year, first-team All-South and third-team All-American after leading the nation in goals and points scored per game with 21 strikes (46 points) in 20 outings.

Guadarrama’s younger brother, Sonny, signed a professional contract with Santos (Mexico) last summer after gaining Freshman All-America honors in 2005, his only season with the Fighting Camels.

Campbell went 6-2-1 over its final nine matches of 2006 to finish the season at 10-7-2. Four of CU’s seven losses on the year came against schools that were either regionally or nationally ranked. Fifth-year head coach Doug Hess’ Camels produced the program’s first back-to-back winning seasons since 1995-96.

Guadarrama contributed 12 points (five goals, two assists) in seven games during the month of October when CU went 5-1-1. He was selected A-Sun Player of the Week on Oct. 23 after he struck three times and set up another goal in wins over Belmont and Lipscomb.

Courtesy of Campbell University

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