Position: Central Defender
Age: 21
Key Stat: In the 99th percentile of all college players per American Soccer Analysis
When the list of players eligible for the 2025 MLS SuperDraft last December, it was a surprise to see that Prince Amponsah wasn’t included. The 21-year-old was considered one of the brightest collegiate prospects in the nation, and a sure first-round pick. Writing in American Soccer Analysis earlier that year, Paul Harvey called him “a pure left-footed ball-playing CB” who “would be a perfect fit for NYCFC’s possession system.”
After Amponsah’s absence, our friends at The Outfield read between the lines and correctly predicted that the central defender would nonetheless be signed by New York City FC.
Wake Forest’s Prince Amponsah, the best left-footed CB in college, is not on the draft eligible list meaning he is probably signing with NYCFC as a homegrown.
Sure enough, New York City FC had their cake and ate it too. They used their first-round pick in the MLS SuperDraft to select Max Murray, a 6′ 5″ central defender who just won the national title with the University of Vermont. Then a little less than three weeks later, they announced signing Amponsah to a Homegrown contract.
Academy to First Team?
The central defender is the 16th Homegrown in New York City club history, and he could be one of a handful to make his Major League Soccer debut the same year he signed with the club. Others in that small group include James Sands (2017) and Justin Haak (2019).
After all, Amponsah spent four years in the NYCFC Academy, where he made 79 starts: He knows the system.
Not only that, he has been one to watch since at least 2017. He was such a standout player the 13-year-old made the USMNT U-14 squad, and was the subject of a moving profile by Men in Blazers:
Men in Blazers Presents: The Future
NYCFC Defender Prince Amponsah
MiB follow U14 @NYCFC and @ussoccer_ynt defender Prince on a 2.5 hour trip to training to chase his @MLS dream. @adidassoccer (Film 1 of 2) pic.twitter.com/KPxLP4jZpC
— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) June 23, 2017
That kind of youthful promise doesn’t always immediately translate into professional success. But Amponsah’s career at Wake Forest University, where he made 84 starts, helps make the case that he could be ready to make a transition to the First Team sooner rather than later. He was one of the best players at the soccer powerhouse, where he was the 2024 ACC Tournament’s Most Valuable Player, Wake Forest Men’s Soccer Most Valuable Player in 2022-23, and made the 2022 ACC All-Tournament Team Selection.
Progressive passing, buildup
And what kind of player is Amponsah? According to American Soccer Analysis, he’s comfortable with the ball at his feet, and in the 99th percentile for buildup play. He’s elite when it comes to creation, ranking the 81st percentile for all NCAA players.
As for his defending, well, it’s not so great. American Soccer Analysis puts him in the 14th percentile.
To put that in perspective, they put Taylor Calheira, the striker who led NYCFC II with 14 goals last year and who just left to join FC Tulsa in USL Championship, in the 48th percentile for defending.
A position of need
But a left-footed central defender is a position of need at New York City.
Birk Risa was brought in to fill that role after the departure of Alexander Callens in 2023, but he struggled last season, and ranked in just the 14th percentile for defensive actions per FotMob. Risa finished the season on the bench after Haak, a right-footed defensive midfielder, battled his way into the Starting XI.
Could Amponsah challenge Risa for the starting spot in defense? The short answer: Yes.
The longer answer: Yes, but not right away. It’s not easy to make the jump from college ball to the majors, even if you are a dyed-in-the-wool NYCFC academy player.
We could see something along the lines of the development of Malachi Jones, who was New York City’s surprise first-round pick in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft. Jones impressed the coaching staff during the preseason, when he was given the opportunity to show his stuff during the Coachella Invitational: He was fun to watch on the live streams. Jones started the 2024 season on the bench as an unused substitute, made a couple of starts for NYCFC II, and then was given some First Team minutes before finally being named to the Starting XI in May.
New York City return to the Coachella Invitational this week, where they will play four friendlies in ten days. If Amponsah sees significant minutes in those games, it’s likely that we’ll see him suit up for the First Team before too long.
If and when that happens, it will mean the Men In Blazers video above contains a prophecy.
“Shut your eyes, Prince,” Roger Bennett says to the 13-year-old boy. “When you see your future, what do you imagine?”
“When I see my future?” Amponsah replies. “I imagine a 6-foot buff man on the left side of the defensive pitch. The game is two minutes away from being over, I have the ball at my feet, and then I start to completely zone out, and I start to think about my attack. No matter what I’ve been through, I’ve done it for a reason. Now I envision myself coming back to reality and finishing the game off with a win.”
As you can see in the video below, the first part of that vision has already come true: Amponsah is now a tall, buff man. Now we’re just waiting for the second part to be fulfilled.
There’s something about this guy. He’s going to be a factor, and quickly.
From your mouth to Pascal’s ear
He’s going to really dig this kid. It’s not just Prince being a baller, although he’s clearly that. The ACC is no joke. It’s what he has under the hood. I keep thinking about him at left center back with O’Toole at left back and Malachi on the left wing, just mind melding and being a nightmare on that side. It’s not hard to see us pulling teams all out of shape like Play-Do on a comic book.(Okay, you might need to be of a certain age for that analogy. 😆)