University of New Hampshire forward Ibrahim Conde, right, of Montreal, is shown in action against UMass Lowell in America East regular-season championship soccer in Durham, N.H., in a Nov. 5, 2024, handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-University of New Hampshire, Makena Lee, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

The University of New Hampshire helped develop star defender Moise Bombito. Now the Wildcats have another Canadian looking to make his mark.

Montreal forward Ibrahim Conde, the lone Canadian invited to last week's MLS College Showcase in San Diego, hopes to follow Bombito's road to the pros via Friday's MLS SuperDraft.

With clubs increasingly using their academies as talent pipelines, the three-round MLS draft is not as important as it once was. That was shown recently when the Philadelphia Union traded all of its draft picks over the next three years — eight picks in all — to the Colorado Rapids for up to US$600,000 in general allocation money.

Conde had a tryout back in the day with CF Montreal's academy but did not catch on.

He is a draw these days, however. One of 44 invited players put through their paces in front of MLS club officials at the College Showcase, Conde went through interviews with five different clubs.

"Apparently there's a few teams interested," he said. "You never know with the draft but there's a chance."

Expansion San Diego FC has the first overall pick in Friday's draft, followed by San Jose and Chicago.

Toronto FC traded its first-round pick (ninth overall) to San Diego last week in a deal for Brazilian winger Thiago Andrade. Montreal picks 13th and the Vancouver Whitecaps 15th.

A dangerous two-footed player who knows what to do with the ball, Conde earned 2024 all-America East first team honours with seven goals and three assists in 13 games this season. His 1.31 points per game led the conference.

"He can do lots of different things," said New Hampshire coach Rich Weinrebe. "He can stretch space in behind. He can get the ball to feet and connect (with teammates). He can hold the ball back to goal with the centre back on him. He can score in all kinds of different ways. He's got versatility to drift into different areas on the field and attack.

"He's going to be very missed by us … He's a great player and even a better person, honestly."

Before his two seasons at New Hampshire, Conde turned heads at Iowa Western Community College with 32 goals and 18 assists in 59 games from 2020 to 2023.

Conde and Bombito helped third-ranked Iowa Western to the National Junior College Athletic Association title in November 2021, with Conde scoring the insurance goal in a 2-0 win over No. 7 Arizona Western in Tyler, Texas.

"We became good friends at Iowa," said Conde. "When we left together from Montreal, we took the same plane."

Iowa Western had finished national runner-up in the spring of 2021.

Bombito transferred to New Hampshire in 2022 and was taken third overall by the Colorado Rapids in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft. The 24-year-old from Montreal moved to Nice in France's top league in August for a reported transfer fee of US$7.7 million, billed as an outbound record for Colorado and MLS record fee for a centre back.

Bombito, who has started all 13 of Jesse Marsch's games in change of Canada this year, has 17 caps.

"His career went right to the top," said Conde.

And Bombito, who attended the MLS College Showcase in 2022, he has proved to be a valuable sounding board to his friend.

"He texts me a lot. Especially recently when I went to the showcase," said Conde, who also played a summer with Bombito at CS St-Hubert in Ligue1 Quebec.

Weinrebe helped recruit Bombito to New Hampshire.

"I think we all knew he was going to be great. I don't know if we ever anticipated how great he would be," said the coach. "But another great human being … The sky's the limit for him."

Conde transferred to New Hampshire in 2023 when he had one goal and one assists in 11 games in an injury-interrupted campaign.

At New Hampshire, Conde played with teammates from Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy and South Korea.

"The culture here is great. A lot of great values, good people," said Conde.

The Iowa Western to New Hampshire connection continues with Montreal defender Boubacar Simaakan set to join the Wildcats from the Reivers in the fall.

The six-foot-one 172-pound Conde also won the USL 2 title with New Hampshire's Seacoast United Phantoms in August, defeating 3-2 host Peoria City after extra time.

He's been playing soccer since he was four years old, spending time as a defender and midfielder before moving into attack as a 14-year-old.

Conde's preferred position is as a central striker but he can also play on the wing.

"It's not my best position but that's a position where I can help the team, for sure," he said. "I'm open to play there if any team needs me to play there."

Said Weinrebe: "I think he's very prepared for (the) next steps … He's a smart player who's coachable."

Conde's parents both hail from Guinea, with his father growing up in Ivory Coast before moving to Montreal.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 18, 2024

News from © The Canadian Press, 2024