Dayton soccer player drafted in second round by FC Cincinnati

Mboma Dem, a native France, watched the draft with his family at his grandmother’s house in Paris.

“I’m really excited, really happy, grateful,” he said in a Zoom interview Wednesday. “I’m proud to have my family be proud of me. It’s good news.”

Mboma Dem was named the Most Outstanding Performer in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament. He led the team with nine goals. Dayton claimed its first A-10 tournament championship since 2015 and lost 4-3 to Louisville in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“Making it to the national tournament showed that it was a very serious environment,” Mboma Dem said. “Being focused every day, overcoming challenge, I think that we were prepared and trained to perform at our highest, and that’s what is going to be expected for me moving forward.”

Mboma Dem spent one season at Dayton after three seasons at Omaha.

“Ambition drove me to move out of Omaha,” he said. “I was in a comfortable spot in Omaha, but I felt like I had to to get somewhere with more exposure. Dayton is not one of the biggest teams in the country, but it’s a very good team in a very good conference, and talking with the coaches, I felt really comfortable in what could be accomplished.”

Mboma Dem is the 11th Flyer drafted. The others are: Denny Clanton (2004, fourth round, 38th overall, Chicago Fire); Chris Rolfe (2005, third round, 29th overall, Fire); Dasan Robinson (2006, supplemental round, Fire); Isaac Kissi (2010, third round, 42nd overall, Club Deportivo Chivas USA); Amass Amankona (2016, third round, 46th overall); Lalas Abubakar (2017, first round, fifth overall, Columbus Crew); Jonas Fjeldberg (2021, second round, 54th overall, F.C. Cincinnati); Kingsford Adjei (2022, second round, 56th overall, New York City F.C.); Xavier Zengue (2023, first round 27th, Columbus Crew); Jaden Jones-Riley (2023, 73rd overall, Portland Timbers).