Sporting KC Signs 20-Year-Old Forward Wilson Harris
October 21, 2020 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
Sporting Kansas City announced today that the club has signed 20-year-old striker Wilson Harris as a Homegrown Player.
Harris has signed an MLS contract through 2021 with options for 2022 and 2023, becoming the 13th Homegrown Player to emerge from the Sporting Kansas City Academy. He has scored 23 goals for Sporting Kansas City II since 2018, notably becoming the youngest USL Championship player to eclipse 20 career goals.
Following the conclusion of the 2020 USL Championship season on Oct. 3, Harris adhered to mandatory health and safety protocols set by Sporting and MLS prior to joining the first team for training. He will be available for selection when Sporting hosts the Colorado Rapids at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at Children's Mercy Park.
Sporting previously signed Harris to a Short-Term Agreement ahead of the club's MLS match against Vancouver Whitecaps FC on May 18, 2019. He was added to Sporting's roster due to Extreme Hardship and was an unused substitute in the 1-1 draw.
In three USL Championship seasons with Sporting Kansas City II, Harris has started 39 of 56 appearances and averaged 0.64 goals per 90 minutes played. The forward is coming off an impressive 2020 campaign in which he bagged a team-leading eight goals under head coach and longtime Sporting midfielder Paulo Nagamura. Harris played every match during the abbreviated 16-game regular season, striking twice in a 3-0 home win over OKC Energy FC on Aug. 22 and scoring in momentous road victories over Louisville City FC (July 29), FC Tulsa (Aug. 29) and Indy Eleven (Sept. 30).
Harris was the top-scoring teenager in American professional soccer in 2019, finishing the year with 12 goals in 25 USL Championship appearances. His dozen goals-which included a sizzling run of 10 strikes in his final 11 appearances-equaled the league's single-season record for a teenager.
After joining the Sporting Kansas City Academy in 2017, Harris inked his first professional contract for Sporting KC II the following year and ended the 2018 USL Championship campaign with three goals in 15 games, including seven starts. Of his 23 goals at the USL Championship level, Harris has notched 11 with his left foot, eight with his right foot and four headers.
A native of Los Angeles, Harris had prolific stints in the Seattle Sounders FC Academy and Real SoCal Academy before moving to Kansas City. During the 2017-18 U.S. Soccer Development Academy campaign, he led the Sporting KC U-19s with 18 goals in 17 league appearances.
On the international stage, Harris has represented the United States at the U-16, U-18 and U-20 levels. He helped the U.S. U-15s to a fifth-place finish at the 2015 Open Nordic Cup in Sweden and was part of a U.S. U-20 squad that traveled to Honduras for friendly matches in May 2018.
Harris is one of eight Academy products on Sporting's current roster, joining Daniel Salloi, Gianluca Busio, Jaylin Lindsey, Wan Kuzain, Tyler Freeman, Cam Duke and Felipe Hernandez.
Transaction: Sporting Kansas City (MLS) signs forward Wilson Harris as a Homegrown Player.
VITALS
Wilson Harris
Position: Forward
Number: 96
Born: 11/28/1999 (20 years old)
Height: 5-11
Weight: 165 lbs.
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California
Citizenship: USA
Twitter: @Nosliwharris
Instagram: @nosliwharris
Sporting KC Homegrown Player Signings (14)
2010 - Goalkeeper Jon Kempin
2011 - Defender Kevin Ellis
2013 - Defender Erik Palmer-Brown
2016 - Forward Daniel Salloi *
2017 - Midfielder Gianluca Busio *
2017 - Defender Jaylin Lindsey *
2018 - Defender Matt Lewis
2018 - Forward Zach Wright
2018 - Midfielder Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal *
2018 - Forward Tyler Freeman *
2019 - Midfielder Cameron Duke *
2019 - Midfielder Felipe Hernandez *
2020 - Goalkeeper John Pulskamp *
2020 - Forward Wilson Harris *
* Denotes player on current Sporting roster
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