Completed Event: Men's Soccer versus Utah Tech on October 23, 2025 , Tie , 2, to, 2
M Soccer
vs Utah Tech
T 2-2
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Easley, Rasmussen drafted in MLS 1st round
1/11/2022 3:28:00 PM | Men's Soccer, Paul Coro
GCU stars selected 22nd, 27th overall by Kansas City, Portland
Grand Canyon stars Esai Easley and Justin Rasmussen thrusted their careers and their college program by becoming the first Lopes to be selected in the Major League Soccer SuperDraft's first round.
Easley, the WAC Defensive Player of the Year, began GCU's historic professional breakthrough Tuesday when Sporting Kansas City took the center back at No. 22 overall. Minutes later, Rasmussen capped his five-year Lopes career with the Portland Timbers picking the midfielder at No. 27 overall, making GCU one of six colleges with multiple first-round draft picks.
Easley, a native of Kona, Hawaii, was shown on the MLS SuperDraft show celebrating with his parents, Taylor and Felicia, as his selection defined the GCU program's advancement. Easley and Rasmussen teamed to lead the Lopes to three NCAA tournament appearances in the past four seasons and became the program's first MLS SuperDraft picks since Amer Sasivarevic (No. 57) and Niki Jackson (No. 73) were drafted in 2018.
"I feel great," Easley said on the MLS SuperDraft broadcast. "There's not much words to be said. It was getting a little nervy at the end, but I'm just blessed with the opportunity.
"Honestly, I was nervous, but I knew that everything was supposed to work the way it was supposed to work so I was just trusting in the process and letting everything take care of itself."
Easley and Rasmussen led GCU into becoming a top-25 program in recent years, including consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and a 23-6-1 cumulative record in their final two Lopes seasons.
Under first-year head coach Leonard Griffin, GCU ended Easley's and Rasmussen's final season ranked No. 25 in the United Soccer Coaches poll and No. 18 in the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index.
"It's littered with talent, not just within this draft but around this country," MLS analyst Devon Kerr said of the GCU men's soccer program. "There's professional players all over. I'm talking about within the academy systems. It's MLS. It's USL Championship. It's going to MLS Next Pro. If you're Leonard Griffin, you're one of those teams that you don't want to say mid-major. It's in that talking point where it's not necessarily just Indiana, Maryland and Clemson. They've got to compete. Marshall showed us that last year. They showed us they were capable of winning the national championship.
"The landscape of college soccer has changed. Grand Canyon is one of those reasons."
Rasmussen, a Las Vegas native, went from playing 23 minutes during his freshman season to making All-WAC first and second teams in his final two seasons. He ended his GCU career with a share of the program's Division I-era record for career assists (10) and was second for career goals (16).
Rasmussen joins a Portland club that was last season's MLS Cup runner-up and won the 2015 MLS Cup.
"They're getting a player who not just can score goals, but he's multifaceted," Kerr said of Rasmussen. "He's got a cultured left foot. When he gets into the final third, he can look to pick out that far post. Also, he can find teammates with the unexpected pass. He's got good vision. And one thing in particular, he's very good on the transition. (Portland head coach) Giovanni Savarese loves to be on the transition."
Easley has started since the fifth game of his freshman season at GCU and played every minute in 12 of his 15 appearances this fall. He adjusted his defensive role as a senior, playing in a three-back system that put him in the midfield occasionally. GCU dropped its goals against average to 0.95 this season despite playing a pair of first-year starting goalkeepers.
Easley joins a Sporting Kansas City franchise that won the MLS Cup in 2000 and 2013 and reached the conference semifinals last season.
"A really good one-on-one defender," Kerr said of Easley. "He's not an all-or-nothing type guy. He's got a lot of patience to read the situation and break it down. He'll wait for the attacker to make the mistake, but he has the smarts to have the cover as well. So if he pushes himself into a bad spot, that normally doesn't happen.
"Leadership, professionalism and, oh by the way, according to Leonard Griffin, the kid just flat-out takes care of his body. He's a gym rat. He wants to be healthy. He wants to eat well. That always bodes well at the professional level."
MLS analyst Michael Lahoud followed up on Easley, saying, "What I like about him the most is he reads the game very well. He's got servant leadership in his blood ... When I think of him at Sporting Kansas City, (head coach) Peter Vermes likes center backs who can play. Sporting Kansas City throws so many numbers forward with the two outside backs. You have to have the composure, regardless if you're a young center back. We've seen this before from SKC, a one-back Besler. Esai Easley reminds me very much of that. Reads the game, very cerebral and can play out of the back."
Easley, the WAC Defensive Player of the Year, began GCU's historic professional breakthrough Tuesday when Sporting Kansas City took the center back at No. 22 overall. Minutes later, Rasmussen capped his five-year Lopes career with the Portland Timbers picking the midfielder at No. 27 overall, making GCU one of six colleges with multiple first-round draft picks.Easley, a native of Kona, Hawaii, was shown on the MLS SuperDraft show celebrating with his parents, Taylor and Felicia, as his selection defined the GCU program's advancement. Easley and Rasmussen teamed to lead the Lopes to three NCAA tournament appearances in the past four seasons and became the program's first MLS SuperDraft picks since Amer Sasivarevic (No. 57) and Niki Jackson (No. 73) were drafted in 2018.
"I feel great," Easley said on the MLS SuperDraft broadcast. "There's not much words to be said. It was getting a little nervy at the end, but I'm just blessed with the opportunity.
"Honestly, I was nervous, but I knew that everything was supposed to work the way it was supposed to work so I was just trusting in the process and letting everything take care of itself."
Easley and Rasmussen led GCU into becoming a top-25 program in recent years, including consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and a 23-6-1 cumulative record in their final two Lopes seasons.
Under first-year head coach Leonard Griffin, GCU ended Easley's and Rasmussen's final season ranked No. 25 in the United Soccer Coaches poll and No. 18 in the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index.
"It's littered with talent, not just within this draft but around this country," MLS analyst Devon Kerr said of the GCU men's soccer program. "There's professional players all over. I'm talking about within the academy systems. It's MLS. It's USL Championship. It's going to MLS Next Pro. If you're Leonard Griffin, you're one of those teams that you don't want to say mid-major. It's in that talking point where it's not necessarily just Indiana, Maryland and Clemson. They've got to compete. Marshall showed us that last year. They showed us they were capable of winning the national championship.
"The landscape of college soccer has changed. Grand Canyon is one of those reasons."
Rasmussen, a Las Vegas native, went from playing 23 minutes during his freshman season to making All-WAC first and second teams in his final two seasons. He ended his GCU career with a share of the program's Division I-era record for career assists (10) and was second for career goals (16).Rasmussen joins a Portland club that was last season's MLS Cup runner-up and won the 2015 MLS Cup.
"They're getting a player who not just can score goals, but he's multifaceted," Kerr said of Rasmussen. "He's got a cultured left foot. When he gets into the final third, he can look to pick out that far post. Also, he can find teammates with the unexpected pass. He's got good vision. And one thing in particular, he's very good on the transition. (Portland head coach) Giovanni Savarese loves to be on the transition."
Easley has started since the fifth game of his freshman season at GCU and played every minute in 12 of his 15 appearances this fall. He adjusted his defensive role as a senior, playing in a three-back system that put him in the midfield occasionally. GCU dropped its goals against average to 0.95 this season despite playing a pair of first-year starting goalkeepers.
Easley joins a Sporting Kansas City franchise that won the MLS Cup in 2000 and 2013 and reached the conference semifinals last season.
"A really good one-on-one defender," Kerr said of Easley. "He's not an all-or-nothing type guy. He's got a lot of patience to read the situation and break it down. He'll wait for the attacker to make the mistake, but he has the smarts to have the cover as well. So if he pushes himself into a bad spot, that normally doesn't happen.
"Leadership, professionalism and, oh by the way, according to Leonard Griffin, the kid just flat-out takes care of his body. He's a gym rat. He wants to be healthy. He wants to eat well. That always bodes well at the professional level."
MLS analyst Michael Lahoud followed up on Easley, saying, "What I like about him the most is he reads the game very well. He's got servant leadership in his blood ... When I think of him at Sporting Kansas City, (head coach) Peter Vermes likes center backs who can play. Sporting Kansas City throws so many numbers forward with the two outside backs. You have to have the composure, regardless if you're a young center back. We've seen this before from SKC, a one-back Besler. Esai Easley reminds me very much of that. Reads the game, very cerebral and can play out of the back."
"When I root, I root for the Timbers!"
— Portland Timbers (@TimbersFC) January 12, 2022
Former Timber and current @GCU_MSoccer coach @LeoGriffin12 was with his player, Justin Rasmussen, when we drafted him. He made sure @SirScoresAlot was ready for the Rose City. #RCTID #SuperDraft pic.twitter.com/FKzIju30dN
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