Promising Sounders Academy graduate joins Orange County USL team

Blake Malone had recently been called into USA U-20 team.

Ever since the Seattle Sounders launched their USL affiliate, they’ve done a remarkably good job of retaining their most promising academy talent. One may have just gotten away, though.

Orange County SC — a USL team that has recently been snapping up promising youth national team players — announced on Friday that they had signed center back Blake Malone. Malone was recently called into the United States U-20 team and presumably had not been signed by the Defiance or Sounders only because he preferred to be at North Carolina where he had started 12 times as a freshman.

Prior to joining North Carolina, Malone helped lead the Sounders Academy U17 team to a USSDA title in 2018 and was considered among the top college prospects. Malone spent two seasons with the Sounders Academy after moving here on the homestay program.

This signing suggests there may have been some other reason that he didn’t sign with the Sounders. One possibility is that OCSC simply made a contract offer the Sounders were unwilling to match.

“I am very happy to join OCSC and I needed a new challenge to push myself to the next level,” Malone said in a OCSS release. “The USL is a very competitive league and OCSC specifically provides the professional pathway to achieve my dreams.”

Although they’d need to work out a deal with OCSC, it was not immediately clear if the Sounders retain the ability to sign Malone to a Homegrown Player contract or if they still have his MLS rights.