The Crew selects Brady Scott in 2021 MLS Re-Entry Draft

The Columbus Crew made a selection in the 2021 MLS Re-Entry Draft no Thursday. Joining the Crew is 22-year-old goalkeeper Brady Scott.

Scott joins the Black & Gold after signing with Nashville SC in August of 2020. The United States youth international was selected by Austin FC in the 2020 Expansion Draft but was sent on loan to the United Soccer League (USL).

In 2021, Scott played for Memphis 901 of the USL Championship. Through seven matches, Scott ended the 2021 USL campaign with one clean sheet and one victory. Record-wise, Scott ended the 2021 season 1-3-3.

Even though the stats don’t pop out for Scott, Columbus saw something in the young goalkeeper, opting to trade up to secure his services.

The Black & Gold initially had the 11th selection in the Re-Entry Draft, but moved up to fourth. To do that, the Crew traded with Western Conference’s Austin FC, the same team that drafted Scott in 2020. Columbus gave Austin the team’s 11th selection, as well as the natural third-round selection in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft and $50,000 of General Allocation Money. That amount could fluctuate depending on the performance of Scott.

The front office of the Crew isn’t the only people that have recognized something with the young goalkeeper. Scott signed with FC Köln of the Bundesliga, Germany’s top division of soccer, in 2017. Although the goalkeeper only played one season with Köln’s Under-19 team, Scott had two clean sheets in three starts.

Internationally, Scott’s made an impact for the United States youth national team. Scott won the 2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship Golden Glove after registering two clean sheets in six starts. A significant clean sheet was in the 2-0 championship final when the United States shutout rival Mexico.

In the 2021 Crew season, starting goalkeeper Eloy Room and veteran backup Evan Bush held all of the MLS regular season workload. Bush stepped in for Room when he was gone for Gold Cup duty and when he was not available due to injury. With Columbus’ end-of-season roster decisions, Bush was not re-signed.

Scott is likely not destined for the senior team, with a lot of offseason remaining for the Black & Gold. A requirement of selecting Scott, through the rules of MLS, Columbus has to extend a genuine offer to the player within seven days of the draft.

If signed, the Crew’s 2021 Re-Entry Draft selection could be Crew 2’s first goalkeeper. Crew 2 starts the team’s first MLS Next Pro season in 2022 when the league kicks off in March.

Here’s the Crew’s current roster, as of Thursday:

Columbus Crew 2022 roster

Goalkeepers: Eloy Room

Defenders: Aboubacar Keita, Jonathan Mensah, Steven Moreira, Josh Williams

Midfielders: Artur, Sebastian Berhalter, Luis Diaz, Derrick Etienne Jr., Marlon Hairston, Perry Kitchen, Alexandru Matan, Kevin Molino, Aidan Morris, Darlington Nagbe, Isaiah Parente, Pedro Santos, Lucas Zelarayan

Forwards: Miguel Berry, Gyasi Zardes