PHILADELPHIA — Even with Angel City’s No. 1 pick already turned in, Duke sophomore Michelle Cooper found herself in the middle of the biggest bombshell moment of the 2023 NWSL Draft.
The MAC Hermann trophy winner went No. 2 on Thursday, selected by the Kansas City Current after a league-shaking trade that sent U.S. women’s national team forward Lynn Williams to Gotham FC. Cooper is joining one of the most ambitious sides in the league, which acquired a number of high-profile players in the offseason, including Brazilian superstar Debinha and two-time USWNT world champion Morgan Gautrat.
Those kinds of big moves build a level of excitement and expectations that can threaten to swallow a young prospect whole. But on one of the biggest days of her young soccer career, Cooper made sure to keep things in the family.
“I don’t think I’ve completely digested quite yet that my life is gonna do a 180 as of today,” the 20-year-old told Just Women’s Sports the morning of the draft from a hotel room in Philadelphia, as she and her family and coaches prepared for the next step in her career.
The decision to go pro and leave Duke University two years early wasn’t an easy…
