Orlando Pride
2024 NWSL Draft: Orlando Pride Select Texas Tech Forward/Midfielder Alex Kerr at No. 50
The Pride select an attacking player out of the Big 12 with the first of their two late fourth-round picks.
After not having a selection in the third round of the 2024 NWSL Draft, the Pride selected forward/midfielder Alex Kerr out of Texas Tech with the No. 50 overall pick — the first of two for Orlando in the fourth round. A transfer from Vanderbilt, Kerr spent her fifth-year “super senior” collegiate season at Texas Tech, where she helped the Red Raiders by scoring double-digit goals. She led Texas Tech to an 8-0-2 record in conference play, good enough to win the Big 12.
She is the first player the Pride have ever selected out of Texas Tech, but Orlando has taken forwards from the Big 12 in two consecutive years after selecting Messiah Bright in the 2023 draft.
Kerr, a native of Chapel Hill, NC, scored 11 goals and added five assists in 23 appearances (all starts), playing in each of her team’s matches during the 2023 season and logging 1,631 minutes. Three of her goals were game winners. She put 21 of her 53 shots on target (40%). For her efforts, Kerr received All-Big 12 Second Team honors.
In 2022, Kerr appeared in all 21 of her team’s matches, starting 20 of them and logging 925 minutes. She scored six goals and added an assist and put 13 of her 26 shots on target (50%). In her four years in the Southeastern Conference at Vanderbilt, Kerr appeared in 63 games (26 starts), playing 1,998 minutes. She scored 12 goals and added four assists, firing 51 shots and getting 28 of them on frame (55%).
What It Means for Orlando
Kerr is a forward with decent size at 5-foot-9 and the Pride could use some additional firepower. While fourth-round picks are generally longshots to make the club’s roster, Orlando currently has two of those on the roster (Summer Yates and Kaylie Collins), so the club has some history in finding role players late in the draft. The hope is that Kerr is a player who can bring something different to the Orlando attacking corps and that she’ll come to camp ready to compete for a spot on the roster.
One of the attributes that stands out watching her highlight video (below) is her ability to suddenly accelerate to clear a defender and get onto a pass or cross. She also scores goals with either foot. If she can translate those skills to the NWSL level, she could help an offense that sometimes struggled to find the net. Kerr also has played in the midfield, so she has some of the versatility that Seb Hines likes in his players.
