Virginia men’s soccer center back Aboubacar Keita has signed a homegrown contract with Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew and will leave the Cavaliers after his freshman season.
Keita, a native of Columbus, Ohio, played in the Crew’s youth academy growing up, even participating in preseason matches and other friendlies with the first team in 2018.
In his lone season with the Cavaliers, Keita started all 17 games in the Virginia back three, only missing one minute the entire season. He was an ACC All-Freshman honoree and was rated the top freshman in the country by TopDrawerSoccer.com in their midseason rankings.
In addition to his defensive contributions, Keita also scored one goal against Pittsburgh on Sept. 28.
This month, Keita participated in the United States Youth National Team U-20 January camp. His national team experience puts him in consideration for the U-20 World Cup in Poland this summer.
Keita will join former Cavalier forward Edward Opoku on the Crew, though the two were never teammates at Virginia.
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