PHILADELPHIA—The dreaded “Tweener” label. It’s what Boyd Okwuonu is hoping he shed with a strong performance at the MLS scouting combine. And by doing so, he and that it will launch him into a high pick in today's MLS SuperDraft here.

By almost all accounts Okwuonu has the perfect pedigree that should make him a draft pick. He helped lead North Carolina to a national title earlier in his career, he started for the U.S. U-20 team in CONCACAF qualifying, he was the defensive player of the year in the rugged Atlantic Coast Conference as a junior, and he was an All-American this fall.

But he stands only five-foot-nine and had a couple of shaky outing on the ball two years ago for the U-20 team at right back, hence the “too small for center back, not skilled enough for a full back” tweener tag.

However, at the combine, amid a sea of six-foot-two-plus center backs, Okwuono shined, with solid positioning and excellent timing in the air.

“I think I showed at the combine that my size doesn’t stop me from playing the position well,” Okwuono said. “But I think I’ve shown that for four years at North Carolina, too.”

Indeed, besides the aforementioned accolades, in 2012 he anchored a Tar Heels defense that gave up the fewest goals in Division I. This year, North Carolina was one of the highest-scoring teams in college soccer and Okwuonu was asked to do more defensively as his teammates pushed forward.

“Some teams want big center backs, period,” said one MLS evaluator at the combine. “But if you look at how he’s done here, (Okwuono’s) not getting beat in the air. His size isn’t an issue. And if you look at A.J., he’s shown you can play at this level at this size.”

That’s a reference to Los Angeles Galaxy defender A.J. DeLaGarza, who came out of Maryland with a similar label but has started for most of his six seasons in MLS and won three MLS Cups in the process.

“Guys like A.J., like (five-foot-nine former Italian national team center back Fabio) Cannavaro, they show you don’t have to be this big guy to be a good center back. I’m not saying I’m at their level, but I think I can be a good player in MLS,” Okwuono said.

Like DeLaGarza, there are questions coming out of college about Okwuono’s ability to handle wide players. In 2013 CONCACAF qualifying for the U-20 World Cup, Okwuono struggled at right back against Haiti and was exposed for a goal in a 2-1 U.S. win.

“I think I’m a better defender than I was then, and have shown I have the pace to handle wide players,” he said.

Several MLS teams seem to think he’s got a shot to follow the lead of DeLaGarza, who has split time in MLS between center back and fullback despite initially not being entirely comfortable on the ball.

A native of Oklahoma, Okwuonu played for FC Dallas’ academy for several years before matriculating to UNC and Dallas tried to put a homegrown claim on him but it was denied.

“I really like O.C.,” Dallas coach Oscar Pareja said, using Okwuonu’s nickname. “I had him when I was the academy coach and he did really well for us. We tried to put in a homegrown claim on him but some other teams challenged it and the league said no. It’s too bad because we really wanted him but sometimes the league does things and you don’t understand why and you have to go with it.”

Several sources said during his college career Okwuonu didn’t train enough with Dallas during the offseason—a criteria for a club maintaining its homegrown rights on a player—and that’s why their claim was denied.

“But that’s very loosely and unevenly applied,” said one agent. “Look at Toronto and Jay Chapman. They kicked him out of their academy and didn’t watch him for three years and the league honored their claim on him.”

Chapman, a junior All-American midfielder from Michigan State, was dropped from TFC’s academy program as a senior in high school. Several MLS teams wanted him in the draft as a Generation Adidas player but MLS allowed Toronto to claim him as a homegrown player and they are currently close to a deal for him to sign.

When asked about the comparison between Dallas' claim to Okwuono and Toronto's claim to Chapman, Pareja smiled, rotated his palms up and shrugged, the universal symbol for, "What are you gonna do?"

Okwuono once assumed he’d begin his pro career in Dallas. “I had a great time playing with them and for Oscar and I thought I’d start there,” he said. “But for whatever reason that didn’t happen so now I go into the draft.”

MOVING ON UP

Perhaps no player did more in Florida to help his pro prospects than Miguel Aguilar, an attacking player from the University of San Francisco whose technical ability shined amid all the uber athletes at the combine.

A forward in college, Aguilar scored just 15 goals in four seasons at a program that never made the NCAA Tournament during his time there. Despite his limited productivity, he demonstrated enough skill that several coaches advocated he be invited to the combine.

They were right to do so.

After a quiet first day, Aguilar had a goal and an assist for team Nativo in its 4-3 loss to Team Predator. “He showed a lot of skill today, a lot of technical ability, and opened up a lot of people’s eyes,” said one MLS coach.

Eddie Soto became USF coach last winter after eight seasons as an assistant at UCLA, where he coached against some of the best players in college soccer. Soto envisions Aguilar being an effective flank midfielder in MLS.

“I’ve been around a lot of good players at the college level and he’s one of the best one-v-one attackers I’ve seen in a long, long time. His ability to change pace and direction and still have control of the ball is special,” Soto said. “He’s able to attack guys in space, start and stop, start and stop.

"Not many players can do that.”

Additionally, Soto said Aguilar can and will do the dirty work defensively required at the wide midfield position. “We played Stanford and there was a play where we lost it in transition and Jordan Morris got free on a breakaway,” Soto said in reference to the Cardinal’s U.S. national team player. “Miguel made a 70-yard run and tracked him down in the box and blocked his shot.”

Aguilar said he can play either flank, in large part because of his mother.

“I’m actually naturally a lefty,” he said. “But for whatever reason my mother didn’t want me writing or playing with my left foot so she made me switch to my right. So that’s helped me be very comfortable with both feet and I think I can play both sides.”

He is optimistic his strong showing will hear his name called today. “I feel pretty comfortable with my performance at the combine and hope the right people saw what I could do,” he said.

OUT OF SIGHT, NOT OUT OF MIND

Every year a player that wasn’t at the combine sneaks into the first day of the draft, which this year includes a total of 41 picks. (There’s an extra pick because Chivas USA traded its first round pick in 2015 to Toronto two years ago.)

A leading candidate to be first player who wasn’t invited to the combine to be picked is Navy’s towering center back Joe Greenspan. Despite a pending military commitment, he is hoping to play in MLS this year before beginning his deployment at the end of 2015.

Greenspan wasn’t originally planning on coming to the draft but several teams asked to meet with him so he’s made the short drive from Annapolis, Md., to Philadelphia. Colorado, Toronto, and D.C. United have all expressed interest in the defender. At six-foot-six, Greenspan, a two-time All-American, would be one the tallest players in league history but the deft feet that allowed him to play his first two seasons as a forward and his ability the read the game are part of what makes him appealing to pro scouts. If he didn’t have a military commitment he’d be a sure-fire first round pick.

Other players who weren’t at the combine who could hear their names called are Alex Shinsky from Maryland; Jovan Blagojevic from Division II Simon Fraser; and Virginia Commonwealth’s Kharlton Belmar.

Shinsky came to College Park amid huge expectations as the national high school player of the year but battled injuries for three seasons that limited his effectiveness. But he was finally healthy this year and began to show what the high school hype was all about, making the All-Big Ten first team.

He’s a crafty player with a willingness to take players on one-v-one, and the speed to play wide. “He showed this season why he’s going to be a left mid in MLS next year,” Terrapins coach Sasho Cirovski said after one of Maryland’s postseason games last fall.

No player from a Canadian college has ever been picked in the MLS draft but then again, Simon Fraser—located in Vancouver, British Columbia—is the only Canadian school that competes with the American teams in the NCAA. Blagojevic, a forward, scored 18 goals in as many games for the Clan and was a Division II All-American.

“We’re starting to get some calls on him” said Simon Fraser coach Alan Koch. “He’s a goal scorer and that always gets teams’ attention.”

You can’t teach speed, as the cliché goes, and Belmar has plenty to burn. A Virginia Beach native, Belmar had a strong junior season in 2013, scoring eight goals and two assists for the Rams then followed that up last summer with a strong showing for the Portland Timbers' U-23 team in the PDL.

However, he only scored four goals this season, a big reason why he wasn't invited to Ft. Lauderdale. Still, that speed isn’t going anywhere.

“He’s the fastest attacking player in college soccer,” said a scout for a Western Conference team. “He’s raw, but someone will take a chance on him.”

Brooke Tunstall is a veteran journalist who has covered Major League Soccer since its first player dispersal draft. Follow him on Twitter.