Nauset Player Selected By Inter Miami In MLS Draft

The defending champions of Major League Soccer — the team captained by Lionel Messi, widely considered the greatest soccer player of all time — used their first pick in the annual college draft to select a former Nauset Warrior.

Abdel Talabi, a four-year varsity starter for Nauset from 2015 to 2018, was selected by Inter Miami CF with the 30th pick in the first round of the MLS SuperDraft on Dec. 18. Originally from Brewster, Talabi has played for Bryant University since 2021.

“When I saw the news, it was definitely so exciting,” Talabi said. “My family was really happy. A lot of friends reaching out, so a really happy and proud week for me and my family.”

Nauset won two Division 2 state championships — in 2016 and 2018 — during Talabi’s tenure as a defender on the back line, finishing a perfect 23-0 both years. The team lost three games total during Talabi’s four seasons. As a Warrior, Talabi racked up the accolades: All-Star, All-State, All-American, plus league and Massachusetts Player of the Year honors.

He won another title during a postgraduate year at Worcester Academy, then played at the New England Revolution Developmental Academy. As a captain in his last season at Division 1 Bryant, Talabi was named to the All-ECAC and All-America East first teams. He is the first Nauset player to ever be selected in the MLS draft.

“I'm definitely super proud to represent Nauset, represent the Cape,” Talabi said. “I grew up with a lot of kids that were really, really good, and I think that I was just really dedicated and always wanted to work hard and push myself to get to where I'm at. So I definitely had a path different from most people, but I'm happy to be where I'm at and happy to represent the Cape.”

Talabi knew he was on the radar for some teams, so his selection wasn’t a complete surprise, but still, he didn’t know if it was a given nor did he know where the pick would come from if it did happen. He was with friends during the draft monitoring updates online when another friend called him; their tracker had updated earlier and he was phoning in with the news of the Miami selection.

“I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ and then it updated on my screen, and yeah, I had a great moment with some of my friends, some of my teammates here at Bryant,” Talabi said.

Talabi’s mother, Amy Harbeck, screamed when she found out, and her hands shook for an hour afterward. She thought immediately about her father and Talabi’s grandfather, Ralph Harbeck, who was also an athlete and died in 2019.

“We were absolutely overjoyed and just pinching ourselves, because it was amazing news, and we were just so thrilled for him, because he has worked so hard,” she said. “He's had such perseverance and focus from when he was very young, so it was just so gratifying.”

Talabi’s father, Bola Talabi, is from Benin. Harbeck said he “played a big role” in training Abdel growing up, not that he would take any credit.

Harbeck also said there had been an “overwhelming” response from the community, an “outpouring of love,” and that they were grateful for all the different supportive coaches Talabi had over the years.

“So proud of him,” Nauset boys soccer head coach John McCully said.

Inter Miami are the reigning winners of the MLS Cup, the league’s championship. The club is also the team of Argentine footballer Lionel Messi, arguably the greatest soccer player in the history of the sport.

But even knowing that sharing a locker room or taking the field with Messi is now a possibility down the line, Talabi is taking it one step at a time, he said. MLS draftees aren’t guaranteed contracts; a pick in the SuperDraft is more of an invite to the preseason, during which the drafted players then have to try to make the team.

“My life could definitely change in the next couple months, but it's going to be a lot of hard work going into it, so I'm ready to do the work,” Talabi said. “And if I do the right things and I do what I can, then yeah, I have a lot of cool things coming ahead of me, but one day at a time.”