December 11 (1979)

The North American Soccer League’s premier team, the New York Cosmos, selects Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville forward Don Ebert as the overall No. 1 pick in the NASL draft. Ebert had helped SIUE win the NCAA Division I championship two days earlier and had scored 22 goals during the season. Ebert’s future, however, will be indoors, where he will become a star for the St. Louis Steamers. He will score 239 goals in 260 games with the Steamers from 1980-86. Outdoors, the Rosary High School product scored four goals in a 1979 Pan American games match for the United States against the Dominican Republic. He captains the 1980 U.S Olympic team, which will not play because the United States will boycott the Olympic Games.