CARSON, Calif. — The Los Angeles Galaxy signed former University of Michigan defender Kofi Opare on Monday.
Opare, a Ghana native with Canadian ties, was selected with the 24th overall pick in this year’s draft. He will be eligible to make his debut Wednesday night when the Galaxy host Herediano in the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final.
Opare appeared in four of the Galaxy’s pre-season games this year.
He helped Michigan reach the College Cup semifinals for the first time in school history as a sophomore in 2010. He was also a second-team all-Big Ten Conference selection as a junior and finished his college career with six goals and two assists in 76 games for the Wolverines.
Opare, who grew up in South Africa, lived four years in New Jersey before the family settled in Niagara Falls, Ont., where he attended St. Paul Catholic High School.
He played for the St. Catharines Concord Gunners, winning the Ontario Cup in 2007-2008 and helped Ontario to a fourth-place finish at the Canadian club national championships in 2007.
The six-foot-two 190-pounder has U.S. citizenship and is a Canadian resident.
