Sporting Kansas City II announced today that the club has signed college standout and Sporting KC Academy product Mason Visconti to an MLS NEXT Pro professional contract ahead of the 2024 season.
Visconti developed in the club’s academy system as a teenager, competing at the U-14 through U-18 levels and notably winning two U-15 national championships with Sporting KC in 2015—the U.S. Youth Soccer Cup in Tulsa and the U.S. Youth Futsal National Finals in Gardner, Kansas. The left back was also selected to a United States U-15 Boys’ National Team Futures training camp in May 2015 in Carson, California.
In 2017, Visconti was part of a star-studded Sporting KC U-16 side that reached the U.S. Soccer Development Academy quarterfinals, playing alongside current Italian Serie B star Gianluca Busio and fellow Sporting KC homegrown player Cam Duke. Visconti ended his time in the academy by helping to lead the Sporting U-19s to the 2018 U.S. Soccer Development Academy playoffs.
Visconti, who grew up in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, began his collegiate soccer career at national powerhouse Clemson University and appeared in 10 matches as a freshman in 2018. He transferred to the University of Kentucky in 2019 and would spend his final four college seasons in Lexington, where he totaled seven goals and nine assists in 71 appearances for the Wildcats. Kentucky reached the NCAA Tournament in all four years with Visconti on the team while also winning consecutive conference tournament titles in 2021 (Conference USA) and 2022 (Sun Belt).
Visconti became a regular starter for Kentucky during the 2021 fall season, dishing out eight assists as the team finished with a 15-2-4 record, won the Conference USA title and advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. After missing the majority of 2022 through injury, Visconti enjoyed a strong final season at Kentucky with a career-high four goals, including a decisive brace in a 2-0 road win over top-ranked Marshall last October. Visconti has been part of Sporting KC II’s preseason squad since the start of 2024.
Sporting Kansas City II also announced today that defender and Academy product Coby Jones has retired from professional soccer. Jones signed for SKC II in 2022 after six years in the Sporting KC Academy, which he joined as a 12-year-old in 2016.
Led by head coach and Sporting Kansas City great Benny Feilhaber, Sporting KC II will open the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro campaign on March 17 by visiting Houston Dynamo 2 for the first of 28 regular season matches. The club is looking to go a step further in 2024 after reaching the MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs for the first time last fall. Tickets for Sporting KC II home games are on sale now at SeatGeek.com, with 10 fixtures to be played at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kansas, and four at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri.
Sporting KC II Roster (as of March 2024):
- Defenders (4): Nati Clarke, Kortne Ford, Jonathan Robinson, Mason Visconti
- Midfielders (4): Haris Alisah, Ethan Bryant, Sebastian Cruz, Jake Swallen
- Forwards (4): Beto Avila, Kamron Habibullah, Roberto Hategan, Pau Vidal
Transaction: Sporting Kansas City II signs defender Mason Visconti to an MLS NEXT Pro professional contract.
VITALS
- Mason Visconti
- Position: Defender
- Birthdate: 6/10/2000 (23 years old)
- Height: 5-11
- Weight: 165 lbs.
- Hometown: Lee’s Summit, Missouri
- Birthplace: Lee’s Summit, Missouri
- College: Kentucky (2019-2023), Clemson (2018)
- Instagram: @Visconti_11
