For the past four seasons, Draughn has had an anchor in his defensive backfield in Ethan Sloan.
The senior, who started all four years, earned first-team all-conference honors the past two seasons and was an honorable mention all-conference pick in 2005. He was named the team's Most Valuable Defensive player in 2006 and received the Coaches Award for 2007.
"Ethan has been a main stay in our defense since his freshman year," Draughn said. "He is a steady, hard-nosed defensive player who has a strong leg and knows how to play the style of defense that we like at Starmount."
Sloan recently moved closer to realizing his dream of playing in college, signing a letter of intent with Southern Wesleyan University. The Warriors compete at the NAIA level in the Southern States Athletic Conference.
The Southern Wesleyan men's soccer team, coached by Jonathan Lenarz, finished 9-8-2 overall and 4-3-2 in conference in 2007. SWU is located in the South Carolina town of Central, which is about five miles from Clemson in Pickens County.
Sloan said he received a scholarship from the Warriors of $4,000.
"I really liked the school when I went down there to visit," Sloan said. "Their coach was nice, and they do pretty good in soccer from what I've seen from schedules of past seasons. Hopefully, I can contribute a little bit."
Draughn believes Sloan can do more than just "contribute a little bit" for the Warriors. Sloan has played soccer since age four and has been part of the club team FC Carolina Alliance out of Concord for the past five years. He chose Southern Wesleyan after narrowing his list of schools down to two. Queens College in Charlotte was the other main contender, Draughn said.
"Ethan is a very coachable player," the coach said. "He leads by example and has vast knowledge of the game ... I think Ethan will go in and challenge for playing time right from the start. I think it is a great choice. From what I have read and heard about the program it will be a great fit."
With Sloan a big part of the defense, Starmount had its best season in school history in 2006. The Rams went 17-2 and won the Mountain Valley 2A Conference with a perfect 12-0 record. They advanced three rounds in the state playoffs being being ousted by Mount Pleasant 1-0.
Starmount pitched five shutouts in '06 and enjoyed 10 other games of giving up just one goal.
The Rams finished 12-6-2 this past season, recovering from a sluggish start to earn second place in the MVAC (8-2). Starmount won one playoff game before being ousted by Owen in round two.
"Ethan has the ability to remain calm in stressful situations, which should aid him in his play at the next level," Draughn said. "I felt every game that our defense was solid. We had to face some challenging times this past season but Ethan and his leadership stepped up to the plate and helped us remember why we were playing."
Sloan said he's looking into business management as a possible major, with sports management or sports marketing as a possible minor. In addition to finishing up at Starmount this spring, he is taking classes at Surry Community College.
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