Isaiah Parker (born September 1, 2002) is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player.

Career

Youth and college

Parker joined the

Chicago FC United Chicago FC United, commonly called FC United, is an American soccer club in the Chicago metropolitan area. FC United fields youth teams for boys and girls, and a semi-professional team in USL League Two, the fourth-tier of American soccer. Yout ...

academy in 2016, and played with the academy team throughout high school. Parked helped the FC United U17 & U19 teams to the

U.S. Soccer Development Academy The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league featured youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's mission ...

and the

MLS Next MLS Next (stylized as MLS NEXT) is a youth association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is managed, organized, and controlled by Major League Soccer. It was introduced by the league in 2020. It is a successor to th ...

Playoffs. During the 2019–20 USSDA season, Parker lead FC United's under-19 team in goals scored with 12 goals. Parker signed a

National Letter of Intent The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a document used to indicate a student athlete's commitment to participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) colleges and universities in the United States. The NCAA Eligibility Center manag ...

with

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...

ahead of the

2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer season The 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was the 63rd season of NCAA championship men's college soccer. After the 2020 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 season partially returned to normal. ...

. He made his

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

debut for the men's soccer team on August 26, 2021, in a 2–1 win over

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

. Parker started and played the entire match and made an assist in the match. Parker helped Saint Louis achieve a 16–1–4 season record, their best record since 2001. The Billikens ended up going on a run in the

2021 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament The 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament was the 63rd edition of the NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament, a postseason tournament that determined the national champion of the 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The College Cup ...

, where they reached the Quarterfinals (for the first time since 2003), before losing to eventual National Runners-Up,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. Parker finished his freshman year by being named to the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...

All-Rookie team and the '' TopDrawer Soccer'' first-team Freshman Best XI team.

Professional

Following his freshman season, Parker signed a

Generation adidas Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U.S ...

contract with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

, making him eligible for the

2022 MLS SuperDraft The 2022 MLS SuperDraft was the 23rd edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held every January prior to the start of the MLS season and has been conducted via conference calls since 2020. Previously, the S ...

. A prospective Top 10 pick, Parker was selected third overall in the 2022 MLS Draft by

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

on January 11, 2022. Parker became the highest drafted player out of Saint Louis University since

Matt McKeon Matthew John McKeon (born September 24, 1974) is an American retired soccer midfielder who played seven seasons in Major League Soccer. He earned two caps with the United States men's national soccer team and was a member of the 1996 U.S. Olymp ...

in 1996. Parker was sent on loan to

North Texas SC North Texas Soccer Club is a professional soccer club that competes in MLS Next Pro, the third division of American soccer. The team is owned by, and operates as the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club FC Dallas. North Texas SC currently ...

' reserve team for the duration of the 2022 season. On March 26, 2022, Parker made his professional debut for North Texas, playing the entire match at left back in a 3–1 victory over

Minnesota United FC 2 MNUFC2 is an American professional soccer team that is located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is the reserve team of Minnesota United FC and participates in MLS Next Pro. History On December 6, 2021, MNUFC2 were named as one of 21 clubs that wou ...

. He was released by Dallas following their 2024 season.

Honors

Individual * Atlantic 10 Conference All-Rookie team:

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

* ''TopDrawerSoccer'' All Freshman Best XI:

References

External links

*
Isaiah Parker
at

Athletics {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Isaiah 2002 births Living people Men's association football defenders FC Dallas draft picks FC Dallas players North Texas SC players San Antonio FC players Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer players Major League Soccer players MLS Next Pro players USL Championship players Soccer players from Lake County, Illinois American men's soccer players 21st-century American sportsmen