Zips in the Pros

Since 2005, the University of Akron has produced 35 players who have either been selected in the Major League Soccer draft or sign Homegrown Contracts, including USMNT phenom DeAndre Yedlin, who became the first UA alumn to appear in a World Cup match for the U.S. in 2014.

Additionally, 13 Zips have had their names called during the first round of the MLS SuperDraft, including a league record five selections in the first eight picks in 2011 following the Zips national championship season.

Since 2008, Akron leads the country with eight players selected among the top-five selections in the MLS SuperDraft. The Zips also boast the highest total of players chosen among the top-10 draftees over the same span with 12.

Akron broke a second MLS record that day as seven UA players were chosen in the first two rounds, the most from a single team in draft history.

Sinisa Ubiparipovic Montreal Impact (2012-13) Drafted by New York Red Bulls (2007, No. 33 overall) Signed by Montreal Impact (2011) Years at UA: 2004, 2005, 2006  Follow Sinisa on Twitter!	Evan Bush Montreal Impact (2012-Present) Signed by Montreal Impact (2011) Years at UA: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008  Follow Evan on Twitter!	Steve Zakuani Seattle Sounders (2009-13) Portland Timbers (2014) Drafted by Seattle Sounders (2009, No. 1 overall) Years at UA: 2007, 2008  Follow Steve on Twitter!
Ben Zemanski Chivas USA (2010-12) Portland Timbers (2013-2017) Drafted by Chivas USA (2010, No. 47 overall) Years at UA: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009  Follow Ben on Twitter!	Teal Bunbury Sporting Kansas City (2010-13) New England Revolution (2014-Present) Drafted by Sporting Kansas City (2010, No. 4 overall) Years at UA: 2008, 2009  Follow Teal on Twitter!	Blair Gavin Chivas USA (2010-11) New England Revolution (2012) Drafted by Chivas USA (2010, No. 10 overall) Years at UA: 2007, 2008, 2009  Follow Blair on Twitter!
Anthony Ampaipitakwong San Jose Earthquakes (2011) Buriram United (2012-13) Bangkok United (2013-Present) Drafted by San Jose Earthquakes (2011, No. 33 overall) Years at UA: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010  Follow Anthony on Twitter!	Perry Kitchen D.C. United (2011-15) Hearts of Midlothian (2016-2017) Randers FC (2017) LA Galaxy (2018-Present) Drafted by D.C. United (2011, No. 3 overall) Years at UA: 2010  Follow Perry on Twitter!	Chris Korb D.C. United (2011-16) Drafted by D.C. United (2011, No. 31 overall) Years at UA: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
Kofi Sarkodie Houston Dynamo (2011-15) San Jose Earthquakes (2016-17) Drafted by Houston Dynamo (2011, No. 7 overall) Years at UA: 2008, 2009, 2010  Follow Kofi on Twitter!	Michael Nanchoff Vancouver Whitecaps (2011-12) Portland Timbers (2013-15) Drafted by Vancouver Whitecaps (2011, No. 8 overall) Years at UA: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010  Follow Michael on Twitter!	Darlington Nagbe Portland Timbers (2011-2017) Atlanta United FC (2018-Present) Drafted by Portland Timbers (2011, No. 2 overall) Years at UA: 2008, 2009, 2010  Follow Darlington on Twitter!
Zarek Valentin Chivas USA (2011) Montreal Impact (2012-13) Bodø/Glimt (2013-15) Portland Timbers (2016-Present) Drafted by Chivas USA (2011, No. 4 overall) Years at UA: 2009, 2010  Follow Zarek on Twitter!	Darren Mattocks   Vancouver Whitecaps (2012-16) Portland Timbers (2016-17) DC United (2018-Present) Drafted by Vancouver Whitecaps (2012, No. 2 overall) Years at UA: 2010, 2011  Follow Darren on Twitter!	Chad Barson Columbus Crew (2013-16) Signed Homegrown Contract in 2012 Years at UA: 2009-2012  Follow Chad on Twitter!
Scott Caldwell New England Revolution (2013-Present) Signed Homegrown Contract in 2012 Years at UA: 2009-2012  Follow Scott on Twitter!	Wil Trapp Columbus Crew (2013-Present) Signed Homegrown Contract in 2012 Years at UA: 2011-2012  Follow Wil on Twitter!	DeAndre Yedlin Seattle Sounders (2013-14) Tottenham Hotspur (2015-16 Sunderland (2015-16) Newcastle United (2016-Present) Signed Homegrown Contract in 2012 Years at UA: 2011-2012  Follow DeAndre on Twitter!
Dillon Serna Colorado Rapids (2013-Present) Signed Homegrown Contract in 2012 Year at UA: 2012  Follow Dillon on Twitter!	David Meves Portland Timbers (2013) MLS Supplemental Draft (2013, No. 3 overall) Years at UA: 2009-2012	Eric Stevenson New York Red Bulls (2014) Drafted by New York Red Bulls (2014, No. 34 Overall) Years at UA: 2010-13  Follow Eric on Twitter!
Aodhan Quinn Philadelphia Union (2014) Drafted by Philadelphia Union (2014, No. 52 Overall) Year at UA: 2011-13  Follow Aodhan on Twitter!	Reinaldo Brenes Sporting Kansas City (2014) Deportivo Saprissa (2015) Belén F.C. (2015-Present) Drafted by Sporting Kansas City (2014, No. 76 Overall) Years at UA: 2010-13	Bryan Gallego Portland Timbers (2014) Signed Homegrown Contract Years at UA: 2011-13
Saad Abdul-Salaam Sporting Kansas City (2015-2017) New York City FC (2018-Present) Drafted by Sporting Kansas City (2015, No. 12 Overall) Year at UA: 2012-14  Follow Saad on Twitter!	Richie Laryea Orlando City SC (2016-Present) Generation adidas Drafted by Orlando City SC (2016, No. 7 Overall) Years at UA: 2014-15  Follow Richie on Twitter!	Jonathan Lewis New York City FC (2017-Present) Generation adidas Drafted by New York City FC (2017, No. 3 Overall) Years at UA: 2016  Follow Jonathan on Twitter!
Danilo Radjen Houston Dynamo (2017) Drafted by Houston Dynamo (2017, No. 36 Overall) Year at UA: 2014-16  Follow Danilo on Twitter!	Adam Najem Philadelphia Union (2017) Homegrown Rights Acquired by Philadelphia Year at UA: 2013-16  Follow Adam on Twitter!	Joao Moutinho Los Angeles FC (2018) Drafted by Los Angeles FC (2018, No. 1 Overall) Year at UA: 2017 Follow Joao on Twitter!
Niko De Vera New York Red Bulls (2018) Drafted by New York Red Bulls (2018, No. 31 Overall) Year at UA: 2014-17 Follow Niko on Twitter!	Nate Shultz Los Angeles Galaxy (2018) Drafted by Los Angeles Galaxy (2018, No. 48 Overall) Year at UA: 2014-17 Follow Nate on Twitter!	Stuart Holthusen Portland Timbers (2018) Drafted by Portland Timbers (2018, No. 64 Overall) Year at UA: 2014-17
Ben Lundt FC Cincinnati (2018) Drafted by FC Cincinnati (2019, No. 47 Overall) Years at UA: 2016-18  Follow Ben on Twitter!	New York City FC (2019) Drafted by New York City FC (2019, No. 43 Overall) Year at UA: 2018 Follow Abdi on Twitter!	Vancouver Whitecaps FC (2021) Drafted by Vancouver Whitecaps FC (2021, No. 9 Overall) Years at UA: 2017-20 Follow David on Twitter!

Photo Credits: Columbus Crew (Chad Barson, Wil Trapp), D.C. United (Perry Kitchen & Chris Korb), Garrett Ellwood/Colorado Rapids (Dillon Serna), Houston Dynamo (Kofi Sarkodie), Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers (Darlington Nagbe, David Meves), Gary Rohman (Teal Bunbury), San Jose Earthquakes (Anthony Ampaipitakwong), Seattle Sounders FC (Steve Zakuani, DeAndre Yedlin), Sporting Kansas City (Saad Abdul-Salaam), Orlando City SC (Richie Laryea), New York City FC (Jonathan Lewis), MLS (Joao Moutinho), MLS (Niko De Vera), MLS (Ben Lundt), MLS (Abdi Mohamed).