Isaiah Parker

BIOGRAPHY

Isaiah Parker was born September 1, 2002 in Gurnee, Illinois, United States. He is a defensive midfielder in Major League Soccer.

Parker joined the Chicago FC United 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 and the MLS Next 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 with Saint Louis University ahead of the 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. He made his college soccer debut for the men's soccer team on August 26, 2021 in a 2–1 win over Louisville. Parker started and played the entire match and made an assist in the match. Parker heled 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, where they reached the Quarterfinals (for the first time since 2003), before losing to eventual National Runners-Up, Washington.

Parker finished his freshman year by being named to the Atlantic 10 Conference All-Rookie team and the TopDrawer Soccer first-team Freshman Best XI team.

Following his freshman season, Parker signed a Generation adidas contract with Major League Soccer, making him eligible for the 2022 MLS SuperDraft. A prospective Top 10 pick, Parker was selected third overall in the 2022 MLS Draft by FC Dallas on January 11, 2022. Parker became the highest drafted player out of Saint Louis University since Matt McKeon in 1996.

Parker was sent on loan to North Texas SC, FC Dallas' 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.