TennZip

Jose Pedro started 15 games for the zips in fall 2025. Jose will transfer to a conference rival. NOTABLES Played in 16 matches, making 15 starts in 2025… took two shots on goal and recorded four assists… logged 1,235 minutes… helped the Zips post a 13-5-3 (5-2-1 BIG EAST) record… helped the Zips advance to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight… played in the Liga Revelacao before Akron, reaching the champions phase for famous Portuguese team Rio Ave. QUOTING COACH HIGGINS "Jose is a big pick up for us from an in-conference rival. He has proven that he has the ability to play and thrive in the BIG EAST and we will look to get the best out of him on both sides of the ball."

I watched a 6 minute highlight video of CB/LB Giannis Gazis (from Greece) To say that I was impressed...would be an understatement..... This young man will definitely be in the mix to replace Ashton Kamdem at LB. Idahir Deanda from Indy 11........is listed as a defensive midfielder on one site that I looked at.

It appears that the zips ......have also added another domestic recruit Idahir Deanda - Midfielder...... his instagram profile is private....but he does show @zipsmsoccer https://www.instagram.com/idahir.deanda/ top drawer soccer shows that he is from Ohio...but has played for Indy Eleven academy https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer/college-soccer-details/men/akron/clgid-438/tab-commitments#sectionblock start your research, zips fans.....sounds like a great recruiting class

Zips soccer fans, please start your research zips are adding 3 international players for 2026 https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/2026-mens-division-i-international-signees_aid55377

Akron players totally dominated the 2025 MLS awards https://www.si.com/soccer/mls-player-poll-top-trash-talker-worst-locker-room-most-desired-club Most Underrated - Darlington Nagbe Most Fashionable - DeAndre Yedlin Best Trash Talker - Richie Laryea

With this post, I am relying on top drawer soccer(TDS) for their accuracy in reporting. On December 17th, top drawer soccer updated their division 1 mens soccer transfer tracker. At that point, TDS was showing 3 high quality players as transferring to Akron. I did not post that update on December 17 as none of the 3 players had posted anything on instagram...showing an announcement that they will be transferring to Akron. 2 of the 3 players are now showing @zipsmsoccer on their instagram page. As a result of 2 players changing their school in the bio, I will share the TDS transfer tracker(below) with zips fans. Aiden Benitez was a freshman this fall at Butler. Aiden Benitez is now showing @zipsmsoccer on his instagram page. Benitez is a 5'8 160 pound forward. In his freshman year, Benitez had 4 goals and 4 assists. Benitez was selected 3rd team all Big East. That is a very impressive honor as Akron's own outstanding forward (Remi Agunbiade) was not selected to any of the 3 all Big East league teams. Benitez was part of the Sporting KC academy as a teenager. Aiden Benitez has also played on the El Salvador U20 national team. At the end of the year, Top Drawer soccer selects a top 100 freshman list. TDS selected Aiden Benitez as the 26th best freshman in the country. Nolan McGuire is the 2nd transfer now showing @zipsmsoccer in his bio. McGuire has played 2 years as a defender for Depaul. In his freshman year, McGuire played almost 1,200 minutes for DePaul. In his sophomore year, Nolan McGuire started 13 of 17 games for Depaul and he saw 1,124 minutes of action. The 3rd transfer that TDS is showing is Angel Lopez from Coastal Carolina. Angel Lopez is a forward with very good size (6'3 185). In his freshman year for the Chanticleers(fall 2025), Angel Lopez started 9 games. Angel Lopez had 13 points as a result of 5 goals and 3 assists. Angel Lopez was selected to the Sunbelt Conference all freshman team. That is quite an honor as the Sunbelt is a very strong league (should have had 5 teams in NCAA field - W. Virginia, Marshall, Central Florida, Kentucky and number 34 RPI Georgia Southern.) From what I can tell, Angel Lopez's instagram page does not yet show a zipsmsoccer connection. Below the 3 transfers to Akron, you will see that Nathan Ferguson is transferring from Akron to Belmont. Belmont has already confirmed that with an instagram announcement. With only 4 players graduating, we know of 7 high school seniors that will probably join the zips in fall 2026 (all have made instagram or twitter announcements). Top Drawer Soccer says that we will have 3 transfers joining the zips in January 2026. with 10 known players coming in and only 5 leaving, I would anticipate that the zips will have some other players transferring to other schools. PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL in your comments about Nathan Ferguson and other possible transfers. Nathan is a very nice young man and he gave his maximum effort during his time with the Zips. I wish Nathan Ferguson much success at Belmont. Nathan and other future transfers do not deserve any negative comments on this board as they make their best decision for their soccer careers. From my very limited research, The zips are adding 3 young high quality transfers. I choose to congratulate our coaching staff on successfully adding 3 solid young soccer players. And I wish the best to any fall 2025 zips that will be joing another school in January 2026. Welcome to Aiden, Nolan....and I sure hope that TDS is correct about Angel Lopez https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/2026-mens-division-i-transfer-tracker_aid55358 https://www.instagram.com/_nolanmcguire/ https://www.instagram.com/benitezaiden/?hl=en

Congratulations to Mitch Budler and Stefan Dobrijevic They are both included in top drawer soccer's top 100 player list (soph to senior) Mitch was 26 on their list. Stefan was number 36 on their list. https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer/college-national-top-100/men

Brad Bournival of the Beacon did an article this morning on Stefan and Remi being drafted. Quotes from Stefan and Coach Embick. https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/mls/2025/12/19/mls-superdraft-akron-zips-stefan-dobrijevic-remi-agunbiade/87844692007/?tbref=hp "This year he came back and really wanted to prove himself," Zips coach Jared Embick said of Agunbiade. "Anytime you can get drafted and show you're on the right path to make the pros is a huge confidence boost. Hopefully, we can take advantage of that." "He's(Remi) more of the modern player," Embick said. "He's strong and physical and has the attributes to fit in the next level. For him, it's about maturing his game to play all around at that level. If he can, like all new players, it'll be a role off the bench as a super sub, and then it'll be more and more playing time from there."

Mitch has great skills. He should have been drafted.

This mock draft column.....is very high on the Zips draft prospects He has Ashton being drafted by St Louis City. Would be neat to have Emil and Ashton playing together again. https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/2026-major-league-soccer-mock-draft_aid55491

I have as many questions as you do..... Malik and Dyson were both drafted and came back below is what MLS published https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/2026-mls-superdraft-rules-and-regulations when I type in MLS draft eligibility rules into google, Artificial Intelligence gives me this info? who knows if AI is correct...about a formal player declaration? MLS Draft eligibility primarily includes college seniors who've exhausted NCAA eligibility, but it's expanded to cover sophomores, juniors, certain Generation adidas players, and some non-collegiate internationals, with the league compiling a list based on club/coach input rather than a formal player declaration. How Players Get on the List Unlike the NFL/NBA, there's no formal "declaration" process for players. MLS consults with clubs, scouts, and college coaches to create the official list of draft-eligible players each year.

Ashton and Mitch are both rated very highly in this article https://www.mlssoccer.com/superdraft/news/mls-superdraft-2026-top-prospects-by-position

Excellent article on Jason Shokalook. article has many quotes from Jason. https://rg.org/news/soccer/mls-next-pro-mvp-jason-shokalook-road-top-american-soccer

Washington is a very deserving national Champion. They are the best team that I have watched this year. 6 wins.......none of them at home win at Oregon State in round of 64 win at #5 SMU win at #12 Stanford win at #4 Maryland win over #16 Furman in college cup semis win over #15 NC State in finals has any team defeated 5 seeds and won all of their matches on the road on the way to the title?

https://www.instagram.com/p/DRNvhpwiSWg/?img_index=1 defender from Indy 11

Josh Hardin was a starter in 2024 and he transferred out. I highly suspcet that was due to Pittsburgh poaching him with huge NIL dollars.

She did commit as a high school junior. She played high school soccer this year and was selected to the 2025 All American team. I will do some research on the club question. Edit- looks like she plays for Nanchoff team in Cleveland internationals SC https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-player-profile/hattie-yugovich/pid-159356

Z.I.P. sent me an anrticle from the Mansfield newspaper. Said that this young lady was selected to the 2025 High School All American team. Z.I.P. also said that she had committed to the zips in the fall of 2024. Some links below.... https://www.instagram.com/p/DCsNeMhx0S6/?img_index=1 https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/sports/high-school/2024/09/18/ontario-warriors-soccer-hattie-yugovich-commits-to-university-of-akron/75245806007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z115218d00----v115218d--52--b--52--&gca-ft=227&gca-ds=sophi

Congratulations to Maggie Kuhn I wish her much success https://gozips.com/news/2025/12/11/maggie-kuhn-named-akron-head-womens-soccer-coach1?fbclid=IwY2xjawOpN_FleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETEyWjB0RUFEWkd5czVhVDBoc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHnoNTqNfIcveQXMpK2XHhnbvsCybuYWwFJNQNjmXbCyApVnOE3duCUnUHBON_aem_PZ4Ozy8_n-hSS-cmUeva1A

Vermont won the national championship in 2024. Rob Dow, the head coach of that team, is now the new head coach of Penn State. The excellent teams in the American East continue to lose their coaches to the Power conferences New Hampshire had tremendous teams in the early part of the decade. At the end of 2023, NC State hired New Hampshire head coach Marc Hubbard. In Hubbard's 2nd year at NC State, the Wolfpack are in the final 4. https://gopsusports.com/news/2025/12/11/2024-national-champion-rob-dow-named-penn-state-mens-soccer-head-coach

https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/article/?categoryId=26&articleId=55463&articleTitle=standouts-from-ecnl-boys-south-carolina Here are some of the standout performances from games watched by TDS. Calan DeWalt, Ohio Premier 08/07 – An Akron(m) commit for 2026, De Walt imposed himself on the game against Chattanooga in a 2-2 draw. He broke lines with the ball and made a couple of crucial defensive interventions.

Congratulations to Calan DeWalt and Londen Sears for being selected to the United Soccer coaches high school all American team. https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/united-soccer-coaches-announces-2025-fall-high-school-all-americans/

Congratulations to Mitch Budler. He will participate in the pre draft showcase..... The MLS draft will be held on December 18th.

https://gozips.com/news/2025/12/6/mens-soccer-akron-falls-to-saint-louis-3-2 this link has a link to the Akron press conference and it also has a link to the St. Louis press conference It also has a PDF box score...which shows attendance of 1,918.