From Club release:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 7, 2024) – Nashville Soccer Club announced today the signing of 2023/24 U17 Nashville SC Academy Midfielder Isaiah Jones to a first team contract as a homegrown player through 2027 with an option for 2028. The 17-year-old becomes the second homegrown player for the Boys in Gold following the signing of Adem Sipić, whose contract started this year.
Jones will be presented to the media and those fans in attendance at Nashville SC’s preseason match against Birmingham Legion FC later today.
“Isaiah exemplifies what we look for out of our youth academy as a homegrown player, and I’m so excited for he and his family for this special moment,” said Nashville SC General Manager Mike Jacobs. “He has all of the attributes you look for in a young central midfielder – industrious, tenacious, athletic, and tough – but it’s his character and ability to influence winning that now sees him make the next step in his career as a first team player.”
The 17-year-old from nearby Thompson Station, TN has been a mainstay at the Academy since he joined the U15 team as a 14-year-old during the program’s inaugural season in 2020. His leadership qualities, competitiveness, soccer IQ, and work ethic have been cited by Academy coaches and staff for enabling Jones to rise quickly through the program’s ranks, culminating in his most recent campaign with the U17 squad in 2023, which included seven matches (four starts) with Nashville SC’s MLS NEXT Pro affiliate Huntsville City FC. The MLS homegrown player rules allow clubs to sign Academy players directly to first team rosters.
Isaiah came to the United States from Sierra Leone with his seven siblings (six brothers, one sister) in 2013 after being adopted by Mike and Hayley Jones of Thompson Station. Since moving to Thompson Station, Isaiah and the Jones siblings played youth soccer at Franklin’s Grace Christian Academy. His older brother, Malachi, starred at Tennessee’s Lipscomb University before being drafted eighth overall in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft, presented by adidas, this past December.
Last season at The Gold Mine (Nashville SC’s Academy), Isaiah shared the pitch with his brother Zion, who is also a member of the U17 team. Two of Isaiah’s siblings are currently playing college soccer—brother Levi at Lipscomb, and sister Gabby at NAIA Cumberland University. Their eldest sibling, Michael, played collegiately at Nashville’s Trevecca University.
Nashville SC release
As I mentioned when Malachi Jones earned a high SuperDraft pick, this is a family with a lot of NSC ties, and seeing the Boys in Gold sign one of them has felt nigh inevitable for some time.
From a broader club perspective, the signing of multiple HG players who came up through the academy (and notably, are both from within 45 minutes or so of NSC HQ, rather than being players who were recruited from afar) is a good step forward for the club. It’s going to take a while to shake the “doesn’t care about development” narrative, because apparently a lot of national MLS media have not heard about a global pandemic nor have an understanding that there are more soccer players in Miami than there are in Nashville (hell, there are probably more soccer players in Hialeah than there are in Tennessee – and that’s only a slight exaggeration).
Club and Country 