In another twist to a year highly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Louisville City FC has signed Arda Bulut, a Stanford University forward who will forego his senior season in favor of a professional deal.
Bulut is eligible to suit up for the boys in purple on Saturday as they travel to play USL Championship rival Saint Louis FC.
“My biggest aspiration since I was a kid was to play professionally,” Bulut said. “I was excited and looking forward to my senior season with Stanford, but with everything happening due to COVID-19 and all the uncertainty, I felt like it was time to pursue my professional dream.”
“Signing Arda is a unique opportunity for our club,” added LouCity Coach and Sporting Director John Hackworth. “He was on everyone’s list of top attacking players coming out of college this year, and quite frankly, we took advantage of this crazy circumstance. Arda has soft feet for a striker but more importantly, we think his runs and timing are what separates him from other college attackers that we have seen.
“Coming from Stanford, a team that presses similar to us, we know that his work ethic will continue to be exceptional. We are excited to work with Arda.”
Bulut, who describes himself as “a traditional No. 9 threat,” appeared in all 22 of Stanford’s games as a junior in 2019, scoring a pair of goals. But the Los Gatos, Calif., native wouldn’t have been able to add to his career Stanford stats until at least 2021 with the Pac-12 Conference postponing sports through the end of this calendar year.
During his time at Stanford, Bulut won an NCAA championship in 2017. The Cardinal returned to the NCAA tournament’s semifinal round, the College Cup, in 2019.
“We want to wish Arda well in this exciting new chapter in his career,” said Stanford’s Knowles Family Director of Men’s Soccer, Jeremy Gunn. “We’ve loved having him as a part of the program. He’s an exceptional young man with an incredible work rate and a wonderful appetite to learn and to grow. We wish him all the best and we’re excited to see how he can continue in his career as a professional soccer player.”
Before his college days, Bulut played for the San Jose Earthquakes Academy from 2015-2017. During the summer of 2016, he also trained with the Earthquakes’ Major League Soccer team for two weeks.
That same year, Bulut participated in a U.S. U-18 domestic camp at Lakewood Ranch, Fla., in January, then appeared at a pair of international camps in Buenos Aires, Argentina in March and Guadalajara, Mexico in May.
In addition to his accomplishments on the pitch, Bulut counts among his Stanford recognitions a number of scholastic awards, including Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll and All-Academic Second Team honors in 2019. He will continue his coursework online.
“The environment I was in at Stanford was really high level and high intensity,” Bulut said. “We were always wanting to push ourselves to be our best. That experience is really going to help prepare me for this level, because I hear Louisville City FC is similar in that they’re pushing every single day to work their hardest. It’s something I feel like I’m ready to do.”
