BRADENTON (IMG Academy) – The IMG Academy Girls Soccer Program had former player Michelle Cooper selected second overall to the Kansas City Current in the 2023 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Draft on Thursday night in Philadelphia. With Cooper’s draft position, she becomes the highest draft selection to a professional sports organization in IMG Academy history.
The Clarkston, Michigan native solidified her spot as one of the best to wear the blue and white during her time as a forward with the Ascenders from 2019-2021. She captained both IMG Academy Under-19 Girls Academy Teams during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 soccer seasons and tallied 26 goals and 14 goals in those seasons as a forward, respectively.
Cooper graduated from IMG Academy in 2021 and went onto Duke University where she was named TopDrawerSoccer.com National Freshman of the Year and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Freshman of the Year. In 2022 as a sophomore, the IMG Academy alumnus earned the Hermann Trophy and was named ACC Offensive Player of the Year. Earlier this year, she was the captain of the 2022 U.S. Under-20 Women’s Youth National Team for the FIFA World Cup.
