CHICAGO – UIC junior midfielder Edouard Nys has been named to the United Soccer Coaches All-West Region First Team, that organization announced Tuesday. Nys (name pronounced ed-WAR Niece) also is among 45 elite college players who have been invited to the 2025 Major League Soccer (MLS) College Showcase that will open Wednesday and continue through Saturday in Mesa, Arizona. The four-day, closed-door talent evaluation event gives technical staffs from MLS clubs an opportunity to scout the nation's top collegiate prospects in advance of the 2026 MLS SuperDraft that will be held a week from Thursday, Dec. 18 (1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. CT).
 
Nys is the 15^th UIC player to earn first-team all-region honors and the first since 2020, when Jacob Graiber garnered recognition on the All-North Region First Team (when the Flames were in that region while playing in the Horizon League). He is among seven Missouri Valley Conference players to earn all-region accolades this year, but the only Valley player named to the All-West Region First Team. The United Soccer Coaches All-America Teams will be announced Friday, with Nys contending to be the eighth All-American in program history and first since Jesus Perez in 2019 (second team).
 
As for the MLS College Showcase, Nys was also the lone MVC player invited to this year's event and is the seventh UIC player to receive an invitation to the combine, which has existed in various forms since the league debuted in 1996. He will be the first Flame to participate in the MLS evaluation event since Perez in Dec. 2019, with the others being Eric Lukin (Dec. 2000), Pavla Dundjer and Cesar Zambrano (Dec. 2008), Baggio Husidic (Jan. 2009 – Generation adidas) and Jovan Bubonja (Jan. 2010). Three of those invitees went on to be selected weeks later in the MLS SuperDraft – Lukin (2001 – round 3/36^th overall by Colorado Rapids), Husidic (2009 – round 2/20^th overall by Chicago Fire) and Perez (round 1/22^nd overall by New York City FC) — along with goalkeeper Andrew Putna, who was drafted in 2017 (round 3/48^th overall by Real Salt Lake).
 
A prime candidate for the Hermann Trophy as the nation's top player and All-America recognition, Nys was named the MVC Player and Forward of the Year last month, becoming the first UIC player to earn either honor since the Flames joined the Valley four years ago. He was also a first-team all-MVC choice after being a four-time MVC Offensive Player of the Week this season, tying the program record for weekly conference awards in a single season.
 
A native of Dottignies, Belgium, Nys ranks among the top six in the country in six different NCAA statistical categories, entering this weekend's NCAA College Cup. He leads the nation in shots per game (5.5) and shots on goal per game (2.72), while ranking second in goals per game (0.89), third in points per game (2.06) and total goals (16) and sixth in total points (37). Nys is one of only three players in program history to score 15 goals in one season and he amassed the most goals by a UIC player in more than a quarter century, since Lukin registered a school-record 21 goals and 56 points in 1999.
 
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