FC Tulsa signs goalkeeper Noah Adams to academy contract for 2026

FC Tulsa added goalkeeper Noah Adams to a USL Academy contract for the 2026 season on July 10, another move that points directly at how the club wants to build its roster from the inside out. The deal is pending league and federation approval, but it already places an 18-year-old Tulsa native inside a first-team group that is preparing for a July 11 meeting with Birmingham Legion FC in Prinx Tires USL Cup group play.

Adams arrives with a clean developmental résumé and a title to match. FC Tulsa said he was the starting goalkeeper for Tulsa SC’s ECNL Boys U18/19 National Championship-winning side this summer, and the club tied that success to his promotion. Adams also played high school soccer at Bishop Kelley High School, giving Tulsa another locally rooted player to keep in its system rather than lose to outside pathways.

The signing is more than a depth move. It is a test case for FC Tulsa’s development model, one that has become increasingly visible since the club launched its USL Academy League Program on January 23, 2025. That program is built to cultivate local boys talent in the greater Tulsa area while letting players keep their club and high school commitments, and it gives selected players a route into Academy contracts. In practice, those deals can put a player in training with the senior team and, in some cases, available for matches, without affecting NCAA eligibility.

That flexibility matters for a club trying to manage both the present and the future. FC Tulsa already had Alex Tambakis, Triston Henry and Dane Jacomen in its goalkeeper room when Adams was announced, so the rookie is stepping into a position group with established competition rather than an empty opening. The club also signed Jacomen on March 11, another sign that it is building depth in goal with purpose instead of waiting for emergencies.

Adams is FC Tulsa’s second USL Academy contract for the first team this season, following midfielder Zion Siranga, whose deal was announced on February 18. Siranga’s path, from Greenwood Soccer Club to a first-team opportunity, and Adams’s path, from Tulsa SC and Bishop Kelley to the pro environment, show the range of the club’s pipeline. Under USL rules, Academy contracts have existed since 2013, and the league’s 2024 men’s roster update says additional Academy signings after the first five rostered players count against the 30-player limit, making each one a deliberate roster decision. FC Tulsa’s move for Adams reads that way: an early investment in a goalkeeper it believes can grow with the first team, not just fill a number on a sheet.