INDIANAPOLIS – Indy Eleven announced on Wednesday the signing of former University of Notre Dame defender Felicien Dumas, pending visa approval. The 23-year-old native of France joins the Eleven after spending a successful preseason with the club.

Dumas was selected in the Second Round of the 2020 MLS SuperDraft by New York City FC, but returned to the Hoosier State this preseason to link up with the Eleven. He is now looking forward to starting his professional career with Indy.

“I'm very excited to join Indy Eleven and be a part of an organization that is run extremely professionally from top to bottom,” said Dumas. “This group of guys made me feel welcome from day one. While our season took a bit of a bump, I have no doubt that we have the depth and potential to bring back some silverware. I'm looking forward to competing on the field again and representing a great organization with great fans.”

Dumas was a mainstay for Notre Dame as it qualified for the NCAA Men’s College Cup postseason tournament during each of his four seasons in South Bend from 2016-19. A team captain in 2019, Dumas twice earned All-ACC Third Team selection and posted seven goals and 20 assists in his 60 appearances for the Irish, which he led in assists in each of his last three seasons while playing mostly at left back.

“When you combine his pedigree and his familiarity with both our club and the state of Indiana, Felicien Dumas is a fantastic pick up for us at this point in time,” said Indy Eleven Head Coach Martin Rennie. “Having spent time plenty of time with us in preseason, we know that his comfort on the ball and ability to defend 1-v-1 will fit our style of play quite well.”

Dumas spent time in high school at the United World College of South East Asia (2015 graduate), where he was named a three-time MVP of the U19 South East Asia Student Activity Conference. The Paris-born Dumas was selected as one of the best amateur players in Singapore, being offered professional contracts by several Singapore S-League clubs. In addition to his time in Singapore, Dumas has also had trials with Newcastle United (England), Home United FC (Singapore) and Kashiwa Reysol (Japan).