By Kaitlin Grunder

Just four years ago, he was playing Mafia in friends’ basements, signing yearbooks and roaming the hallways of Brookwood High School.

Today, you can find Walker Zimmerman at Toyota Stadium playing center back for FC Dallas. That is, if he’s not globetrotting around the world with his 24 teammates.

FC Dallas selected Zimmerman in the first round of the MLS Super Draft in 2013. At the time of the draft, Zimmerman was only 19 and was amidst his sophomore year at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.

“Although it was extremely unexpected to be chosen by FC Dallas, I was just happy to be drafted,” Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman was the No. 7 overall pick, selected by Dallas just after the Colorado Rapids surprisingly passed him up.

“I thought I was going to be drafted elsewhere,” Zimmerman said. “I didn’t really care where I went, but I thought I was either going to New England Revolution or the Colorado Rapids.”

Although he never met FC Dallas’ coaching staff prior to the draft, he was soon reacquainted with a familiar face. Leading up to the 2013 Super Draft, Zimmerman met with the Colorado Rapids’ head coach, Óscar Pareja. However, since Zimmerman was drafted, former Rapids head coach Pareja has returned to FC Dallas—allotting him a second chance at coaching Zimmerman.

“Growing up I always wanted to be a professional athlete, I just didn’t know for which sport,” Zimmerman said. “But once I got to eighth grade, I kind of made the decision to quit all other sports and focus on soccer because I thought that’s where I had the best chance at going professional.”

Zimmerman attributes many of his early successes in soccer to the Olympic Development Program. Since he was 13, Zimmerman’s been allotted the opportunity to play for the United States’ national team.

“ODP helped me a lot in terms of college recruiting,” Zimmerman said. “Once I went to college, it was all about having two good seasons to get me ready for the MLS.”

Although he was interested in many other ACC schools, Furman’s head coach won Zimmerman over in the end.

“We had an idea of really rebuilding that program and getting a bunch of really good recruits,” Zimmerman said. “We ended up with my freshman class being the No. 5 recruiting class in the country.”

Despite the amount of Paladin talent on the field, Zimmerman was the only player to move on to play professionally.

During his rookie year, Zimmerman scored his first MLS career goal against Kansas City. The goal wound up tying the game in the last two minutes—preserving FC Dallas’ undefeated home season.

“It was a great experience just to be out in Dallas to watch my best friend since fifth grade play in a professional soccer game,” Jacob Beauchamp said.

Beauchamp grew up with Zimmerman in Snellville, Georgia. At the game, he sat alongside Zimmerman’s parents—David and Becky—in the stands.

Coming from a tight knit family, Zimmerman believes his parents and brothers formed the foundation for his success.

“Because I was the youngest of three boys growing up, I was always a little bit smaller,” Zimmerman said. “But I was so competitive that they challenged me at every sport and pushed me to become the athlete I am today.”

In the future, Zimmerman hopes to play at the World Cup. In addition to FC Dallas, he currently is involved with the U23 national team and has aspirations to join the Olympic team going to Rio next summer.

He’s also excited to hear Atlanta is in the process of getting a MLS team. Projected to begin pla y in 2017, the team will be owned and operated by Home Depot co-founder and Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank.

“I would dream to play for my hometown, and I think it’s great the Southeast is finally starting to get some MLS teams—with Orlando coming this season and then Atlanta is a team I would love to play for at some point in my career,” Zimmerman said.

With years ahead of him—on and off the field—the future possibilities for Zimmerman are endless. But as of right now, he’ll focus on each game ahead of him—day by day at a time.