The American soccer pyramid is a wild climb, one made by some FC Buffalo’s men’s and women’s players while a bunch have found their way up in the football world through international routes over our 17 years as a club.
MORE: Current list of FCB alums in the pros
Over 20 FC Buffalo alums are playing professionally right now, while another 20+ players have tasted the pro ranks since our first club captain, Daniel Stevens, made his way from Buffalo to Finland in 2010.
Danny is also now our first alum to have managed a professional club abroad. Let’s spotlight him and a few other alums.
Umechi Akuazaoku
“Big Meech” was one of Ryan “Ozzy” Osbourne’s recruits in 2022, and the Canadian delivered a big goal for FCB at the tender age of 19. He’d continue to shine as a forward at St. Bonaventure, and his work earned him a move abroad.
Umechi Akuazaoku signed for Sakaryaspor this summer in Turkiye’s second tier, and he’s already come off the bench to score a pair of matchwinners for the Adapazan-based side. A neat fun fact? Meech shares a team room with former Ligue b1 Golden Boot winner Wissam Ben Yedder and longtime Chelsea prospect Gael Kakuta.
Russell Cicerone
Michigan-born Russell Cicerone caught the eye of FCB in 2014 when he was a freshman at the University at Buffalo, and that led to one of the most prolific men’s single seasons in FCB history.
Russell scored eight times with six assists in his only campaign in blue and gold, and has since gone on to play for Portland Timbers, FC CIncinnati, St. Louis FC, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, and Sacramento Republic. Russell’s produced three double-digit goal seasons in the USL Championship and the figure would be higher if not for injury-shortened seasons in 2024 and 2025.
Waniyah Hudson
Waniyah comes from a terrific soccer family in Rochester, and she shined in her lone season with FCB during a decorated career as a defender at Notre Dame. She endeared herself to the club when she hopped a flight to the UWS Championship weekend without knowing whether she’d make it in time to suit up.
After college, Waniyah signed with NWSL side Washington Spirit in 2023 and went on loan to USL Super League side Dallas Trinity the following season. Now she’s taken her talents abroad, where she’s a part of Swedish top-flight side Kristianstads DFF.
Habib Famuditimi
Habib was a Canadian player out of Jacksonville University when we met him, a player capable of being a super-athletic CB in a back three or a physical defensive midfielder.
He’d wade into professional waters with Austrian side SK Bischofshofen, then making a cameo with KS Turbina in Albania before moving to his current club — Estonian top-flight side Kalev Tallinn. Habib piled up 28 appearances for the side in 2025, scoring a goal.
He also writes music.
Daniel Stevens
Talk about a journey.
Dan joined FCB under head coach Jim Hesch for our inaugural campaign and caught the eye of everyone with dominant displays in the center of the park. He was selected to the NPSL All-Star Team.
He’d go on to make over 150 appearances for five clubs in Finland in a 10-season career, scoring 17 goals as part of Grankulla IFK (GrIFK), FC Kiffen, PS Kemi, FC Viikingit and BK-46.
Dan coaches GrIFK’s U19 and reserve sides between 2022-24, and was hired by Helsinki’s Puistolan Urheilijat in the Finnish Kaakonen in 2025. He led the club to a 11W-3D-(L record, good for 1.5 points-per-match and a fourth-place finish in the winners stage of the competition.
