Soccer's Bruin forgoes senior season for MLS

IU forward Will Bruin spent three years playing under a seven-star logo.

Now, the junior striker is one of seven soccer stars across the nation who signed a Generation adidas contract, according to Foxsoccer.com’s Ives Galarcep.

Generation adidas is a joint venture between U.S. Soccer and the MLS to help raise the talent of young soccer players across America. It entices young soccer players to turn professional by leaving college early or avoiding college altogether.

The MLS SuperDraft will be held in Balitmore on Jan. 13. The Early Bath, a soccer blog, has Bruin slotted as the No. 4 pick for Chivas USA, a Los Angeles-based club. However, a site called Draftsite doesn’t even have Bruin being selected in the first three rounds.

Galarcep thinks Bruin will be selected either seventh or eighth, with Penn State’s Corey Hertzog snatching the other slot.

The junior striker was also recently named a first-team All American. He is one of three finalists for the MAC Hermann Trophy, given to the best soccer player in the nation.

The last DeSmet Jesuit High School- to-IU-to-MLS soccer star was Pat Noonan, who earned three All-America distinctions while playing for the Hoosiers from 1999 to 2002.

Although Bruin was never able to bring Bloomington a national trophy, he scored four goals on the Hoosiers way to a Big Ten regular season championship this season – the team’s first since 2007.

The seven signed are Bruin, Akron's Darlington Nagbe, Kofi Sarkodie, Zarek Valentin and Michael Nanchoff, Penn State's Corey Hertzog and Maryland's Zac MacMath.