ROOKIES
- 3/7: Evan Newton
- 3/8: Alex Dixon
- 3/9: Josue Soto
- 3/10: Will Bruin
- 3/11: Kofi Sarkodie
NEWCOMERS
- 3/14: Jordan Graye
- 3/15: Colin Clark
- 3/16: Jason Garey
- 3/17: Hunter Freeman
- 3/18: Jermaine Taylor
As the 2011 season draws closer, HoustonDynamo.com will introduce you to the newest members of the Dynamo roster. With 10 players who have yet to play a game for the Dynamo, the squad will feature a new look in 2011.
We start the series with the rookies, and Thursday brings us to forward Will Bruin. Selected 11th overall in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft, Bruin had been projected to go in the draft’s first four picks. When he was still available at No. 11, head coach Dominic Kinnear moved quickly to swing a deal with the Portland Timbers to acquire the next pick and select Bruin.
A standout at Indiana University during a three-year college career, Bruin left school one year early as part of the league’s Generation adidas program. The former Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year has been dangerous in preseason, both holding the ball with his back to goal and making smart runs behind the defense.
At 6-foot-2 and good in the air, Bruin has been compared with Dynamo captain Brian Ching, but is he hoping to prove he should play alongside Ching in 2011 after netting three goals against SMU and another against San Jacinto in preseason action.
PHOTOS: Track Bruin's preseason progress
MEET WILL BRUIN
HD.com: Give us an idea of how you grew up playing soccer.
Will: My parents put me in it in pre-K, and I started
playing in grade school. I got into the St. Louis Scott Gallagher Soccer Club,
and it’s just gone on from there.
HD.com: What’s your earliest soccer memory?
Will: My earliest soccer memory is obviously playing for St.
Louis Scott Gallagher and winning states around U-8, U-9.
HD.com: What is your most memorable soccer moment prior to
joining the Dynamo?
Will: I’d probably have to say winning the Big Ten regular
season title at Indiana.
HD.com: What do you remember about draft day and that whole
experience?
Will: It was an awesome atmosphere. It was a lot of fun, and
it was pretty nerve-racking because you never know when your name is going to
get called or what’s going to happen.
HD.com: What emotions went through your head when your name
was called, and it was Houston,
and everything started?
Will: I was very excited. I was also relieved I didn’t have
to sit through the rest of the picks, so that was a big weight off my
shoulders.
ARCHIVE: Sarkodie, Bruin positive trend for Houston
HD.com: What was your first impression of the club?
Will: I thought it was very organized and very well-run. We
get out to practice, we do what we need to get done, and we don’t waste time,
so I like that.
HD.com: What have been your early impressions of Houston?
Will: I like it. It’s a lot bigger city than I initially
thought, and I’m still trying to get to know the area, but we’ll get there.
HD.com: What players did you look up to while growing up?
Will: I was always a big Wayne Rooney fan, and as of
relatively recently, I like watching [Didier] Drogba play a lot too.
HD.com: What is the best and worst part of being a rookie?
Will: The best part is probably not having to go to classes
and play soccer, coming from college. But obviously being rookies, we have to
do all the little work that rookies do that the veterans don’t do, so that’s
probably the worst part, but it’s still not that bad.
HD.com: What’s been the biggest adjustment to the
professional game?
Will: Off the field, I’d probably say time management —
there’s a lot more free time. [On the field,] probably just the speed of play
and the mental part of the game – having to think about your passes and things
like that.
MLSSoccer: Entrance Exam with Dynamo's Bruin
HD.com: What are some of your hopes and goals for 2011?
Will: Obviously, I just want to get on the field, see if I
can get some playing time, and put some balls in the back of the net.
HD.com: Is there a specific reason you chose number 12, and
if so, what is it?
Will: There’s no specific reason at all. I got a list of
numbers, and since I was 11 back at school, I thought I would just go with 12.
