Hoosiers' Nguyen to turn pro

Last summer, Lee Nguyen played in Enschede, Holland, on the United States' under-20 national team in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championships. He was the only high schooler on the roster of college-age players.\nThe IU freshman might now return to the site of his last international match to begin his professional career.\n"I talked with all of my teammates and they agreed with the time," said Nguyen, who recently signed with an agent. "Going pro is all about timing. I gotta pick the right time and I think this is it."\nNguyen earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors this season, along with being named the 2005 National Gatorade Boys Soccer High School Player of the Year when he graduated from Plano East High School in Richardson, Texas.\nThe now former Hoosier striker had professional offers from Major League Soccer coming out of high school. He said he now has interest from both MLS and PSV Eindhoven -- a top-tier club in Holland who won the Dutch League title four of the last six seasons.\n"I think this will also help me get exposure for the (United States) Men's National Team in case I ever get a call up for that," Nguyen said.\nCurrent men's national team player and Fort Wayne native DaMarcus Beasley plays for PSV Eindhoven. Former PSV Eindhoven striker and current Manchester United forward Ruud van Nistelrooy played for the PSV team before United purchased him in 2001.\nIU men's soccer coach Mike Freitag said college soccer has changed to where the top players might not stay around for four years.\n"For Lee, whether he's ready or not, he's a very talented player," Freitag said. "I think another year of college would have helped him and not just for soccer, but socially and psychologically. He's a hot commodity (to professional soccer)."\nThe second-year head coach also said juniors Jacob Peterson and Jed Zayner expressed an interest to him in turning professional if a Generation adidas contract is offered.\n"To me, it hasn't been a 100 percent sure yet," Freitag said. "They're telling me they want to go, I'm hearing from the MLS they're possibly going to be offered, but it's not a 100 percent."\nGeneration adidas players are different than normal college players who exhaust their collegiate eligibility and enter the MLS Draft. Generation adidas players do not count against their MLS team's roster, but they do receive a salary which includes money for players to complete their education while training at the same time with their respective teams.\nZayner tried out for soccer clubs in France follow last season's national championship, but decided to return to IU. The NCAA required Zayner to sit out the first five games of this past season to regain his amateur status since the French teams paid for his travel.\n"In some ways, unfortunately, it's almost beneficial to go early to the pros," Freitag said. "The only reason I say that is financially. After four years sometimes those guys that come out, get the short end of the stick ... the problem is, is there are no rules for it like there are in college baseball."\nFreitag looks to have freshman Kevin Noschang and freshman Darren Yeagley -- who redshirted this season -- move into the forward spots vacated by Nguyen and Peterson.\n"I'm very excited about my team next year," Freitag said. "The (Nov. 21 NCAA tournament) Notre Dame loss could be the best thing to happen to us for years to come."\nFreitag said he even took some advice after the match with the Fighting Irish from who he called a future soccer coach -- his 13-year-old daughter Hanna.\n"I called home after the game and she said, 'Daddy, I got a hypothesis for you when you get home,'" Freitag said. "I get home and she said, 'It's not a bad thing this loss. Maybe the younger players now will realize it's not that easy."