He was focused on the television. The third round of the Major League Soccer draft was underway Tuesday, and Femi Hollinger-Janzen was waiting to find out how his life would change in the coming months.
But the moment he was drafted 51st overall by the New England Revolution, the forward/winger didn’t notice. That’s because the draft wasn’t on his TV. The live draft tracker was set up on the computer screen to his right while he and his roommate played Call of Duty on the TV.
When he finally did glance to his right, the emotions set in. He threw his controller in the air and went crazy.
“I was looking at my TV because we were playing video games and I saw my name pop up and my heart just like sank,” Hollinger-Janzen said. “It was crazy. I almost had a heart attack.”
Later Tuesday, Hollinger-Janzen was standing at center court of Assembly Hall during halftime of IU’s 103-69 win against Illinois.
He was awarded the Haeir Achievement Award, given to eight student-athletes across the country. The award earns the IU general scholarship fund $2,000 and the athletic department a 48-inch LED TV.
He also received a plaque, capping off what he called a crazy day.
Tuesday was so crazy partly because he was forced to wait. Many predicted Hollinger-Janzen would be drafted during the first two rounds on Jan. 14.
The five day wait was killer but also made the moment he found out that much sweeter, he said.
In a way, it almost makes sense he had to wait a little longer. He didn’t receive an offer to play at IU until the summer before his senior year of high school. His recruitment didn’t really even begin until he attended an IU soccer camp at the urging of his high school coach in Goshen, Indiana.
Most players are recruited to play college soccer in their first couple years of high school.
Scoring four goals his senior season at IU — including the game-winner in the College Cup semifinal — Hollinger-Janzen made an immediate effect at IU. Two days later he helped bring an eighth national championship to Bloomington.
Hollinger-Janzen has already begun the process of trying to help the Revolution capture its first MLS Championship.
He leaves Bloomington Thursday for New England, where he will spend the first couple days of preseason training starting Friday. He and the rest of the Revolution will then travel to Arizona to complete their preseason training.
There’s no guarantee he’ll make the Revolution. He may be sent to their USL professional team, the Rochester Rhinos.
That won’t matter for Hollinger-Janzen, though. When he called his mom to tell her he was drafted, she reminded him what he had wanted to be when he was a child.
“When I was about nine or ten she asked me what I wanted to do when I grow up, and I told her I wanted to be a brain surgeon or a soccer player,” Hollinger-Janzen said. “At that time I was like, ‘brain surgeon’ because I’d make more money.”
