[media-credit name=’UW Athletic Communications’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]For former UW soccer star Nick Van Sicklen, last Friday was a dream come true. Forget law school. In fact, forget school altogether. Van Sicklen made the move from collegiate soccer standout to professional soccer player when defending MLS Cup champion D.C. United made the midfielder its first selection in the league’s SuperDraft.

“I was watching the live feed (of the draft) in a hotel room, and I was in awe,” Van Sicklen said. “Still, it hasn’t really set in yet. I was really happy to go to D.C.”

The selection ended a whirlwind few months for Van Sicklen. After closing out his Wisconsin career with a senior season that saw him earn first-team all-Big Ten honors and lead the conference in goals and points, he began weighing his options. The Madison native traveled to Germany for tryouts with a pair of clubs, including F.C. Nuernberg of the Bundesliga. Signing with Nuernberg would have entailed playing in the German third division for the club’s reserve squad with other younger players hoping to crack the first team.

“I didn’t speak any German,” Van Sicklen said. “It would have been a good situation in Nuernberg, but they really wanted me to know some German, and I had no clue how to speak it. If I was going to go back, it would have been this summer. But now that the MLS opportunity came, I’m just going to take that for now.”

Van Sicklen’s strong play as a senior earned him an invitation to the MLS combine to further showcase his talent. The event, held in Los Angeles, included physical testing and games each day, with the players broken up into four squads.

“I think I was kind of unknown, kind of a wild card going into the combine,” Van Sicklen said of his draft stock. “I think for the MLS coaches, I think they had a pretty good idea of what I can bring, but I think also that was their main chance to see me play because I haven’t had any national team experience. So, after the combine I was expecting to possibly get drafted, but I didn’t really know.”

However, the D.C. United front office had been hot on Van Sicklen’s trail for some time. Despite not playing at a nationally renowned program, his play caught the eye of United technical director Dave Kasper and the rest of the organization.

“He was on our radar screen,” Kasper said. “We heard a lot of good things about him. We talked to a lot of college coaches. We saw some DVD on him, and we were pretty excited about being able to see him at the combine. He did very well.”

Rainy weather and a position change hindered Van Sicklen’s play in Los Angeles. After playing almost exclusively in attacking positions in college, Van Sicklen worked out at defensive midfielder with a number of teammates who could only play outside. However, when finally given his chance on the wing, where he will likely play for United, he excelled.

“The last day I played out wide, and I scored a goal,” Van Sicklen said. “I thought I created more than I had the first two days. I think that definitely helped me out.”

Ironically, one of the reasons United drafted the former Badger was for the versatility and ability to play anywhere in the midfield he displayed at the combine.

Heading into the draft, Van Sicklen believed the New England Revolution, Chicago Fire or Kansas City Wizards would select him in either the third or fourth round. However, a draft-day morning phone call from United to UW head coach Jeff Rohrman gave the midfielder a hint that his destination might be the nation’s capital. With the 19th overall pick, a second-round selection, United got its man.

“They just went up there, and it was like, ‘D.C. United selects, from the University of Wisconsin, Nick Van Sicklen,'” Van Sicklen said. “But it was really cool because the draft was held in Baltimore, so all the D.C. fans were there. There was like over 1,000 or 1,500 D.C. fans, and they started chanting, ‘Nick Van Sicklen’ after my name was called. It was pretty cool. Right after that, [United head coach Peter Nowak] and [general manager Kevin Payne] called me.”

Van Sicklen enters a team coming off a banner season. United won its fourth MLS Cup last season, and its squad features a number of talented players in the midfield, including Alecko Eskandarian, Ben Olson and, of course, 15-year-old sensation Freddy Adu. Proven forwards Jaime Moreno and Dema Kovalenko also hold spots in the D.C. starting 11.

“It will be great to come in and play with the stars, and they are like the L.A. Lakers of the MLS,” Van Sicklen said. “I think it also is nice because you come in, and your expectations are minimal compared to these guys. They’re the big timers, the big time names and stuff. It will be nice in the sense where I’ll be in the shadows for once, and I get to just learn from these guys and experience playing with world-class players.”

With the departure of veteran Earnie Stewart, United has an opening in the midfield. Though Van Sicklen says his main goal is to make the top roster, significant playing time is a very real possibility for him as a rookie, as evidenced by midfielder Josh Gros’ cracking of the starting lineup last season. Gros, a fourth-round pick in the 2004 draft, shares many of the same skills as Van Sicklen and plays wide on one side of the midfield.

“[Nick]’s athletic, he has good speed, he’s good taking players on off the dribble, he works hard, and he looks like he’s a pretty good soccer player,” Kasper said. “We think he has the qualities to become a good player in our league.”

The road ahead is quite busy for Van Sicklen. After flying to Washington, D.C., next Thursday, Van Sicklen will join his new teammates for a series of meetings before leaving Feb. 2 to train in Bradenton, Fla., at the U.S. national team complex, the IMG Center. After two weeks of training, United will fly to Hawaii for a pair of friendly matches against the L.A. Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes.

Next, it’s back to Florida for more training in Fort Lauderdale before beginning CONCACAF Champions Cup competition. United faces Harbour View F.C., a Jamaican club, in a quarterfinal series in mid-March. After some more training, United begins its title defense, opening the MLS season in Los Angeles against expansion club Chivas USA. The next few months could very well determine how much time Van Sicklen sees on the pitch.

“We have a strong group coming into this year,” Kasper said. “Coming off of our championship year we haven’t lost a lot of players. We’ve lost a few, so we have good veteran players. But with that said, we want to see how Nick (Van Sicklen) does in the first month to two months of our preseason and early part of our season. We’re not going to put a lot of pressure on him, but at the same time, we want to see how he handles the next level.”

Whether Van Sicklen is in the starting 11 for the April 2 match in Los Angeles is still up in the air, but either way he’s prepared to do anything he can to help his new club.

“I hope to contribute in any way and just enjoy the experience and see where it takes me,” Van Sicklen said. “I don’t have any goals. I know sitting here six months ago I would never have thought I was going be even on a roster, playing in MLS or playing professionally. So I think I’m just going to take it how it comes.”