The Los Angeles Galaxy is the most popular soccer team in the country. The Major League Soccer team features the States’ best talent, as well as a recently acquired international superstar.

Now the team has the services of Washington’s best, as it selected former Husky captain Ty Harden as the 23rd overall pick in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft in Indianapolis last Thursday.

From midterms and scholarships to paychecks and a 10-month long season, change will be the only constant as Harden adjusts to the life of a professional athlete.

“It’s crazy to go from college soccer to picking up phone calls from Alexi Lalas and playing with David Beckham,” Harden said.

Yes, next year Harden — a third-team All-American and four-time All-Pac-10 selection — will be playing alongside one of the most popular players in modern soccer history — Beckham, former captain of the English national team.

“As long as I’ve been playing soccer seriously, he’s been like the man, the top guy on the best club in the world, a player I’ve always looked up to,” Harden said, undoubtedly forced to answer many questions regarding the newly-signed celebrity.

From growing up watching his idols on the pitch to sharing it with them, Harden’s childhood ambition has finally become reality.

“Ty has been wanting to be in professional soccer since he was 8 years old,” said Franny Harden, his mother. “It’s seeing his dream fulfilled. What more could a mom ask for?”

His commitment to a dream also impressed his college coach. Dean Wurzberger recalled a high school senior that needed assurance that his large-scale ambitions could be accommodated before committing to the University of Washington.

“It seemed a goal he embraced before he came, and many guys, to be frank, give up on it in their college years. He never did,” Wurzberger said. “It is very satisfying to see him realize his opportunity.”

In the coming weeks, Harden will be in Seattle, saying his goodbyes and taking time off before reporting to preseason training camp in Los Angeles in February. He will also meet with doctors to discuss the future regarding the stress fracture in his right foot, an injury that plagued him most of last season.

Harden described his foot as “pretty close to 100 percent,” but didn’t rule out surgery if it was deemed necessary. This month would likely be the most opportune time for the procedure, with a couple weeks to recover until Harden will begin his training with the team.

“I think it’s good to go,” Harden said.

For the long-term, the Galaxy will likely use Harden as a central defender, a position he started here at Washington for four years. Next season, however, to gain on-the-field experience, the team might play him as an outside defender or a defensive midfielder instead.

Providing a scouting report of his former player, Wurzberger said, “I think he’s versatile and very cool on the ball; use of the ball and possession is very big at that level. Ty’s got every chance to make an impact.”

One thing that will have to wait on the sidelines, though, is Harden’s schoolwork.

Though only a couple quarters away from earning a bachelor’s degree through the UW business school, Harden will have to put off his full-time studies to focus on soccer.

If all goes well, his hiatus from academia will not last too long, as Harden hopes to continue his studies through community college work and participation in Internet-based courses.

“I want to do it sooner rather than later,” Harden said.

Despite the short wait before seeing that diploma, Franny Harden said she wasn’t worried. Her son had in fact been selected to the All-Academic team twice in four years.

“If he wants to achieve something, he’ll do it; that’s why I have no doubt he’ll get that degree and go on for his master’s,” she said.

When his rookie season begins, Harden will be fortunate to have many familiar faces around him in L.A.

The Galaxy — who Harden characterized as the Dallas Cowboys of the MLS — drafted two fellow Pac-10 players: Robbie Findley from Oregon State, and Tally Hall from San Diego State. Findley and Harden share the same agent and the three participated in all the same pre-draft combines.

Plus, teammates Landon Donovan and Cobi Jones are household names for any soccer fan.

But there is another familiarity that made Los Angeles his hopeful destination: the proximity to his family. His parents currently live in Reno, Nev., and his two sisters live nearby as well.

“We’re really thrilled about that,” said Franny Harden.

And there are more thrills to come.

Now, the home games once endured in the unforgiving Pacific Northwest rain are behind him. Sunny southern California, playing in front of 20,000 fans each game and competing against the nation’s best are some of the many adjustments Harden will have to deal with in his transition to professional soccer.

“When you covet it, when you desire it, you welcome those changes,” said Wurzberger.

That, at least, is certain. He’s wanted this for years.

Reach reporter Joshua Mayers at joshuamayers@thedaily.washington.edu.