MEN'S HOCKEY: Clarke commits to UND
By Brad Schlossman
Herald Staff Writer - 01/15/2008
Jason Herter brought his hockey team to his old college campus over the weekend to compete in the Little Caesars North American Showcase.
One of his players, 15-year-old defenseman Garrett Clarke, says he will be back.
Clarke became the youngest player ever to give a verbal commitment to UND this weekend when he told Sioux coaches that he will play for them beginning in 2010.
The New Brunswick native had been a projected top-three pick in June's Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft, but after visiting campus, he and his family decided college was the best route.
“There's been a lot of pressure on him and there have been a lot of distractions in the last few months,” said Tim Clarke, Garrett's father. “We did the right thing for him long-term. People will always second guess it, but we believe we made the right choice.
“We had a chance to visit campus, sit down with academic people, see a couple of games, meet a couple of former UND players who went to the NHL. . . . they had a great package put together for him.”
Clarke, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound sophomore who just turned 15 in November, is an offensive defenseman on the Russell Stover team, based in Overland Park, Kan.
He racked up scholarship offers from 13 college programs but ultimately chose UND over Wisconsin.
“He's a very skilled defenseman,” said Herter, who played at UND from 1988-91 and is UND's highest-drafted defenseman ever. “Some of the stuff he can do with the puck. . . . I thought I was pretty darn good at that. Then I look at him and say to myself, ‘I couldn't do that.' He has a fake shot move - I've never seen one better. And that includes college and the pros.
“But he's a young kid with a lot to learn. He has a long way to go to get to being a Fighting Sioux and he knows that.”
Clarke grew up in New Brunswick but moved to Green Bay, Wis., two years ago and played for the Shattuck-St. Mary's bantam team. Last year, his family moved to Kansas City and Clarke joined the nearby Russell Stover squad.
He likely will play next year for the Fargo Force in the United States Hockey League under former Sioux coach Dean Blais and then arrive on campus as a 17-year-old freshman in 2010.
Herter said he had hoped that Clarke would wind up with his alma mater.
“I love all of my hockey players, but I've only had one in my four years here who I saw play and immediately called the Sioux coaches to say, ‘You've got to watch him play,' And it was (Clarke),” Herter said. “He's an offensive player, but he plays with grit and he plays pissed off. He's the most talented '92 (born) defenseman that I've seen offensively.”
Clarke is not the youngest player to give a verbal commitment to a college. Michigan, Colorado College and Notre Dame have received verbals from 14-year-olds.
Reach Schlossman at 780-1129, (800) 477-6572 ext. 129 or bschlossman@gfherald.com.
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