Wisconsin hockey recruiting: Shattuck-St. Mary's defenseman Tyler Inamoto commits

	Class	Position	Shoots	Height	Weight
	2017 or '18	Defense	Left	6'0	174
	Previous Team		Hometown		DOB
	Shattuck-St. Mary's U16		Barrington, Ill.		5/06/1999

Elite defensemen are key to any program's success. Wisconsin has reaped the rewards with recent players like Ryan McDonagh, Tom Gilbert, Jamie McBain, Jake Gardiner, Jake McCabe, Justin Schultz and Brendan Smith. The Badgers hope they've found another game-changer in Shattuck-St. Mary's defenseman Tyler Inamoto.

Inamoto, a 6'0, 174-pound blueliner committed to Wisconsin on Monday night. When reached for comment, Inamoto told Bucky's 5th Quarter he was very excited about his choice.

"It feels great," Inamoto said. "I worked really hard, so it's great to see that it's paying off."

Inamoto said he visited Wisconsin and Penn State, but in the end the Badgers won the recruiting battle.

While his family resides just outside of Chicago now, Inamoto grew up in the New Jersey Colonials hockey program. Inamoto said the large Madison campus was a major reason why he picked the Badgers.

"I loved the campus," Inamoto said. "It's a big campus, I like it that way. I loved the facilities.

"I just fell in love with the campus when I first saw it."

Scouts consider Inamoto a dynamic player that isn't afraid to lay huge hits. Inamoto has good size and outstanding skating ability. He plays on the power play for Shattuck and has a booming shot. He'll have to pick his spots on when to jump in the play as he moves up the ladder, but the talent is undeniable.

As just a 1999-born player, Inamoto has two more full years left of high school before he can play for the Badgers. Inamoto is expected to be selected at some point in next spring's OHL draft, and hasn't completely ruled major juniors out of the equation.

"We'll just see what happens year by year, and take it from there."

Although he's honest in saying the OHL could still be a small possibility, his father, Barry, seemed to be pretty keen on Wisconsin's development path in advancing players to the NHL.

"What program has produced the most quality NHL defensemen?" He said. "Well, one of the best programs for NHL defensemen is Wisconsin. Whether that's recruiting, Eaves' coaching, the amount of money Wisconsin spends on its student athletes -- because that's one of the top dollar figures in NCAA hockey, is Wisconsin -- to your strength and conditioning coach and all those things play a factor.

"We're psyched to go to Wisconsin."

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Inline picture courtesy of David Romuald.