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Class |
Position |
Shoots |
Height |
Weight |
2017 or '18 |
Defense |
Left |
6'0 |
174 |
|
Team |
Hometown |
DOB |
|||
Shattuck-St. Mary's U16 |
Barrington, Ill |
5/6/1999 |
Saturday marked the annual OHL Priority Selection, which is always one of the more interesting days on the hockey calendar. While there aren't as many backroom, handshake deals, the OHL Draft always leaves NCAA fans a bit uneasy when it comes to some of the top prospects with college commitments.
The biggest name of note for Wisconsin fans today was Tyler Inamoto, a defenseman originally from New Jersey that now resides in Chicago and plays for the Shattuck-St. Mary's U16 team in Minnesota.
Inamoto was selected in the sixth-round, No. 111 overall by the Kitchener Rangers. While it wasn't the most dangerous spot he could have landed, Kitchener is still a team that has been known to pry players away from college commitments in the past.
After making his commitment to the Badgers in January, Inamoto didn't entirely close the door on the OHL, either.
"We'll just see what happens year-by-year, and take it from there."
As just a 1999-born player, Inamoto has two more full years left of high school before he can play for the Badgers. He has signed on to play with the U.S. NTDP U-17 team for next season, which gets him at least one year closer to Madison before he'll have to make a final decision.
Despite the OHL threat, Inamoto's father, Barry, was very excited about Wisconsin after his son committed to the Badgers.
"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, (Mike) 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."
I think the odds are pretty good Inamoto fulfills his commitment to the Badgers, but we'd be ignorant if we didn't keep an eye on the possibility he ends up in the OHL. You know for a fact Kitchener will make a major push for his services at some point.
Two Wisconsin natives selected in OHL Draft
Inamoto wasn't the only player of note on Saturday. Uncommitted in-state players Charlie Dovorany (Wausau) and Hugh Anderson (Green Bay) were also picked up in the OHL Priority Selection.
Anderson, who plays defense for the Oakland Jr. Grizzlies U16 team out of Michigan was selected by the Owen Sound Attack in the 13th round, while Dovorany, a forward, and teammate with Inamoto at Shattuck, was drafted by the Ottawa 67's in the 14th.
Dovorany is a potential Wisconsin recruit, and has already taken at least one unofficial campus visit to the Kohl Center.
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