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CRETINS' MARK ALT
Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 8:41 pm
by wbmd
According to Sid Hartman, the sophomore has verbally committed to the University of Minnesota for hockey.
By SID HARTMAN, Star Tribune
Last update: May 3, 2008 - 7:23 PM
Mark Alt, an outstanding all-around athlete at Cretin-Derham Hall and the son of former Columbia Heights, Iowa and Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman John Alt, has accepted a hockey scholarship to the Gophers. Mark is a sophomore.
Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 12:25 am
by komada77
Congrats, he's a hell of a player. That gives the Gophs a potentially formidable pairing of d-men a couple years down the road of Alt and Nate Schmidt from St. Cloud Cathedral. That would be fun to watch
Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 1:15 am
by behonestbenice
Congrats Mark we were hoping it would be soon! Great addition to the class of 2010 with Schmidt and Walters. That makes 5 1991 Minnesota Blades. Birkholz, Budish, Walters, Schmidt, and ALT.
Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 10:00 am
by flatontheice
behonestbenice wrote:Congrats Mark we were hoping it would be soon! Great addition to the class of 2010 with Schmidt and Walters. That makes 5 1991 Minnesota Blades. Birkholz, Budish, Walters, Schmidt, and ALT.
Congrats to Mark. He is a great kid! Most upside of anyone on your list.
Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 12:25 pm
by chachachachea...pet
in my Opinion Mark is a great athlete, and hockey player and he should be going D1 somewhere, sometime... But as sophmores D1 schools cant have you sign with them, its illegal isnt it??? I know people that have talked with schools but the schools cant tell you anythign till your at least a junior. So i think it is impossible that Mark is already commited to U of M, but if he is Congrats for him he deserves it.
-Chea Pet
Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 3:23 pm
by wbmd
chachachachea...pet wrote:in my Opinion Mark is a great athlete, and hockey player and he should be going D1 somewhere, sometime... But as sophmores D1 schools cant have you sign with them, its illegal isnt it??? I know people that have talked with schools but the schools cant tell you anythign till your at least a junior. So i think it is impossible that Mark is already commited to U of M, but if he is Congrats for him he deserves it.
-Chea Pet
He has verbally committed just like all of the other sophomore's have and just like Nick Pryor did when he was a freshman at Hill-Murray two years ago.
Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 6:21 pm
by chachachachea...pet
wbmd- Verbally commiting is like saying you will play for them, unless you have a couple more colleges ask. You can decide saying that he is playing for the gophers in 2011 is kind of crazy at this point. Knowing how Mark is such a good player he will get more colleges intrested in him. Which means it could be a 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 chance he will go to the gophers. Thats all im saying. Its hard to say at this point that he will have a Golden jersey with ALT on the back.
hats off to him
Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 6:34 pm
by Gopher Blog
chachachachea...pet wrote:wbmd- Verbally commiting is like saying you will play for them, unless you have a couple more colleges ask. You can decide saying that he is playing for the gophers in 2011 is kind of crazy at this point. Knowing how Mark is such a good player he will get more colleges intrested in him. Which means it could be a 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 chance he will go to the gophers. Thats all im saying. Its hard to say at this point that he will have a Golden jersey with ALT on the back.
It is pretty rare for a kid to commit to a school like Alt has and not end up playing at that school. Especially when a player commits to a big name program like the Gophers, UND, etc. You pretty much never see a kid change his mind on programs like those schools.
Other than when Peter Mueller decided to go play Canadian Major Jr. rather than play in the USHL, I don't recall a recruit backing out on a commitment to the Gophers. Not saying it would never happen again but it rarely does.
Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 7:13 pm
by MNHockey08
chachachachea...pet wrote:wbmd- Verbally commiting is like saying you will play for them, unless you have a couple more colleges ask. You can decide saying that he is playing for the gophers in 2011 is kind of crazy at this point. Knowing how Mark is such a good player he will get more colleges intrested in him. Which means it could be a 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 chance he will go to the gophers. Thats all im saying. Its hard to say at this point that he will have a Golden jersey with ALT on the back.
hats off to him
C'mon chea pet. Don't be a rook.

He will be at the gophs for sure. You don't just make a verbal commitment in 10th grade and not go. Its that simple.
Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 10:06 pm
by Observer85
Gopher Blog wrote:[It is pretty rare for a kid to commit to a school like Alt has and not end up playing at that school. Especially when a player commits to a big name program like the Gophers, UND, etc. You pretty much never see a kid change his mind on programs like those schools.
Other than when Peter Mueller decided to go play Canadian Major Jr. rather than play in the USHL, I don't recall a recruit backing out on a commitment to the Gophers. Not saying it would never happen again but it rarely does.
When a kid commits to a UMinn, North Dakota, Michigan, Boston College they usually don't back out. Examples of 2 kids who committed to other schools then changed to Minnesota would be Nate Hagemo (originally was committed to Wisconsin) and Michael Dorr (Minn-Duluth). Jason Gregoire originally committed to Denver but will be headed to North Dakota this coming fall.
Regarding Peter Mueller, I know this is off topic but it looks like he made the right decision after the year he had in Phoenix this year.
Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 9:05 am
by packerboy
Its about time Lucia figured out that there was a high school located over on Randolf and Hamline in St. Paul.
Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 9:45 am
by thiscrazygame
[quote="Observer85"][quote="Gopher Blog"][It is pretty rare for a kid to commit to a school like Alt has and not end up playing at that school. Especially when a player commits to a big name program like the Gophers, UND, etc. You pretty much never see a kid change his mind on programs like those schools.
Do the schools ever back out on the kids?
post 10345
Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 11:52 am
by boblee
thiscrazygame wrote:Observer85 wrote:Gopher Blog wrote:[It is pretty rare for a kid to commit to a school like Alt has and not end up playing at that school. Especially when a player commits to a big name program like the Gophers, UND, etc. You pretty much never see a kid change his mind on programs like those schools.
Do the schools ever back out on the kids?
Yes, but it is rare. More commonly they will have a kid play years of juniors first.
Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 2:34 pm
by hockeyxprt1
thiscrazygame wrote:Observer85 wrote:Gopher Blog wrote:[It is pretty rare for a kid to commit to a school like Alt has and not end up playing at that school. Especially when a player commits to a big name program like the Gophers, UND, etc. You pretty much never see a kid change his mind on programs like those schools.
Do the schools ever back out on the kids?
Not sure, but a kid can commit to a school that has no interest in him (see Nick Jaskoviak and Harvard). Commitment is important but signing the paper is what holds the weight.
Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 5:44 pm
by Gopher Blog
hockeyxprt1 wrote:Not sure, but a kid can commit to a school that has no interest in him (see Nick Jaskoviak and Harvard). Commitment is important but signing the paper is what holds the weight.
Harvard (and Ivy League schools) don't use the letter of intent process because they don't give out athletic scholarships. So there was nothing for Jaskowiak to "sign".
Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 10:17 pm
by Observer85
thiscrazygame wrote:Do the schools ever back out on the kids?
Yes and no.
Yes, it is hard to know who unless you follow it really closely. The most recent example for me is Jared Hummel, formerly of Holy Angels. Committed to St. Cloud but during his playing of Juniors, St Cloud "backed out". Typically a kid will be told their playing time will not be plentiful but they can still come in. Then the decision is the kid's - go where you are not really wanted or go elsewhere. Hummel now plays D3 with Scott Bell at Hamline.
No, as sometimes the player goes to the school where he is not really wanted at and ends up leaving. Dan Kronick, also a Holy Angels HS player, and Mitch Ryan, formerly a Cloquet HS player both committed to Minn-Duluth originally. Both ended up leaving Duluth and ironically both ended up at St Cloud State. Kronick has graduated and Ryan sat out last season as a transfer.
Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 11:19 pm
by Hockeyguy_27
Gopher Blog wrote:hockeyxprt1 wrote:Not sure, but a kid can commit to a school that has no interest in him (see Nick Jaskoviak and Harvard). Commitment is important but signing the paper is what holds the weight.
Harvard (and Ivy League schools) don't use the letter of intent process because they don't give out athletic scholarships. So there was nothing for Jaskowiak to "sign".
I guess he (Jaskowiak) got back at Harvard by playing for Yale. He is going to be a Freshman for the Eli's this coming season.
Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 8:00 am
by DmanDad1980
Gopher Blog wrote:chachachachea...pet wrote:wbmd- Verbally commiting is like saying you will play for them, unless you have a couple more colleges ask. You can decide saying that he is playing for the gophers in 2011 is kind of crazy at this point. Knowing how Mark is such a good player he will get more colleges intrested in him. Which means it could be a 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 chance he will go to the gophers. Thats all im saying. Its hard to say at this point that he will have a Golden jersey with ALT on the back.
It is pretty rare for a kid to commit to a school like Alt has and not end up playing at that school. Especially when a player commits to a big name program like the Gophers, UND, etc. You pretty much never see a kid change his mind on programs like those schools.
Other than when Peter Mueller decided to go play Canadian Major Jr. rather than play in the USHL, I don't recall a recruit backing out on a commitment to the Gophers. Not saying it would never happen again but it rarely does.
Nick Larson - Hill Murray rejected the Gophs...

Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 8:39 am
by BodyShots
DmanDad1980 wrote:Gopher Blog wrote:chachachachea...pet wrote:wbmd- Verbally commiting is like saying you will play for them, unless you have a couple more colleges ask. You can decide saying that he is playing for the gophers in 2011 is kind of crazy at this point. Knowing how Mark is such a good player he will get more colleges intrested in him. Which means it could be a 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 chance he will go to the gophers. Thats all im saying. Its hard to say at this point that he will have a Golden jersey with ALT on the back.
It is pretty rare for a kid to commit to a school like Alt has and not end up playing at that school. Especially when a player commits to a big name program like the Gophers, UND, etc. You pretty much never see a kid change his mind on programs like those schools.
Other than when Peter Mueller decided to go play Canadian Major Jr. rather than play in the USHL, I don't recall a recruit backing out on a commitment to the Gophers. Not saying it would never happen again but it rarely does.
Nick Larson - Hill Murray rejected the Gophs...

Did he back out on the Gophs, or did he back out on hockey all together?
Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 5:39 pm
by Gopher Blog
DmanDad1980 wrote:Nick Larson - Hill Murray rejected the Gophs...

He did? Cause I don't see him playing hockey at any D1 school. I was talking about bailing out on a team and playing at some other school.
Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 8:25 pm
by riverlakes
A couple examples of colleges backing out: UND backed out on Luke Beaverson who went on to Anchorage. UMD backed out on Ryan Langenbrunner who ended up at St. John's.
The difference with Kronick and Mitch Ryan from the above is that UMD wanted Kronick at least until his second year when he decided to leave. He actually left originally with the idea that he would play a year in the USHL and then come back. (That was UMD's official version at least).
Mitch Ryan left after only a half year. I think UMD wanted him.
Another case (or cases) that is a bit different, when Sandelin took over at UMD he booted a number of players, at least three from MN. A d-man from Silver Bay went to an NCHA school in WI. Pohl went to the USHL, was injured and had to quit hockey. And another went to the Gophers for three years.
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 12:19 pm
by wbmd
riverlakes wrote:A couple examples of colleges backing out: UND backed out on Luke Beaverson who went on to Anchorage.
Who just recently signed a N.H.L. contract with Florida.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 1:34 am
by dubya44
congrats to mark! he is a great kid and an even better hockey player.. i think the only thing to worry about is him getting offers for football. he will start as quarterback for CDH next year. his true passion lies with football (following after his dad) even though i think he will be able to go further with hockey. but good luck and congrats!
Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:44 pm
by itstime
What a talent he must be to get a scholarship from arguabley the top d1 hockey program and have that be his second option if he doesn't get something big for football which he just may.