Belle Becomes The First 2007 to Commit

William Belle (★★★★) became the first 2007-born player to land a college commitment when he announced that he had committed to Notre Dame.

Belle, a 6-foot-2 forward, is currently playing for Shattuck St. Mary’s 16U team. In 21 games this season he has four goals and 13 assists for 17 points. Last season for the 14U team, he appeared in 49 games and had 31 goals and 32 assists (63 points).

Belle recently accelerated his studies and became a junior, which opened up his eligibility to be recruited. Currently, NCAA programs are not allowed to speak to, or offer scholarships to players until their junior year of high school.

Because of Belle’s early birthday (Jan. 14, 2007), he was able to accelerate his studies and re-classify.

NZ Scouts (Select 15 this past summer): “Belle is a big, strong power forward out of Shattuck St. Mary’s who played a complete game here and was one of the top forwards in the age group. His size and strength give him an advantage at this level but he makes the most of it; he outmuscled defenders below the dots to win pucks, he came back on backchecks and rode opponents off the puck and he was able to hold the puck out wide drop his shoulder while protecting the puck and drive to the net for scoring chances. He came out in the very first game and scored one of the best goals of the camp; he outmuscled an opponent for a loose puck in his own end, carried it up the wall end to end and then cut in on the defender at the hash marks and made a move across the slot, outwaited the goalie and snuck it by him using his reach; it was a perfect example of his puck skill, his length and his power game.”

Belle was given an A- grade at the U14 nationals last spring as well as an A- grade at the Select 15 camp this past summer.

If you check out Belle’s profile page (click here) we have scouting reports from 13 different viewings.