The Whitecourt Wolverines are proud to announce 17-year-old forward Justin Young has committed to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks (NCAA Div. 1).
Young is entering his second full season in the Alberta Junior Hockey League with the Whitecourt Wolverines. In his rookie season, Young led all Wolverine rookies in goals with 14. For his efforts, Young was anointed co-rookie of the year, along with Joseph Nardi. Young has picked up right where he left off to begin the 2015/2016 season registering a pair of assists through the first two games.
Young, a product of Leduc, Alberta, played midget AAA hockey with the Leduc Oil Kings during the 2013/2014 season, scoring 12 goals and chipping in 17 points in just 35 games.
“I started talking to them after our first exhibition game this year,” said Young in regards to when the Nanooks coaching staff first made contact. “Their assistant coach came down after that and watched a few more games, and then I made the decision on Monday night.”
When Young begins his career at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, he will be playing alongside a familiar face.
“They talked about the school and what they had to offer and I know John Mullally is there now and when I talked to him he had nothing but great things to say,” added Young on his decision to commit to Alaska. “Also, from doing my own research about the school I really liked what they had to offer, along with what the coaches and John had already told me.”
“I also want to take this opportunity to thank my family, teammates, and coaching staff for their support. I also wanted to thank the coaching staff for believing in me and promoting me to the NCAA Colleges over the past year.”
The University of Alaska-Fairbanks have recruited many players that played or grew up in Alberta and that’s likely because Head Coach, Dallas Ferguson, is very familiar with the province having grown up in Wainwright, Alberta. Ferguson is heading into his eighth season as the Nanooks bench boss. Last season the Nanooks finished 4th in their conference, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, compiling a record of 19-13-2 (14-12-2), going 7-0-1 in their final 8 games.
“Justin is a very coachable player that does all of the little things right. He is a complete player that can play in all game situations. Justin has matured into a good leader and respected by his teammates, staff, and the community. We are very proud of his college commitment to the Nanooks and look forward to working with Justin in his preparation to college hockey,” commented coach Bouchard.
The entire Wolverines organization would like to congratulate Justin and his family on his selection of Alaska-Fairbanks for his college experience and wish him all the best in his academics and athletics.
In the last two years, the Wolverines have sent 11 players onto collegiate careers at the CIS, ACAC and NCAA Level.
Justin is the 3rd Wolverine on this year’s roster to commit to the NCAA:
Taden Rattie – Western Michigan University
Joseph Nardi – Northern Michigan University
Justin Young – University of Alaska-Fairbanks
