Brighton’s Crespi makes verbal commitment to Lake Superior State

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BRIGHTON — Once he made his decision, Jake Crespi decided he couldn’t wait.

“I was going to wait until noon,” he said yesterday. “Nothing was keeping me waiting. But 10:45 rolled around and I was too excited.”

So Crespi did what few high school players are able to do in Michigan — he made a verbal commitment to play college hockey before playing a minute of junior hockey.

“This is more the exception than the rule,” Brighton coach Paul Moggach said.

Crespi will join one of his former neighbors, Luke Morgan, with the Lakers. Morgan, a freshman at Lake Superior, was on the Bulldogs’ 2012 state championship team as a freshman at Brighton.

Crespi played AAA travel hockey, the highest level, until he quit his former team to join the Bulldogs for his junior season.

“I felt I was a middle-of-the-pack guy and wasn’t enjoying my time there,” he said. “It’s so cutthroat, and everyone is looking out for themselves. So I made the move.”

It’s worked out splendidly for the Bulldogs and Crespi, who is a team captain this year and has proven to be one of the more dynamic players in the state.

“He’s got some elite speed, but he also has some elite tools in terms of puck skills,” Moggach said. “He looks exceptional on the ice, and he’s making the players around him look exceptional, too. … You don’t want to get in his way. He’ll run you over and get right back up. We have a tough time keeping him down. He’s got that energy you need to play at this level.”

Lake Superior State coach Damon Whitten is a former Brighton player who has worked with the program during its June camp. Moggach is Whitten’s stepfather.

“We know the Laker program, obviously, and what’s going on there,” Moggach said. “Damon’s been doing our camps, and it’s given us some insight. He’s helped to build this. It’s nice to see an alum like him and others coming around to skate with the team. It’s a really good thing.”

NCAA coaches cannot discuss recruits until they sign a national letter-of-intent.

When Crespi makes the Lakers, he will be at least the seventh Brighton alum to play Division I college hockey. The others include Brighton assistant coach Kurt Kivisto (MSU) and his brother John (Michigan Tech), Lawrence University coach Mike Szkodzinski (Ferris State), Alan L’Esperance (Michigan Tech), Whitten (MSU) and Morgan.

Crespi will play at least one year of juniors for a team to be named, and he’s undecided on a major in college.

He’s the second Brighton native to pick a college this school year. David Keddle, who plays for Des Moines of the USHL, has signed a national letter-of-intent to play for Michigan State.

Moggach, meanwhile, thinks Crespi’s signing is more than a feather in the cap for the Brighton program.

“I’ve watched the process,” he said. “I’ve seen the scouts at the games to watch him. I think it’s good for high school hockey, not just Brighton, to have these hockey guys around to watch Jake and maybe see some others. It’s good for everybody.”

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