Suffield’s Kornaker Makes Pick

New England Recruiting Report | Sunday, February 5th, 2017

Suffield Academy senior guard Griffin Kornaker announced his college commitment this weekend following his acceptance to Middlebury College.

Griffin took to his twitter account to announce his commitment and expressed his thanks to both his family and friends.

Kornaker is currently in his second season at Suffield Academy. As a junior, he helped lead the Tigers to a 19-7 record and a spot in the semi-finals of the NEPSAC Class A tournament before putting together a big summer with East Side AAU from his hometown of Rochester, New York.

This season, Kornaker is averaging 11 points and 4 assists while shooting 44% from behind the arc, but those numbers don't do his total impact justice. A skilled and tough guard, with definite scholarship level talent, he's capable of putting up much bigger scoring numbers but has instead helped establish a culture of unselfishness that has led to five different players currently averaging double figures and the Tigers sitting at a record of 12-3, including 9-1 in Class A, as a result.

"This group has been a lot of fun to coach because they're willing to put aside egos in order to play for the team," head coach Jeff Depelteau said. "I think we have a number of guys who have the ability to go for 20 on any giving night but they've bought in to sharing the ball, defending, and playing for one another instead of themselves and Griffin has been a big part of that."

Kornaker saw recruitment at all three levels of college basketball, ranging from the Patriot League to the NESCAC, but ultimately Depelteau said he chose Middlebury because they "proved to be a great fit because of their combination of academic tradition and obviously how competitive they are within the national landscape of division III basketball."

He also credited head coach Jeff Brown and his staff with recruiting Kornaker the hardest in recent months, noting they've had a coach from the staff at almost every game Suffield has played so far this season.