Despite suffering a broken leg in the second game of the season, forward Austin Wuthrich of Anchorage, who plays for USA Hockey's Under-18 team in the National Team Development Program, has secured a scholarship from Notre Dame.

Wuthrich, 17, said he committed to the Irish on Thursday night and will join them as a true freshman next fall.

Wuthrich, speaking from Ann Arbor, Mich., where the NTDP is based, said he visited Notre Dame on Wednesday and Thursday and committed to coach Jeff Jackson over the phone Thursday night after he returned to Ann Arbor.

"I'm so excited,'' Wuthrich said.

He said he was impressed with the Notre Dame campus and its academic reputation, excited about the new rink there that will open next season and looking forward to playing for Jackson, considered one of the best coaches in the college ranks.

Wuthrich, a former South High and Alaska All Stars forward, underwent surgery for his broken leg. Surgeons inserted a plate and screws into his leg. He's still in a walking boot, but expects to get back on the ice in mid-February and hopes to be playing again about a month later.

Look for more on Wuthrich in Saturday's dead-trees edition of the ADN.