MKRob Sports

St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) high school running back Giovanni Bernard has verbally committed to Notre Dame.

The Fort Lauderdale native visited Notre Dame for the USC game two weeks and visited Colorado this past weekend before picking the Irish.

Bernard is a compact  running back with excellent vision and balance.  He gets a lot of yards after contact because of his ability to stay on his feet.  He isn’t a burner, but he makes plenty of big runs by hitting the hole quick and breaking tackles.  He is a very well rounded back who has the ability to be a #1, work-horse type running back on the college level.

Bernard told Irish Sports Daily that academics were a big part of the reason he selected Notre Dame.

He also told Oregon Live that the coaching staff, and its similarities to his coaching staff at Saint Thomas Aquinas, played a role in his decision.

“It’s just a great program all around and it has everything I am looking for in a school,” Bernard told Rivals.com. “I visited there for the USC game. They work like our coaches at St. Thomas. It should be an easy transition for me but I know it would be no matter where I go.”

Bernard has been hampered by a hamstring injury this year which has caused him to miss multiple games, but as a junior he ran for 1,528 yards on 160 carries with 15 touchdowns.  That’s an impressive average yards per carry of 9.6.