Blake Brookes switches commit from Johns Hopkins to Dartmouth

Blake Brookes of Belmont Hill. (Adam Richins)

For Blake Brookes (Concord, Mass.), heading to Johns Hopkins for college, as he had originally planned, would have been a fine choice in most scenarios.

But the more the Belmont Hill defenseman thought about it, the more he wanted to carve his own path.

That's why this week, Brookes switched his verbal commitment to Dartmouth, as the class of 2020 player hopes to build something special at the Ivy League program.

"I think the thing I'm looking forward to the most about Dartmouth, and the biggest reason probably why I'm going there is...