St. Thomas Aquinas High School Football

Published Tuesday October 27, 2009 in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

St. Thomas star RB Giovanni Bernard

commits to Notre Dame

By Dave Brousseau, Staff Writer

St. Thomas Aquinas running back Giovanni Bernard verbally committed to Notre Dame on Monday.

The 5-foot-9, 200-pound senior chose the South Bend school over Tennessee, Oregon State and Nebraska. He is currently the 12th ranked running back in the nation by rivals.com.

Bernard, who has been hampered with a hamstring injury, has not played the last three games for the Raiders. He has rushed for 364 yards and four touchdowns this season. He is the third all-time for St. Thomas with 2,875 yards on 365 carries and 31 touchdowns.

Bernard has help lead the Raiders to two consecutive Class 5A state titles, a 2008 national championship and a current No. 1 national ranking.

"Academics were important to him," said St. Thomas coach George Smith about Bernard's decision. "He liked the atmosphere there and I think he wanted to get out of the area."

Senior's Sam Young and Dan Wenger and freshman Jordan Cowert and Ben Turk are St. Thomas alumni currently on the Notre Dame roster.

Published Tuesday October 27, 2009 in The Miami Herald

Gio Bernard will head to Notre Dame

By Larry Blustein, Recruiting Analyst

From the moment he walked on campus, Gio Bernard knew that Notre Dame was the place he wanted to be.

Great education, growing football program and rich history unlike any other in collegiate football.

On Monday, a week after returning from South Bend and a thrilling game between the Fighting Irish and USC, the 5-9, 200-pounder made his announcement.

"Notre Dame is the perfect fit for me," Bernard said. "The education, the alumni and the entire college atmosphere. I am excited about the opportunity."

From his days as a youth football standout in Boca Raton, Bernard was a player everyone wanted to get a look at. The brother of former Oregon State and Boca Raton High standout, Yvenson Bernard, Gio had carved out his own impressive career.

This has been a rough year for Bernard. Injured prior to the nationally-televised game against Byrnes, S.C., he has sat out the last three games and his return to the lineup for the Raiders is a week-to-week thing.

"That game against Byrnes was very frustrating for me because I was not even close to 50 percent," Bernard said. "I won't come back until I am full healed and I hope that is soon, but something like this you cannot rush."

In addition to Notre Dame, Bernard was also being heavily recruited by Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, FSU, Miami Nebraska and Oregon State.