Dexter High School senior David LaMore has verbally committed to play basketball at Cornell University.

LaMore averaged 11 points and six rebounds last season for the Dreadnaughts. He was a first-team All-SEC White selection, and a member of the AnnArbor.com Class A All-Washtenaw County first team.

After being recruited by several Division I programs including the Naval Academy, Tulane, James Madison and Loyola of Chicago, the 6-foot-9 center decided on Cornell after taking an official visit to the campus last Wednesday.

“First I wanted to find a college that would help set me up for life after my basketball career,” said LaMore. “Cornell just kind of came on the radar. I went on my official (visit) last Wednesday, the guys were cool, and I just really liked the campus.”

“In the back of his head he always wanted to try and go Ivy League because he’s got real good grades,” said Dexter coach Randy Swoverland. LaMore has a 3.9 G.P.A. and scored a 26 on the ACT.

Cornell has won three straight Ivy League championships and is coming off a record setting 2009-10 season where it set an Ivy League record for wins (29), closed the season with its highest ranking in school history (No. 17) and picked up its first-ever NCAA Tournament win en route to a Sweet 16 berth.

When longtime coach Steve Donohue left Cornell for Boston College in April, new head coach Bill Courtney and his coaching staff discovered a file that had been kept on LaMore. Newly hired assistant coach Jay Larranaga contacted LaMore.

When Larranega left his post in September to coach in the NBA Development League, LaMore feared the worst. After all, Larranaga had been the sole recruiter LaMore had been in contact with at Cornell.

“After I knew he was leaving I thought am I gonna get pushed behind? Are they even going to remember me?” Lamore said.

Those fears were put to rest when an assistant coach contacted LaMore shortly after Larranega’s departure. Soon after, Courtney attended an open gym in Dexter and a campus invitation followed shortly.

“It was a relief,” LaMore recalled.

Unlike most Division I conference the Ivy League does not grant athletic scholarships, only need-based. After verbally committing on his official visit last week, LaMore plans on signing a letter of intent during the early signing period (Nov. 10-17).

“Dave will pay nothing to go there, what amounts to a full ride,” Swoverland said. “So we’re talking $40,000 plus a year.”

“It was just a combination of things, him being on that previous coach’s list and being 6-foot-9, being a pretty good player, and being an excellent student,” Swoverland said. "If he doesn't have one of any of those things, then there probably wouldn't be the interest."

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.