Steven Fogarty was looking for the full-blown college experience.

The sprawling campus, the big-time athletic program, the top-notch academics – all of it.

So when the Edina senior went on a recruiting visit to Notre Dame, he didn’t just take the obligatory campus tour, shake some hands and check out the weight room.

He attended class.

Fogarty’s tour guide for the Nov. 19 trip to South Bend, Ind., was none other than Anders Lee, the former Hornets standout who is tearing it up as a freshman phenom for the Fighting Irish.

As part of Fogarty’s visit, he sat in on one of Lee’s classes.

“The hockey and the academics, it’s a perfect fit,” said Fogarty, who on Sunday, Nov. 21, made a verbal commitment to play at Notre Dame.

Fogarty, whose 21 goals and 19 assists led the defending state Class 2A champion Hornets last season, chose Notre Dame over Dartmouth. He also had been in regular contact with the University of Minnesota-Duluth and Colorado College, but said neither school had made a scholarship offer.

“I think it is a great fit for him,” Edina coach Curt Giles said. “It is the kind of school he is looking for.”

Fogarty said he doesn’t mind that Notre Dame traditionally has been known as a football school.

A school like that, with a big football team, really gives you a college atmosphere,” said Fogarty, adding that hockey might be starting to gain some traction in South Bend. “The arena they have now is really old, but they are building a new one that should be open next fall. The game I went to, there were a lot of students there. It was almost like a high school game atmosphere.”

Playing mostly on a line with Edina teammate Michael Sit and Eden Prairie’s Kyle Rau, the 6-foot-1½, 194-pound Fogarty scored 12 goals and added nine assists in 21 Upper Midwest High School Elite Hockey league games this fall. He was selected to play on one of two Elite League teams that participated in the Bauer National Invitational Tournament in early November at New Hope Ice Arena in New Hope.

During the past few weeks, Fogarty has been centering a Hornets line that also includes Jake Sampson, another Elite League standout this fall, and Lou Nanne.

While Fogarty said he was in no rush to get his college future determined before the high school season, it was a relief to get the decision out of the way.

“I think the big thing with him is he got to see the school, and he was so excited about it,” Giles said. “Some kids show up at a college and they say, ‘Hey, this is me.’ ”

Fogarty is the sixth state high school player who has committed to a Division I program heading into the 2010-11 season.