Warp chooses Carroll hoops

Dane Warp has put together one of the most successful athletic careers in the history of Havre High School. In four years as Blue Pony, he has acquired many accolades and awards.

However, the biggest question about him was always, where would he play collegiately? Well now, we have the answer.

It was announced Friday via a Carroll College press release, that Warp, the four-time All-State quarterback and two-time All-State basketball player, will play basketball for the Fighting Saints in the Frontier Conference next season.

In the end, the decision came down to playing basketball at Carroll or playing football at Dartmouth. And although both Stanford and Utah offered Warp the chance to walk on to their football team's, the Havre senior choose hoops and pre-med over pigskin.

"I never really felt any pressure," Warp said. "I was blessed to choose between sports, you know, and so if I had a bad game in one, I could always tell myself I could play the other one. But, it's good that I will get to stay close to home and get to study what I want to study, while getting to play a little basketball as well."

Warp, who is the MHSA's all-time leader in passing yards (10,801) and passing touchdowns (101) in 11-man football, also holds three other state records. He set the record for completion percentage this past season at 69.5 percent, while also holding career records for total offense (11,324) and total touchdowns (109).

Yet, Warp's excellence was never limited only to the football field. As a freshman basketball player, he was second in Class A with a scoring average of 15.5 points per game and earned Central A All-Conference honors. As a sophomore, he led Class A in scoring with 23.7 points per game and notched seven 30-point games in the process. Then, as a junior, he again led Class A in scoring with a 23.9 average and added four more 30-point games to his resume, including a 41-point performance in the Central A divisional title game against Belgrade.

In his senior season, Warp hasn't skipped a beat. He is currently second in Class A in scoring with 23.7 per game and scored at least 30 points twice, with 31 in a win over Great Falls High in December and 42 last Saturday in a win over Rocky Boy.

Yet, Warp's success hasn’t been limited to him as an individual. This past football season, he led Havre to its first Central A conference title since 2011 and has gotten Havre to the state basketball tournament two years running.

From the day Warp stepped on the field in a Havre High uniform, he was special. But the fact that he was so good at both basketball and football, made his college decision just a tad bit complicated.

"It really came down to the fact that basketball would be easier to do along with pre-med than football would," Warp said. "And the people. I love Dartmouth, but really think the people at Carroll are very high character. They have some great coaches and a young team is that is going to be pretty good."

And even though Warp is excited about his upcoming college basketball career, he did say it was strange to think he would never play football again.

"It is (weird)," Warp said of not playing football again. "But I am happy with the way that everything turned out. I thought I had a pretty alright career and I am satisfied with that."