Football: Lyons’ Will Konstant commits to Dartmouth

Updated: January 30, 2012 8:35PM

For future Ivy League players such as Will Konstant, Wednesday’s National Signing Day carries little of the hoopla seen regarding other prospects.

Konstant verbally committed to Dartmouth months ago, and will undergo a subdued signing day ceremony at Lyons. Future Ivy League players do not sign a letter of intent on signing day. Konstant plans on signing with Dartmouth, but can’t do so until he’s formally accepted by the school. Konstant said that should occur in March, when all other students hear about their acceptance notices.

Konstant, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound defensive back for Lyons Township, was used as quarterback on goal-line situations during the 2011 football season. The Lions lost to Glenbrook South in the second round of the IHSA Class 8A playoffs in November.

Dartmouth has tabbed Konstant a safety, but he could be moved to linebacker later in his career, given his above-average size.

“They like me at safety, because they like my size,” Konstant said. “They think I could play right off the bat with my size advantage. If it happens, I could put on weight and get bigger.”

Konstant verbally committed to Dartmouth (5-5 overall, 4-3 Ivy League in ’11) shortly after making an official visit. He also visited Penn, Columbia, Dayton and Yale. Turning down Dayton was tough. Konstant’s older brother, Kevin, is a student at Dayton, but he doesn’t play football. Other schools on Konstant’s list were Harvard and Butler.

One of Konstant’s LT teammates, defensive lineman Adam Rodgers, has verbally committed to play at Butler next season.

Konstant owns a 3.4 grade-point average and hopes to major in pre-med with a possible minor in economics.

“I really thought I could go into the recruiting process by furthering my academics,” said Konstant, a La Grange resident. “I’m using football to be able to get into the school.”

One of the appeals for Konstant was being able to play for Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens, a graduate of the school who’s marking his second stint in New Hampsire since coaching the Big Green from 1987-91. Between stints, Teevens has been the head coach at Tulane and Stanford.

Konstant would become one of at least nine greater Chicago area players competing next season for the Green, including Benet grads Philip Schmidt at defensive back and Michael Runger at linebacker. Another West Suburban Conference player at Dartmouth is defensive back Robert Lauzen (West Aurora).

On one of his visits, Konstant met defensive back Stephen Dasso, a former star quarterback with Prospect.

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.