What Virginia school made Niceville's Kane Lafortune forget about the Ivy League route?

NICEVILLE — This summer, Kane Lafortune hit the recruiting trail hard by visiting the top academic institutions in the country.

Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, Columbia ... the list of quarterback camps featured a who's-who of Ivy League institutions recruiting the Niceville rising senior, whose 4.4 GPA and high football IQ quelled any worries about his 5-foot-10, 180-pound frame.

At every stop, the reception was the same: "Every coach was watching me, talking to me, coaching me up, actually invested in what I had to say," Lafortune said. "It's pretty easy to tell when they like you."

What's not to like? Lafortune completed 68 percent of his passes for 1,538 yards and ran for another 232 yards as a junior, piling up 18 touchdowns compared to six interceptions. A school-record seven touchdowns in the first half against Leon proved to be the highlight for Lafortune , who guided the offense to more than 40 point per game and the Eagles to a 9-3, Sweet-16-qualifying season.

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Come the offseason, Lafortune thrived in the Ivy League quarterback camps. Of course he did. That's what he's done his entire career, fighting off the likes of Nino Freeman, Harrison Orr and Hugh Boudreaux to win QB1 honors as an upperclassman.

"It's been tough having someone transfer in, because I've always been a Niceville kid. I've always been here fighting (for that QB1 role)," Lafortune said. "My dad's military so I've grown up through adversity. I've never been one to back away from competition. I've just kept head down , kept working out and let it show on field. I love the competition. I hate losing."

There was no losing when it came to Brown, Columbia and Princeton specifically, but they wanted to see some senior film before offering. Lafortune, though, had his heart set on a Division III school in Virginia.

Resolute he wanted to make his decision before his senior year to avoid distractions, Lafortune committed to Washington and Lee University just 10 days before Niceville's first fall practice.

"I visited in the spring and something clicked instantly. I fell in love," Lafortune said. "The campus is beautiful, the social life is what I want and the coaches are great. Plus my bother (Raiden) is at William & Mary in Williamsburg, so I can easily visit him.

In Lafortune, championed his Niceville coaches, Washington and Lee is getting a gifted mind, a trusted leader and a college-ready right arm.

"There's smart, and then there's Kane," Niceville head coach Grant Thompson said. "Kane's been on varsity for three years, so really he's an extension of me as a coach on the field. Kane's a great young man. He's worked really hard to get to this point and he's earned it."

"No one is more deserving to play at the next level than Kane," echoed Adron Robinson, running backs and associate head coach. "At the QB position Kane is like another coach on the field that has complete trust from players and coaches alike."

The love teammates have for Kane is reciprocated. Ask him about any one of his weapons and you'll get an X's and O's breakdown with nary a complaint.

On Robert Stith, Lafortune brought up his track speed and physicality and called the 6-foot-2 junior "one of the most athletic guys I've ever thrown to."

On Landon "Izzy" Isbell, Lafortune talked about a mentally strong, 6-2 senior who can pick apart secondaries and finds holes in zone coverage.

On Jordan Bryant, Lafortune spoke of a "sneaky athletic" 6-2 senior who breaks off the line quickly and makes acrobatic catches.

On the 6-2 Mo Seck, Lafortune praised his work ethic, perseverance and ability to control his body in the air and win jump balls.

And don't forget his weapons out of the backfield, Eddie Love "so smooth and quick and a guy that really explodes," explained Lafortune, and Connor Mathews "a good power back we can use in counter and (heavy packages) behind our dominant O-line" The two transfers put up a combined 3,426 yards and 40 touchdowns last year.

"What we've seen so far is we can have success in a lot of different ways," Thompson said of the offense. "It's a lot of fun for us coaches."

And a lot of fun for his coach on the field.

"I'm really excited," Lafortune said. "Even before Eddie and Connor, I knew we had a lot of weapons. With them, we've been very welcoming. We're just building that chemistry and getting them incorporated into the offense. So far, everything is looking good. We just have so many options."

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: What Virginia school made Niceville's Kane Lafortune forget about the Ivy League route?