Palatine's Aiello picks Valpo

Perseverance and persistence paid off for Tayler Aiello.

The offensive lineman overcame missing the first half of his senior season to injury to help Palatine to its first football winning season and state playoff appearance in 10 years.

And the 6-foot-3, 282-pound Aiello came out with his goal of playing college football by making a verbal commitment with non-scholarship Division I Valparaiso.

"The football reminded me of what Palatine was going through when I started there," Aiello said of Valparaiso's fourth straight losing season at 5-6. "They have a lot of returning seniors and they're looking to turn it around.

"I think they're on the upswing and it's something I wanted to be a part of. It was pretty exciting at Palatine and it will be even more exciting at the next level."

Aiello also took the advice of recruiting experts Tom Lemming and Tim O'Halloran by selling himself to find the school he wanted. Aiello had interest from Division II Grand Valley State and Bemidji State and Division III Carthage and Wisconsin-LaCrosse.

But he gave Valparaiso film to watch at the Lake County college football night at Libertyville in December. A week later he was contacted by special teams coach Chip Taylor.

"They wanted me to visit and the rest is history," Aiello said.

With two guards and a center graduating, Aiello said he'll get a chance to play immediately at Valparaiso.

But football playing time wasn't his sole focus. Aiello has a 3.5 grade point average on a 4.0 scale and a 27 ACT and plans to enter Valparaiso's highly accredited business program.

Being close enough to home for his family to see him play and a chance to be on a campus with a top-notch Division I men's basketball team also appealed to Aiello.

"I was looking for a school that first of all academically fit me," Aiello said. "That was the biggest part.

"In the end (Valparaiso) was a little more interested and selfishly you want to feel wanted and want to go somewhere like that to play."