Dante Dunn was a four-year football letterwinner (2005-08), who was voted GLIAC Defensive Back of the Year by the league coaches as a senior.
He played in all 43 career games, starting 23 times, in his four seasons as he was not redshirted as a member of
Paul Winters' first full recruiting class.
When he graduated, Dunn had four of the nine longest kickoff returns for a touchdown in school history and finished second in WSU history in kickoff return yards with 1,696, third with 63 kickoff returns and fourth in passes defended with 29 (seven interceptions plus 22 break-ups).
Dunn blocked a school record seven kicks and finished with 218 career tackles. His 26.9 career kickoff return average ranked 18th in NCAA Division II history (only six players ranked ahead of him had more returns).
As a senior, Dunn was selected to the All-GLIAC First Team at two positions (defensive back and return specialist). In addition, he received Second Team All-America honors from both D2Football.com and Hansen's Football Gazette. He was voted WSU's Defensive and Special Teams MVP in 2008. His three blocked kicks that season were one shy of the school record, while his 59 solo tackles led the team.
He earned both national defensive and special teams player of the week accolades from D2Football.com following a 2008 win over Indianapolis. Dunn totaled four pass break-ups vs. the Greyhounds and also blocked a punt that was recovered in the end zone for the game's only score.
A three-time GLIAC Special Teams Player of the Week in 2008, Dunn led the conference and finished fifth nationally with a school-record 30.7 kickoff return average. The team captain also was among the league leaders passes defended (12), interceptions (3), tackles (82) and kickoff return yards (522). He participated in the East Coast Bowl following the season.
The 2007 First Team All-GLIAC selection as a return specialist, Dunn was WSU's Special Teams MVP as well as earning Hansen's Football Gazette All-Northwest Region Third Team honors. He led the GLIAC in kickoff return average (27.3) and his 600 kickoff return yards was the third-highest in school history at that time.
Dunn earned All-GLIAC Second Team honors as a return specialist in 2006 after leading the league in kickoff return average (26.8). Defensively he tied for the team lead in interceptions, while also leading the Warriors with 12 special teams tackles.
WSU's co-Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2005, Dunn saw time at cornerback in all 10 contests and also finished second on the squad with seven special teams tackles.
He had three of the top-12 single-season kickoff return yard totals at the conclusion of his career, along with three of the top-six single-season kickoff return average marks.
A Lansing native, Dunn earned his degree in mechanical engineering. He also served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was a two-time Coach's Academic Honor Roll recipient.
