By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

PLAINVILLE -- Plainville senior Andrew Casey, arguably one of the state's top all-around athletes, had a series of decisions to make concerning college. First, Casey had to decide whether he wanted to play football or basketball. For a long time, Casey considered playing basketball in college before he switched to football.

"I have always wanted to play basketball, but then football came around and I always loved football, too, and I chose football over basketball," Casey said. "I watch football on Saturdays, it would be fun to be part of that."

Secondly, Casey needed to pick a college. He thought "a ton" about trying to walk on at a NCAA Division I school, but then considered going to Fort Hays State University or a junior college. He narrowed his choices down to FHSU, Garden City Community College, Hutchinson Community College and Dodge City Community College.

On Wednesday, Casey, in front of friends and family and the Cardinal coaching staff, inked a national letter of intent to play football for Dodge City next season. His goal is to eventually play Division I football.

Casey is the third of his seven siblings to play a college sport. His brother, Justin, played basketball at Fort Hays and Amanda currently plays basketball at Dodge City.

"When I went down there to visit, I loved the coaches there," Casey said. "Enthusiastic, young. I just liked the fit there, I liked the field, the atmosphere. Kind of made for like a home. Plus, my sister was there. That kind of helps out."

Casey has received multiple honors in football and basketball in his career. In basketball, he earned first team all-Mid-Continent League honors as a freshman and a junior and second team as a sophomore.

He collected second team all-state by the Kansas coaches and first team all-area by The Hays Daily News last winter. This season, he averages 15.5 points, seven rebounds, 4.5 steals and 4.5 assists per contest for the 17-0 Cardinals. In his career, Casey has tallied 1,099 points and helped Plainville collect a 68-14 record.

Early in the recruiting process, Plainville football coach Joe Simon told coaches he thought Casey would probably play basketball in college.

"I know he loved basketball and he was a good basketball player," Simon said. "Up until this year in football, I really thought he would go on and play basketball. A lot of the recruiters asked me and to be honest, I told them I thought he would probably play basketball."

For football, Casey was a key contributor all four seasons, but suffered some injuries, had several position changes on offense and endured three years where the Cardinals tallied four combined wins. Midway through his junior season, Casey moved from quarterback to tight end and remained at linebacker on defense. He finished with 80 tackles, second-best on the squad, and collected 20 catches for 244 yards and two scores, all team-highs.

This fall, Casey became one of the state's top football players. He helped the Cardinals enjoy a seven-win improvement to 10-2 and reach the Class 2-1A sub-state championship game. Casey finished with 14 catches, 223 yards, four receiving touchdowns and 136 tackles, all team-bests. He ranked sixth in Kansas among 11-man players in total tackles, according to maxpreps.com.

"Going 10-2 and reaching the sub-state finals, it gave me a huge boost of confidence that I could play at the next level," Casey said.

Casey, expected to play linebacker for Dodge City, added five passes defended, three interceptions, three forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, and two sacks. He earned an invitation to the Kansas Shrine Bowl, the seventh player in Cardinal history and first since 1992 to receive the honor.

"The year he had this year and the gains that he made on the football field and in the weight room, I think enjoyed playing this year and winning and I think that helped him make his decision," Simon said.

Dodge City signed multiple players from the area and western Kansas this season, a selling point. Casey is the fourth area player to sign with the Conquistadors this winter.

"When they came up here for a school visit, they said they were mostly going to recruit in-state guys, so kind of felt like that I could be a part of that, so that's why I chose Dodge," he said.

Casey talked with his sister about the decision and enjoyed his campus visit Jan. 21. As well, Dodge City recruited Casey hard with several visits to Plainville to watch football and basketball games. Tuesday night, Casey texted with a Dodge coach and said it "feels great" to sign.

The coach said, "We really wanted you, we really needed you and at my home visit, he was like, 'Yeah, we really needed you,'" Casey said.