Sacramento State offensive guard Casey Dakin earns designation for 2013 and 2014

Casey Dakin after a Big Sky Conference win in Northern Colorado in 2014. Photo courtesy of Pete Dakin

Templeton High School 2012 graduate Casey Dakin was named to the All-Academic teams for football in fall 2013 and 2014 in the Big Sky Conference. Dakin is a sophomore at Sacramento State where he is an offensive guard on the football team. In order to be eligible for the honor, each member must have participated in at least half of the team’s competitions during the season, achieved at least  a 3.2 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale and completed at least one academic term at the current Big Sky school. The institutions in the Big Sky Conference are: Eastern Washington University, Idaho State University, the University of Montana, Montana State University, North Arizona University, University of Northern Colorado, Portland State University, Sacramento State, Weber State University, University of North Dakota, Southern Utah University, University of California Davis, Cal Poly and University of Idaho.

“It definitely feels good,” Dakin said of being recognized for his academic achievements in addition to his athletic accomplishments, which is something he said people often overlook in athletes, especially football players.

Dakin, whose parents, Pete and Kelly Dakin, reside in Templeton, said he chose to go to Sacramento State because the school was trying to recruit him for the football team, as well as it having academic programs he’s interested in and being located within California, making it easier for his parents to attend his football games.Casey has been playing football since he was in third grade, when his parents signed him up for a local team.

“I was always a larger kid growing up,” Casey said, adding that football seemed to make sense due to his build.

While he played tight-end and tackle early on, Casey said that most of his career as been as an offensive guard. In addition to being a part of the Templeton High School football team for four years, three of which were on varsity, he was also on the basketball team for four years, two years on the baseball team and two years on the track team.

“[Being athletic] is a big part of my life,” Casey said.

At Sacramento State, Casey is majoring in economics because it’s always been something he’s been interested in, though he hasn’t figured out what career he’d like to pursue.