The Journey
Reagan Casey's path to graduation.
Doug Link
The path in life takes numerous twists and turns for all of us, especially during the formative years following high school. It was no different for Regan Casey. The senior on Boise State's volleyball team graduated last Saturday (Dec. 14). Still, her journey to that important life accomplishment took several paths, featuring countless learning experiences, both struggles and successes.
For the native of the Austin, Texas, metro area, Reagan's path to graduation began as a child growing up in the Austin suburbs. As the middle child of three, sandwiched between two brothers, and coming from a legacy of an athletic family, she was destined to play college sports.
Reagan's father played baseball in the Florida Marlins minor league system, and her mother was a dancer, while both brothers played collegiate baseball. In fact, her maternal grandfather was the first quarterback in UNLV's football history.
Reagan spent her youth playing sports with her brothers and others in their neighborhood. Like most kids, she took on the challenge of playing football, kickball, Wiffle ball, and other sports against her brothers and friends in the front yard or the street while watching for cars.
It was during these early childhood experiences that Reagan began to develop a love of competition. As she advanced through school, she began playing organized sports.
"I started competitive sports with soccer at a really young age; I played for 12 years," said Reagan. "When I got to middle school, I started exploring other sports like track, basketball and volleyball."
After experimenting with various sports during her middle school years, Reagan decided to focus on two sports that interested her most entering high school.
"Back then, track was my sport. I was a high jumper and thought I would go to college to high jump," Reagan said. "When I entered high school, I focused on volleyball and track. I started playing club volleyball during my sophomore year of high school, even though I still thought I would get recruited for track."
Like everyone else, her life hit a wall during her senior year in the spring of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic canceled nearly everything, including most of the track season. That changed her planned course and direction for the next couple of years, as volleyball became her new path to college.
"Entering my senior year, I still thought I would be recruited for track. But then COVID hit, cutting my senior year of track in half. So, I wasn't getting recruited for track like I thought I would. But, I did play a whole volleyball season that fall and received some scholarship offers, so I went to Missouri State (on a volleyball scholarship). But, they were also going to let me compete in track during the spring."
However, that fall, amid the pandemic, life was not typical. The first year of college is always challenging for most people, let alone having classes remotely. Reagan's lack of contact with classmates also limited her ability to socialize, get to know fellow students and feel at home. In addition, practice and competition schedules were altered regularly, resulting in Reagan facing one of the first real struggles in her life.
"I could sit here and give you 100 reasons why I didn't think it worked out (at Missouri State), but the bottom line was that I did not perform well in the classroom and therefore lost my opportunity to play volleyball," Reagan said. "It was hard. It was definitely a really low point in my life, but also a very pivotal one. I had a decision to make, either run from my failures or persevere and build myself back up."
Reagan decided to transfer to a junior college in Texas. She picked Blinn College in Brenham, which was close to Austin and her family. Once she arrived at Blinn, life began to turn around. The pandemic faded, and Reagan focused on correcting what went wrong at Missouri State and started enjoying the college experience.
"I actually had an amazing time at Blinn. The team was really good, and I did well. I held myself to really high standards, both athletically and academically. I needed to learn how to balance the two of them after my failures at Missouri State. I met some amazing people. It also helped that my best friend for life was at that school. It's one of those things that makes you realize that everything happens for a reason, and I was exactly where God meant for me to be."
Blinn was ranked second nationally that fall and advanced to the 2021 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Championship as a No. 1 seed, where it reached the quarterfinal round. That year, Reagan started in 39 of the 41 matches, had 335 kills, and hit .364, had a team-high and No. 16 nationally ranked 146 blocks, and a team-second-best 424 points (28th in NJCAA). She finished the season earning NJCAA All-American Honorable Mention.
Following that success, she began thinking about returning to the NCAA Division I level in volleyball. So, she reached out to a couple of schools, including Boise State, to check interest.
"I jump-started the recruiting process after building my grades back up; I was actually supposed to go to Blinn for one more semester. Then Boise State responded to me; they were looking to recruit me for that fall, which was really exciting to me. I just wanted to get back to the D1 level; that was where my dreams were again.
"Why Boise State? Boise had been on my family's radar as a possibility in the future. So I reached out to Boise State as one of the schools on my list."
Her background in track and experience as a high jumper caught the attention of the Broncos' coaching staff and eventually helped her get recruited. They saw a talented middle blocker with strong athletic abilities.
"We initially received an email from Reagan saying she was at a junior college and interested in transferring," said associate head coach and recruiting coordinator Candy Murphy. "I think originally she was thinking of transferring for the following fall, but at that time, we needed a middle.
She had a very high-level background in the high jump, making her elite jumping off of one foot and very smooth. That was very appealing to us. So, I reached out to her and started the recruiting process."
Reagan's recruiting trip to Boise State was a big success. She liked what she saw and what the school and athletic department had to offer her. Looking to move for the third time in three years is difficult for anyone, but Reagan met with staff and the team and felt it would be a good fit.
"Being from Texas, I immediately saw that Boise was so different, like being surrounded by the mountains. My heart lies in the mountains! I loved the university and city. One of the main things that stood out to me during my visit was meeting all of the support staff in place for the athletes, which was amazing. My other two schools were so different I didn't really feel supported academically. Then I came here, where they genuinely cared so much about us as athletes and our success in the classroom; it was a really beautiful thing to be a part of. I liked the coaches; the team was good, and they were just coming off the Mountain West Championship (tournament). Those are the big reasons why I came here."
Reagan's dream of returning to the Division 1 level came true when she received the offer from Boise State in the summer of 2022, paving the way for her to spend the next three years in Boise. Unfortunately, it came with a minor setback. She was ineligible to play that first semester because she had yet to complete her associate's degree at Blinn. But the Boise State coaching staff knew that would be the case going in and offered her anyway.
"Reagan was an athletic kid who was dynamic off a one-foot jump and was good when going on a slide attack," said head coach Shawn Garus.
"We knew when she came in that she would not be eligible the first year, but we really liked what we saw in her ability and potential. She was one of the leading players for a great JC team, and her coach really did not want her to leave. Overall, it worked out for her and us and was worth it."
"It was tough to sit out that first year. I was recruited so late in the process, and I came to campus about one week before fall camp started. So, I didn't really have the chance to meet and get to know the team much, and I was red-shirting on top of that. I felt a little bit like an outlier at first. I didn't really form the connections that I would have if I was going to be playing. It was hard. It would be hard for anybody to just watch your team out there competing and be unable to do anything. But I found ways to contribute vocally and cheer on my team, stuff like that."
The break from playing proved to be a positive opportunity for Reagan. She focused on what mattered most, her academics and getting familiar with the program and the community. It allowed her to find where she fit in here at Boise State.
"It was great to have her in our program, getting stronger and learning what we do," said Garus. "I think she needed to get a little healthier. At the time, she had some chronic shoulder issues. So, that redshirt year was a good year for her to get stronger and healthier. I also think she really found herself here in Boise. Eventually, her family moved up here as well. That gave Reagan the foundation to grow roots here and commit to being a great player for us down the road."
For Reagan, the three years she has spent at Boise State have been a time of growth as she became stronger and more confident as an individual and a student-athlete. The coaches initially described her as someone who leaned more toward the quiet side personality-wise, to an individual who became closer and would joke and laugh with the staff and her teammates. Reagan moved from being an outlier to a close team member on and off the court.
"Looking back at this team, we are a really close group, and everyone gets along with everyone," said Reagan. "I will always remember that even though I may not have been as close to everyone as some are, we have always supported each other, and I love them all to death."
"Reagan's really easy to joke around with. It's always a good time with her, off the court, especially when we're traveling around," Garus said. "She's pretty low-stress and enjoyable to be around. One thing I have noticed about her is that she also has a lot of tattoos. Those have grown over her years here in Boise (as he chuckles). I don't know specifically what they all are or what they mean to her. But she definitely likes some tattoos. She really is just a laidback, enjoyable kid."
During her first two years at Boise State, the team experienced many ups and downs. In her redshirt season of 2022, the team battled to a 15-14 overall record. Reagan saw time in a backup role as a middle blocker in 13 contests the following season. However, the program struggled with injuries and consistency and finished the season at 14-15, recording the first losing campaign in 10 years.
During her senior season in 2024, the team went 19-10 overall and faced unique challenges as the season progressed. Reagan played an essential part in the team's success, playing in 22 matches and starting in 13. She finished the year with 71 kills, 52 blocks and 99.5 points. On the personal side, she persevered through injuries and illness that caused her to miss seven contests.
Meanwhile, the team overcame two forfeits in the regular season and still reached the MW Championship tournament as the sixth and last seed. The Broncos went on to win their first match over Utah State before deciding to forfeit the next match against San Jose State. It was the third time they had forfeited to the Spartans in the year.
"Just looking back at this year and the adversity and perseverance that the team went through speaks a lot about our team's culture and standing up for what we believe in. It's been really special to be a part of, especially a team that puts what we stand up for and believe in before things that happen on the court, staying true to ourselves."
When looking more in depth at Reagan and asking her how she viewed herself on the court in her career, she envisioned a person who was more of a lead by example rather than a vocal leader.
"I would consider myself to lead by action versus a vocal leader. I mean, the team calls me the 'Silent Assassin.' We have a good variety of leaders on the team, including those really vocal leaders. I'm a lead-by-action kind of person who follows up on things and makes sure everything's in order. I'm good at the things that go unnoticed."
When asked how she sees herself off the court in general, Reagan describes herself as a laidback, easygoing, go-with-the-flow type of person. Garus agrees with her assessment.
"I am definitely a more go-with-the-flow kind of person and laidback; my whole family is. To be honest, my family would call it 'Casey flying plans,' meaning if it happens, it happens, so go with the flow. That was a really hard thing my freshman year, and I needed that beaten out of me because I needed more structure. Throughout my journey, that's something I've had to hone in on and not be so la, la, la about."
"Reagan is a pretty interesting kid," Garus said. "She is laidback and loves to be outdoors. She loves to travel, and we've had a lot of talks about cool places to go out west because I grew up out in California and around the national parks. My family always went on hiking and backpacking trips, and that's right up her alley. She's just a really easy kid to talk to, and we have a lot of the same interests when it comes to what we do outside of volleyball."
One of Reagan's more critical accomplishments at Boise State has been her work in the classroom, where she has also been successful. She chose a path she saw as unique and had just heard of when enrolling at Boise State. She picked interdisciplinary studies, where she could select three areas of study and customize them to fit what she wants to do in the future.
"I majored in interdisciplinary studies emphasizing business and communication and earned a certificate in innovation and design.
I chose this major during my visit when it came across my radar. I thought it was really interesting because I had never heard of anything like that before. I liked it because I could choose three things that seamlessly go together, giving me an all-around education. I chose business, communication, and innovation and design to provide me with a foundation that I could translate into most job opportunities that I am interested in."
The last five to six years have been full of challenges and experiences Reagan has been able to learn from as she has grown into the person she is today. She has faced the struggles head on, celebrated her successes, and made many friends and memories along the way. So now that Reagan has completed this phase of her journey with volleyball and her education at this level (bachelor's degree), what does she plan on doing from here?
"What I'm going to do in the future? I'm definitely leaving it open for now. I want something that allows me to grow and that I can use everything I've learned. I'm hoping for something remote so I can combine my love for travel with work.
"But first, we're (boyfriend, brothers, and others) going to Europe next August to backpack around for an indefinite amount of time. I saved money up for it and have this spring to save more. It is something we've all wanted to do for a while. After that, I plan to come back to Boise because my family is here, and I love this city. Then, I will see what happens from there."