April 26, 2009

The next chapter of James Casey's football career will take place on the same field he concluded his college career after the Houston Texans selected the record-setting receiver in the fifth round with the 152nd pick in the NFL Draft.

Casey's final college game was the Owls' 38-14 win in the Texas Bowl at Reliant Stadium, the home field of the Texans.

Casey and Rice teammate Jarett Dillard, who was selected eight picks earlier by Jacksonville, are the first pair of Rice players to be selected in the draft since 2003 when Ryan Pontbriand was taken by Cleveland in the fifth round and Brandon Green went to Jacksonville one round later.

Casey is the first Rice player drafted by the Texans, and is the first Owl to be selected by the hometown NFL entry since 1975 when the Houston Oilers selected Alan Pringle in the 10th round and Jody Medford in the 14th round.

A consensus All-Conference USA selection last season, Casey was second in the country with 111 receptions, which set a C-USA single-season record. He broke school records for receiving yards in game (208 vs. Memphis) and season (1,329). He caught 13 touchdowns, rushed for six more and also threw a pair during the season. Casey also ranked second nationally with 8.5 receptions per game, sixth with his 1,329 receiving yards and seventh with 102.2 receiving yards per game.

He caught at least one pass in his last 22 games, and had at least five catches in each of his last 19 contests. Casey became the first player in NCAA history to have two games in which he threw a touchdown pass, caught a touchdown pass and rushed for a score in the same game at Tulsa and vs. Houston.

In two seasons at Rice, Casey caught 157 passes which ranks third in school history. In his first season with the Owls, Casey earned Freshman All American honors the Football Writers after catching 46 passes for 585 yards and four touchdowns.

An all-star performer in the classroom as well, Casey earned second team Academic All American honors with a 3.84 GPA with a triple major in Economics, Managerial Studies and Sport Management. He was also a two-time C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal recipient (GPA of 3.75 or higher), while averaging 18 hours a semester since he enrolled in January, 2007.