When you see a 6-foot-5-inch, 290 pound man with a grizzled chin hurling 15- to 20-pound metal balls at Sun Angel Stadium, you might be slightly intimidated.
But you don’t have to be.
That man is graduate student Casey Fonnesbeck, and he wants to help you.
“People see me and walk the other way,” Fonnesbeck said, “but I’m really just a big teddy bear.”
Fonnesbeck is in his first year at ASU studying for a master’s degree in higher education after graduating from the University of Illinois with a degree in sports management.
“I really wanted to broaden my horizons and get out and boost my resume,” Fonnesbeck said. “I just wanted to have something that’s going to make me unique when I enter the job world.”
With an extra year of NCAA eligibility after redshirting his freshman season due to a shoulder surgery, Fonnesbeck had the opportunity to boost his profile academically and still compete in the NCAA.
“Grad school is the main thing, but athletics is a big part too,” Fonnesbeck said. “ASU is known for good track and field, so it was more of killing two birds with one stone.”
When Fonnesbeck arrived at ASU, he found an example of a core value above either of the things that have spurred his direction academically and professionally.
“I love helping people,” Fonnesbeck said. “I’ve seen how the athletic department has helped me. Even here, coming in and not knowing anyone, they give me every opportunity that I can use and take advantage of. They’re so nice and make you feel welcome.”
Fonnesbeck aspires to get into an athletic department at a university and someday work his way up to being an athletic director.
He wants to be able to help young athletes in the same way he’s been helped. He wants to respect and help people as he was raised to on small town values in rural Idaho.
“That’s what I’m about; it’s how I was raised,” Fonnesbeck said. “I grew up on a small farm. Town only had a couple hundred people. We had to help the family out with the farm work every day. I was born and raised to respect.”
That passion and those values were bonded with sports when Fonnesbeck got the call to go to Illinois for track and field.
He struggled in his first year academically, but knew that his school was being paid for as a scholarship athlete. It was then that Fonnesbeck took advantage of the services of the athletic department and the school to help him push forward academically.
Fonnesbeck ended up being a three-time NCAA regional qualifier and was a Big 10 scorer in the shot put for two seasons with the Illini.
At Illinois, Fonnesbeck picked up the traditional sports rivalry between the Big 10 and Pac-10, but it was of a competitive respect.
“I was always with the Big 10, and we always wanted to beat the Pac-10,” Fonnesbeck said. “You look at ASU and they always had the most dominant throws for the past nine or 10 years. You always want to compete against the best.”
That respect was something that helped bring Fonnesbeck to ASU, and the respect grew once he arrived in Tempe and saw what the Sun Devils had to offer.
“The team camaraderie is amazing. The coaching staff is amazing,” Fonnesbeck said. “I’ve been around a lot of other coaching staffs, and it’s not the same. That stood out to me. I wanted to learn and benefit from that situation.”
Fonnesbeck has benefited a lot from his short time at ASU. He now has the opportunity to show the other side of the conference rivalry what it’s like on the other side.
“Now I’m here in the Pac-10, and I’m getting stronger and better,” Fonnesbeck said. “Now I want to go against the Big 10 and show them what I’m about.”
Reach the reporter at zcavanag@asu.edu
