Casey Santoro chooses FGCU's winning tradition

It occurred to Casey Santoro five years ago that Florida Gulf Coast University would be a cool place to play basketball. It wasn't her time then — she had just tagged along as older sister Carly looked for a graduate-student destination — but Santoro felt that if she had the chance down the road, she'd jump at the chance to play for FGCU. "I just loved it when I was there then," Santoro said. "I kind of always talked about it with my family, Florida Gulf Coast, I've always known they've been really good." It's her time now. Santoro graduated from Bellevue, played three strong seasons at Kent State and had lots of options once she entered her name into the transfer portal. And so the guard that many college coaches originally feared was too small has proven herself and found a new home at FGCU, a school that should shine a light on her strengths. "When I had the opportunity to go and visit, I was very excited," Santoro said. "... I went to a lot of good schools. It came down to being a very tough decision. Ultimately, they have a very, very rich winning history." Santoro also considered Fairfield, George Washington and Youngstown State. She won't be the first Sandusky Bay Conference alum to play at Florida Gulf Coast — Oak Harbor alum Andrea Cecil played her final two seasons there after beginning her college career at Bowling Green. The choice to transfer followed Santoro's graduation with a bachelor's degree in general business after three years at KSU. She'll work toward her master's degree in special education at FGCU, which is in Fort Myers. "My older sister (Carly) does (special education), and I know she really loves it," Santoro said. "I've always wanted to be a teacher. I worked a sports camp for special ed kids at Sports Force, and I really loved it then. These kids can't make huge changes, but the little changes they do make are awesome to see." Florida Gulf Coast is a dream destination for a dynamic scorer like Santoro, who announced her decision on social media Tuesday night. The Eagles led the nation in 3-point attempts per game in 2022-23, letting fly 30.6 shots from beyond the arc per game. They made 425 3-pointers, shooting 37.5 percent as a team even with the remarkably high volume. That percentage ranked ninth in the country, even as only one team in the top-eight (Caitlin Clark's Iowa) took even 70 percent of the total long-range shots that FGCU attempted. At Kent State, Santoro shot 35.3 percent from distance on 3.2 attempts per game and totaled 735 points in three seasons. That included shooting 39 percent from 3-point range in 2022-23. "They love to shoot the 3, that's for sure," Santoro said. In 2022-23, FGCU went 33-4 and lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament after being underseeded as a 12-seed. The Eagles have represented the Atlantic Sun Conference in the last six NCAA tournaments, and it likely would've been seven if the 2020 event had been held. "That's something I'm interested in, going somewhere and winning," Santoro said. "I have family that's pretty close down there. The weather obviously, you can't really beat that. Their coaching staff is a great coaching staff and has been there for a while. They're very dedicated to FGCU women's basketball, and it's a basketball school." The whole transfer process was "a bit overwhelming," Santoro said. She had some recruiting interest as a high schooler, but Kent State was her first Division I offer. This time around, schools from around the country reached out once Santoro's name was in the transfer portal. She narrowed it down to her final four before picking FGCU. "It does feel good to make a decision," Santoro said. "Something that was cool for me was in high school, I had interest but the amount of interest I had now compared to then was interesting for me. It's a totally different process from high school to being a transfer in college." It'll certainly be a change going to school in Florida rather than her home state. "The gymnasium is awesome," Santoro said. "The change of pace compared to your typical college campus in Ohio, it's a lot different. There's a little man-made lake with a beach on campus. There's a pool on campus." Santoro is the fourth transfer to commit to FGCU this offseason, and as one would expect, the newcomers are all talented shooters. The Eagles play under head coach Karl Smesko, who will be in his 22nd season as FGCU head coach in 2023-24. Santoro has two years of eligibility remaining, and now with her new destination locked in, she plans to make the most of that time. "I know I've got a lot to work on," she said. "Going to a different spot where I don't know exactly everything, so I'm just gonna try to make myself the best player and shooter I can be."