THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016

From as far back as his middle school days, Joey Naccarato has wanted to play college basketball at the highest level.

Then a funny thing happened.

Colleges noticed he was pretty good at football, too.

Admittedly, the attention from schools in both sports was nice, but it also came with a dilemma — which sport to play in college? Or both sports?

The Coeur d’Alene High senior thought about it for a while, went through the recruiting process in both sports, and decided to stick with the sport he’s put the work into since middle school, signing a letter of intent early last month to play basketball at UMass-Lowell, a fledgling NCAA Division I program some 25 miles from Boston.

“I got to realizing, thinking about it a lot, I like basketball and football a lot,” Naccarato said. “I’ve talked to a lot of people and got a lot of different opinions, and every person says the same thing — you’ve got to love it; it’s going to be a full-time job, and I just realized my love’s with basketball.”

WHEN HE was in middle school, Joey was told by his father, John, a former Priest River High standout, that if college basketball was indeed a goal, “it starts now.”

But fast-forward to his junior year in high school.

The summer before his sophomore year, he sprained his MCL in Border League Camp, and decided not to play football that fall, instead recovering for basketball season, which he would play with his brother Tony, then a senior.

“When I came back and started playing my junior year, I started getting some looks (in football) from colleges,” Joey said. “I was actually considering playing football because I was getting more looks for football than I was for basketball for a long time, just because how big I am.”

The 6-foot-4 Naccarato played tight end and defensive end the past two seasons for Coeur d’Alene. He played at 225 pounds as a senior, but prefers to be down around 210 for basketball.

“Once you get a few calls you start feeling good, and you kinda like the attention,” he said. “I went to some (football) camps, and I put on quite a bit of size this year in the offseason for football, which I wouldn’t have if I was just focusing on basketball. I just wanted to see what I could get for football, and it there was anything that really interests me, then I’d go that route, but if not, then I was just going to stay with basketball.”

Naccarato plays AAU basketball for the Idaho Thunder, based in Boise, but with players from as far away as Montana, western Washington, Idaho Falls, Clarkston and, of course Naccarato. The circuit includes showcase tournaments in places like Seattle, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

It was in L.A. this past summer where UMass-Lowell spotted him, then watched him at other tournaments while they started recruiting him.

Naccarato, understandably, had never heard of the school at the time, but liked that it was Division I, and that it was far away.

UMass-Lowell is in its final season of transitioning to Division I, and will be eligible for the postseason next year.

Before UMass-Lowell came along, smaller schools like College of Idaho, Carroll and Whitworth expressed interest in basketball, and said he could play football there as well. He thought about that briefly, but figured he’d end up playing one sport anyway.

Montana State, Montana and Idaho showed interest in Naccarato in football.

Midway through football season, on the Vikings’ bye week, Naccarato made his official visit to UMass-Lowell, and gave them a verbal commitment days later, after he returned home.

UMass-Lowell, with one available scholarship for next season, wanted Naccarato to sign on the first day of the signing period, Nov. 9. But before that — and after he had verbally committed to the school — Naccarato got a call from FCS power Eastern Washington, offering a partial football scholarship.

“So then I started thinking ... ” Naccarato said. “I don’t know if I would really would have considered (playing football) after I committed to UMass if it was anybody else but Eastern.”

But in the end, he followed his heart, and his heart was in hoops. Naccarato said he made his decision more because he chose basketball over football, and not because of a choice between Division I and FCS.

“I kind of like the idea of experiencing a new culture back east ... It (playing college basketball) feels like a goal I’ve been working toward for a long time, so it’s good to finally get there.”

Most of UMass-Lowell’s games are available online via ESPN3, and he watched them play Indiana recently on the Big 10 Network. Also, his new basketball team will be making an 11-day trip to Italy this summer for some games, and his family plans to make that destination their summer vacation.

Naccarato said UMass-Lowell envisions him as a guard in its spread-the-court offense. In high school, he has shown he can play facing the basket, but also has the size and muscle to take defenders inside. He’s defended guards, and mixed it up with bigs. In football, colleges looked at him as a tight end.

Naccarato, who turned 18 last month, said he won’t miss having to gain weight for football, then lose weight for basketball. In the end, he said he was thankful to have the opportunity to play not one, but two, sports in college.

“People think the recruiting process is just an absolute blast, and everyone loves it,” Naccarato said. “It’s actually super stressful. I have to make a lot of big decisions that are going to affect pretty much the rest of your life. It was almost a relief that it’s done; now I can focus on my senior year.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.