At this time last year, Naperville Central two-sport star Troy Kashul was leaning toward playing baseball in college.

Then his focus changed.

“I played my junior season of baseball, and I just loved it,” Kashul said. “I was playing well, and then the summer came around, and I really just started integrating with the football guys.

“I became a leader, and I really enjoyed helping bringing together a football team.”

So much so that Kashul changed his mind about which sport to pursue at the next level. He recently committed to play football at reigning Division III national champion North Central College.

“I’m super excited,” he said. “To be honest, I didn’t dip my feet too far into the recruiting pool. I was talking to a few schools

“But if I’m going to play DIII ball, I’m going to want to play for the team that does it the best, so it was pretty much North Central.”

Kashul, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound defensive tackle, contributed 52 tackles and seven sacks to a terrific defensive unit that led the Redhawks (11-2) to the Class 8A state semifinals. He is one of six Naperville Central seniors who have committed to play in college, joining defensive end Jake Stanish (Vanderbilt), linebackers Aaron and Daniel Nussbaum (Wheaton), defensive back Garrett Nichols (Brown) and running back Aiden Clark (Williams).

Stanish is thrilled that Kashul will continue playing football.

“Oh, that’s wonderful,” Stanish said. “I think he deserves to go as high as me, if not higher, just with his drive on and off the field and how hard he works.

“I can’t even describe the joy it brought me to see Troy next to me. This kid brought so much energy. Troy was the perfect partner. I was happy to have him on the D-line.”

That’s the kind of sentiment that swayed Kashul’s decision to pick football over baseball.

“It was a different type of bond on a football field than a baseball field because on a baseball field, one person kind of controls the game — the hitter or the pitcher,” Kashul said. “While the football team, you’ve got to do your 1 to 11.

“That was the biggest thing for me. I just loved that part of football, how it’s a team effort. You can rely on one guy in baseball. The football team, everybody’s got to do their job.”

Naperville Central football coach Mike Ulreich said Kashul always did his job well.

“He’s very coachable, and he’s a tremendous leader,” Ulreich said. “It’s such a huge part of who he is.

“And really the best thing with him is the things that he needed to improve on from his junior to senior year with us, things like his pad level and his hand placement, he worked really hard at.”

Kashul said all of the Redhawks worked hard, holding each other to the same standard, which he said led to their success.

“‘Family’ was our message,” he said. “Coach Ulreich challenged us at the start of the year to turn an individual into a team and then a team into a family. I think we really put it together.”

Ulreich thinks Kashul has what it takes to succeed at North Central, which has played in the past five national championship games.

“He’s got a huge frame,” Ulreich said. “He’s got great feet. He’s athletic for his body type. He’s not a stiff athlete. He bends well.

“When you go to a program like North Central College, the attention to detail and the technique that’s required to play and compete at that school at the level they play at is huge. I don’t know if there’s a better coach in the country than Brad Spencer or a better program right now at any level of football, so Troy is getting to go to a really special place.”

For Kashul, the trip across Washington Street means going from one special place to another. He hasn’t ruled out attempting to play baseball at North Central

“There’s no hurt in trying it and failing,” he said. “I might get an experience out of this that I could never have imagined or dreamed of, and that’s what I got out of high school football.

“High school football coaches really kind of changed my life. They made me a better person, and I’m so grateful for the place I was put into with the coaches and teammates I was surrounded with.”

Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.