In four years as a collegiate student and at three different schools, Rod Perry has played on five different teams. He’s been with three different collegiate baseball squads and two storied football programs. Still, he has one year of eligibility remaining in each sport.

But he may not take advantage of that. Perry, who will graduate this spring with a degree in journalism, has announced that if he is selected in the Major League Baseball draft next month, he’ll bypass his final year of eligibility in both baseball and football.

“I’m going to wait and see what happens with the draft,” Perry said. “It could go either way.”

Perry is sure to get some looks from the pro scouts. Prior to facing Michigan State May 11, he was batting .329 and led the Lions in stolen bases with 22 in 28 attempts. He’s on pace to set a new season record for steals and defensively, he has been solid.

“There are really quite a few decisions I have to make in June after the draft,” Perry said. “There comes a point where I will have to pick one sport and that point might be coming in June. You have the special athletes like Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson - who I really looked up to - who can play two sports, but they are special athletes. I’ll just have to pick one and specialize and we will have to wait and see what happens.”

If that statement sounds like he’s leaning toward pursuing a baseball career, then consider that since his arrival in Happy Valley, Perry has had a greater amount of success in one season of baseball then he did in two years with the Nittany Lion football team.

As a wide receiver, Perry was the California Player of the Year and a second-team USA Today All-American coming out of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana in 1996. In preseason drills with the University of Southern California football team, he hurt his knee and was forced to take a redshirt. That spring, he played in 50 baseball games for the Trojans and went 2-for-4 in the College World Series for the champions.

During that spring, the new USC football coaching staff voiced displeasure with Perry splitting time between the two sports. He decided to transfer to Cal State Fullerton, a school with a fine baseball program, but no football team. There, he played in 16 games, but was missing the sport of football, so he looked for a school where he could make a fresh start. That place was Penn State.

“I’ve moved around a lot,” Perry said. “But, you want to be in a place where you can take full advantage of the opportunities in front of you.”

But in his first year of football at Penn State, Perry struggled. Some minor, nagging injuries prevented him from the kind of season he envisioned. There were some dropped balls, too, and Perry wasn’t able to shake off the rustiness of missing two straight years of action.

His junior season on the football team wasn’t much better. Hoping to have a breakout year, he settled for two catches which added up to only five yards in receptions.

But in baseball, he has been much more consistent. He struggled to find his hitting stroke early, but since the Big Ten schedule began, he has been one of the Lions’ most steady players.

“He wants to play pro ball and his work ethic reflects that,” PSU baseball coach Joe Hindelang said. “After some games, he will stay here an extra hour with assistants Dave Jameson, Randy Ford or Jon Ramsey and work on hitting. He felt one of his weaknesses was the inside pitch, but now he is turning on that ball and hitting it with authority.”

Hindelang feels that Perry has the potential to play in the pros. He has major league speed - witness his 6.5 time in the 60-yard dash - and has a major league arm.

“Right now, he is a four-tool player,” Hindelang said. “He has the speed, the arm, the defense and he hits for average. He is working on that fifth tool - the power - and that is starting to come around, now. But, he has a presence out there, an aura about him. He just looks like a player.”

Hindelang has fielded some questions from pro scouts about Perry, but scouts are notoriously secretive about their plans. They haven’t let much slip in brief talks with Perry, either.

“I am hearing different things,” Perry said. “The baseball draft is such a funny thing. You never know until it comes. You take everything you hear and you filter it out. But the bottom line is that you have to wait until draft day and see what happens.”

Should Perry be selected and elect to begin a pro ball career, he’ll bypass the opportunity to play with an improved receiving corps for the Nittany Lion football team next fall. He has met with new receivers coach Kenny Carter and was impressed.

“He seems like a great guy,” Perry said. “I talked with him and really liked what he had to say. He seems like a really good fit.”

Carter is hoping that he’ll be able to use Perry next year, but is open to the fact that it might not happen.

“He’s a guy who has got a little experience and hopefully, he will come back,” Carter said. “But if he doesn’t come back, we wish him the best in whatever endeavor he chooses to be a part of. He can do some good things for us, we think.”

If Perry leaves, it will put an end to his days as a two-sport collegiate athlete. It’s a tough job, but Perry said the coaches - both in baseball and football - have made it easier for him.

“The coaches have been great with working out a schedule where I could do both and not be pulled in too many directions at the same time,” Perry said. “It is definitely a tough thing to do. You have to manage your time real well with academics and athletics and you have to get in as much as you can with each sport.”

Hindelang is no stranger to the problems encountered by two-sport collegiate athletes. He himself was a two-sport star during his undergraduate days at Temple in the late 1960s. Hindelang excelled as a point guard for the Owl basketball program and as a starting pitcher for the Owl baseball team.

“Things were a little different then, though,” Hindelang said. “There wasn’t all of this pressure - some subtle, some not so subtle that you have to play your sport year-round. You have to weight train. You have to do individual workouts. And there is pressure from coaches who aren’t receptive to a youngster playing two sports. I am and Coach Paterno obviously is.”

Perry believes that the contrast between baseball and football actually benefits him. Like most of his teammates, he isn’t consumed all year-long with the same sport, same coaches, same trainers, same teammates.

“And it’s definitely easier on my body to play baseball rather than spring football,” Perry said. “Playing on the astroturf every day and the contact that goes with practicing is tough. Baseball is easier on my body. It is tougher mentally to play baseball rather than football because of the ups and downs, but it has worked out well.”

When Hindelang played two sports, not as much was expected. Temple had fine programs in both sports, but the seasons didn’t overlap as they do now. Hindelang would finish playing basketball in early March, then he would spend two weeks throwing in the gym before opening the baseball season around April 1. Now, the baseball season opens in February.

“It takes a special individual to play two sports because you are in training year-round,” Hindelang said. “With Rod, last summer, he played football and was with that through November. Then, he switched to baseball and now with this summer coming up, he has decisions to make. Is he going to be drafted? If not, does he work on baseball or football drills? Tough decision.”

Although Perry has been wrestling with the decision for several weeks, Hindelang said it hasn’t effected the San Diego native. He remains humble and seems to be enjoying himself.

“He’s a special kid,” Hindelang said. “He’s a happy kid and even when we have struggled at times, he has said ‘Coach, I’m really enjoying playing.’ It’s like he has found a new toy and his best games and years are ahead of him.”

The only question then, is, in which sport?