Johnny Coy left St. Joseph and his interest in the Philadelphia Phillies behind on Saturday morning.

The Benton High School graduate made the 19-hour drive to Tempe, Ariz., on Saturday and plans to enroll in classes at Arizona State on Tuesday. When that happens, Coy’s athletic future for the next three years — in basketball and baseball — will be with the Sun Devils.

“I’m going to Arizona State to play both. There’s nothing that could change in my mind,” Coy said. “It’s pretty much a no-brainer for me. (The Phillies) weren’t offering enough money. For me to give up playing two sports at a big time college, that doesn’t happen very often. It would have had to be a lot of money.”

The Phillies drafted Coy in the seventh round of the Major League Baseball draft last month and later agreed to let Coy honor his scholarship with the Sun Devils’ hoops program if he signed to play professional baseball during the summer as well.

But the two sides still are about $300,000 apart when it comes to a contract, according to Johnny’s brother, Dickie. Dickie added that if Johnny were a full-time baseball player, the Phillies might be willing to offer Johnny the $500,000 contract he is seeking, but the Coys don’t expect such an offer for a part-time player.

“For a part-time player, they can come up around $200,000 or $215,000. That’s a lot of money for three months of a year, but when you take away taxes, it’s only around 100,000,” Dickie said. “(Johnny) is looking for something that will blow him away, and it’s not going to happen. He is very comfortable with his decision.”

There is a chance that if the Phillies don’t reach terms with a couple of their other draft picks this weekend, they could up the offer to Johnny Coy on Tuesday before he enrolls. But Dickie said that seems unlikely.

Now Johnny Coy will turn his attention toward being a two-sport athlete at Arizona State. Johnny will practice for both sports this summer, and during the fall and winter, he plans to take batting practice and field ground balls at night with the baseball staff. In Pat Murphy’s 22 years as a head baseball coach — 14 at Arizona State — only three of his players have been drafted lower after attending his program than they were out of high school or junior college.

The Coys are counting on Murphy to at least maintain the status quo — if not improve it — as far as Johnny’s baseball draft status goes in the coming years

“I’m going to get a lot stronger and quicker by going to college. I’ll be drafted a lot higher after being there,” Johnny Coy said of playing baseball. “That’s my dream to play both (sports). I don’t want to have to give up one so early.

“Maybe halfway through I can realize which one is going better and which one I’m better at so that I can focus on that one more.”