NATCHEZ — Dee Fleming needs to make a choice.

Fleming, a senior at Trinity Episcopal Day School, expects to be the first in his family to attend college, but he has a problem: Too many colleges want him.

Fleming said he finds himself at the crosshairs of academia and athletics — with some colleges offering him scholarships for football or track and others offering him the academic opportunities he has been dreaming of for a long time.

“I’ve always wanted to go to LSU,” Fleming said. “But if another college is offering me the same education and an opportunity to play sports, what do I choose? I want to find the path that’s best for me.”

Fleming knows the basics of what comes next: He wants to major in kinesiology with a minor in business so he can open his own physical therapy clinic.

He wants to have a strong business acumen so he can one day expand Heart-to-Heart his mother Tawanna Carter’s home health service.

The way to that future, however, has many variations.

Millsaps College offered him a full-ride scholarship if he competes in track where as a high-school athlete Fleming has won state in the triple jump and the long jump, wherein he broke a state record last year with a jump of 22 feet, 8 and 3/4 inches.

Southwest Mississippi Community College and Copiah-Lincoln Community college invited him to football try-outs this month.

On top of those options, Fleming has been accepted into Mississippi State and Louisiana State University.

Fleming said the choice between football and track is difficult.

“I’ve been weighing my options,” Fleming said. “I think about it every day.”

Despite the decisions looming over his senior year at Trinity, Fleming said he is not worried.

“They say you’re not supposed to fear failure, so I guess I’m not afraid of anything,” Fleming said. “I know I may fail from time to time, but I think I’ll get through it.”

Fleming said the confidence and conviction he feels stems from a recent injury he faced in his last year of football.

“I tore my MCL and my PCL,” Fleming said before naming off the technical names of the ligaments. “It humbled me. It showed me all these abilities could be taken away.”

Understanding that youth and vigor are fleeting, Fleming said, drives him even more to make certain his college path is right.

With kinesiology, Fleming said he could still work with sports and athletes even after his own athletic abilities are gone.

“I want to make my own way,” Fleming said. “I want to stay in what I love and be happy.”