Monday, July 8, 2013

The State of Arizona: A second look


By Derrell Warren

In a previous post we highlighted the rise of prep football in the state of Arizona. Shortly after that piece was published, San Diego State University held 7 on 7 tournaments in consecutive week that were won by Chaparral High School and Salpointe Catholic, respectively. Those results served to further validate the area as a burgeoning hot bed for individual talent and home to powerful squads capable of competing with any team in any region.

In, recent years one of the best developments in high school football has been the increasing number of quality match-ups featuring teams from different states. Tucson power, Salpointe Catholic will test their mettle traveling to Los Angeles county for an early season match-up versus Encino (Calif.) Crespi high school. Meanwhile, Hamilton (Az.) will take on the Eastlake Titans from of the San Diego area.



Now let’s take a look at two elite recruits from the area.



ATH Cameron Denson
Salpointe Catholic
Tucson, Arizona

A mid-four star recruit, Denson's name perhaps hasn't been mentioned as much as similarly rated players this recruiting cycle. This is most likely due in large part to his early pledge to the local Arizona Wildcats.

Early commitments often (But not always) remove recruits out of the rumor/speculation aspect of the process. In a lot of these cases, folks tend to forget the talents brought to the table by the recruit that warranted the acceptance of such an early commitment in the first place.

Though most project him to play cornerback in college, Denson also lined up at wide receiver was the best player on the field during the San Diego State passing tournament held this past June. In addition to passing for over 400 yards; he registered 1026 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns on only 69 carries as a dual threat quarterback. He added 585 yards on 37 catches lining up as a wide receiver as well.

Denson committed to the hometown Wildcats on January 12th of this year over offers from such schools as Arizona State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, and Oregon State. Follow his commitment he picked up subsequent offers from Big-12 schools West Virginia and Oklahoma State.






Casey Tucker
Offensive Tackle
Hamilton (Az.) High School

Simply put, Tucker is a highly coveted player who would be a welcomed addition at programs nationwide. He is a consensus four-star recruit and one of the top 10-12 players in the nation at a premium position. Last summer Tucker was early commitment to the USC Trojans. He gave them his pledge less than two months prior to his junior season. This April however, Tucker de-committed from USC and re-opened the recruiting process.


At this juncture, the 6’6” 270 pound lineman holds offers from USC, Notre Dame, Arizona State, Arkansas, and Michigan State. Not sure of any timetable for a decision. But, whenever that does indeed happen they’ll be a very fortunate college program who’s earned the services of one the nation’s premier blindside protectors.




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