Class of 2012 football recruiting news is already starting in Arizona

Now that the news cycle of the 2011 recruiting class has died down, the juniors in Arizona are getting all of the attention.

It won't be as strong – especially upfront – but there are already 10 prospects with multiple offers.

Garnering the most attention is 6-foot-7, 280-pound Corona del Sol defensive lineman Andrus Peat, who has more than 20 offers. His father, Todd Sr., played in the NFL and his brother, Todd Jr., committed to Nebraska earlier this month.

He has heard from nearly all of the Pac-10 programs along with Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Michigan, Nebraska, Miami (Fla.) and Notre Dame among others.

Chaparral (Scottsdale, Ariz.) wide receiver Davonte Neal (5-9, 175) is up to at least 12 offers including the two in-state schools, Arkansas, Auburn, Boston College and LSU.

Arkansas, which had two Arizona signings from the senior crop, is making another strong push in the Valley of the Sun with Saguaro (Scottsdale, Ariz.) running back D.J. Foster (6-0, 185) becoming the third Arizona player offered in this class. He also has Notre Dame and seven of the Pac-10 schools involved.

Marcos de Niza (Tempe, Ariz.) quarterback Tommy Thornton is considered the second-best in-state signal caller behind Chaparral's Connor Brewer, who committed last week to Texas.

Thornton (6-1, 205) transferred in from Colorado before last season so it is no surprise he has been offered from both Colorado schools along with Baylor, BYU, Arizona State, Hawaii, San Diego State, Florida Atlantic, Utah and Kansas.

CHANDLER'S STAFF SAVED
The Chandler football program stayed in-house after all, hiring longtime offensive coordinator Shaun Aguano to replace Jim Ewan, who endorsed his confidant when he announced his retirement prior to last season.

Aguano has been the program's offensive coordinator for 10 years and most of the staff will remain the same for a program that has as seen an increase in talent in recent years while reaching the state semifinals (2009) and developed several Division I recruits including UCLA signee Brett Hundley.

There are several openings left with the two high profile schools being Mountain View (Mesa) and St. Mary's (Phoenix)

SUNNYSIDE IS STILL KING
The Sunnyside (Tucson) wrestling program continues to do amazing things despite the numbers in the room dwindling and the Blue Devils bumping up to the highest classification after the restructuring.

Sunnyside won its 14th straight state title with 124.5 points as Highland (Gilbert) was second with 114 points and Desert Vista (Phoenix) third at 102. It wasn't as dominant as usual, but the Blue Devils still won their 29th title since 1977.

"This one was hard and special," Sunnyside coach Bobby DeBerry said. "We are losing some of the talent we used to have because of the economy. These kids in our area have to work. They have to bring in money to their family and athletics are one of the things they give up to do. So this team came through a lot to get this point."

DeBerry got all philosophical when he thought a little longer about the program's dominance.

"I was reading something the other night and Michelangelo said that if people saw all of the time and effort that went into my masterpieces they wouldn't be so amazed," DeBerry said. "If you got to see what goes on behind the scenes you'd understand the end result."

This year included an eight-year run of his two sons – Kyle (2004-07 and Kory (2008-11) – winning state titles as both finished as four-time champions.

"That is still a dream to me," the coach said. "It hasn't sunk in really."

The other team champions were Ironwood Ridge (Tucson) (Division II), Thunderbird (Phoenix) (Division III) and Mogollon (Heber) (Division IV).

THE FAB 5
* Sam Weiss, Hamilton (Chandler): Scored the match's only goal on an assist from Rylie Johnson as the school won its first girls soccer title, beating three-time defending champion Phoenix Xavier 1-0 for the Division I title.

* Jorian Baucom, Pinnacle (Phoenix): This freshman scored three goals in a 4-2 win over Ironwood Ridge for the Division II girls title. The final tally sealed win after Ironwood Ridge closed within 3-2.

* Ethan Taplin, Notre Dame Prep (Scottsdale): The senior striker finished off a great season with three goals, giving him 36, in the Saints' 4-1 win over Verrado (Buckeye) for the Division II title.

* Nate Sundermeier, Brophy Prep (Phoenix): Despite having a 103-degree fever, Sundermeier helped the Broncos to a 1-0 win by posting a shutout in goal against Hamilton.

* Kory DeBerry, Sunnyside: This 152-pound Arizona State recruit became the state's 26th four-time state champion with two pins, a major decision and decision in the finals over Mesa state champion Edgar Verdi to finish his career 170-10.

ON TAP
With soccer and wrestling seasons completed, the focus is on basketball.

The smaller classes (1A and 2A) will finish up this weekend at Tim's Toyota Center in Prescott Valley, while Class 3A and 4A start this week with the finals on Feb. 26 at Jobing.com Arena.

Class 5A's first-round starts Feb. 22 (girls) and Feb. 23 (boys) with the finals being held March 3 at Jobing.com Arena.

MaxPreps Arizona boys basketball playoff brackets
MaxPreps Arizona girls basketball playoff brackets

One spring sport – tennis – has started but the rest don't begin until the end of February or early March.

SKODA'S SENTIMENT
The state wrestling overhaul (from six champions per weight class down to four) made for better competition, but the seeding has to be changed.

The top two from each section were seeded – six per weight class – along with the 16th seed facing the top seed. The other nine spots were a blind draw.

One man's solution?

Cut it to three classifications – about 60 schools per – and have four sectional qualifying tournaments (instead of the current three) for each one.

Then at state, the sectional champs are the top four seeds and face someone who placed fourth the previous week, and the second-place finisher always faces a third-place in the first round. Then make sure the first-place wrestler and the second-placer wrestler from each section are on opposite sides of the state bracket.

Clean, simple and fair.

Jason P. Skoda has been a sports writer in the Phoenix area for the last six years of his 15-year career.
He currently works at the Ahwatukee Foothills News after stints with The Arizona Republic, CoachesAid.com Arizona and a turn at freelancing for various newspapers and Web sites around the country.
Before landing in Arizona, he also worked in Ohio, California and Texas.
He can be contacted at jskoda1024@aol.com or 480-272-2449.