Mesa's Carson commits to Arizona State

Standout point guard also considered Arizona, Oregon State, Washington, UCLA and St. John's; Arizona football full of big matchups this week.

Thumbnail image of this articles writer: Craig Morgan
By
Aug 26, 2010, 1:52pm
Mesa point guard Jahii Carson is staying home. The All-Arizona selection, who is one of the nation's premier recruits, committed to attend Arizona State this week and will play for coach Herb Sendek next season.

Mesa High's Jahii Carson.
Mesa High's Jahii Carson.
File photo by Todd Shurtleff
Carson set Mesa school records last season with 23.5 points and 7.2 assists a game in leading the Jackrabbits to the state's top-ranking and a 5A-I quarterfinal berth. He is currently ranked among the top 50 players in the country by several recruiting sites.

Carson had originally committed to Oregon State, but decommitted in April to see if he could draw more interest after his national profile rose following a standout junior season.

Carson chose the Sun Devils over Washington, UCLA, St. John's, Oregon State and Arizona. He felt Arizona already had too much depth at guard and liked the idea of playing immediately. Arizona got a recent commitment from Las Vegas combo guard Nick Johnson, who played his first two seasons at Highland (Gilbert) before moving to Las Vegas where he now plays at Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.).

FOOTBALL FEAST ON TAP
Hamilton (Chandler) and Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) kicked off the season in the Sollenberger Classic last week at Northern Arizona University's Walkup Skydome. The game was well-chronicled on MaxPreps by our own Mitch Stephens.

This week, the rest of the schools follow suit with games on tap in every corner of the state. The defending state champs in every conference (other than Cactus in 4A-II) are in action. Defending 5A-I champ Hamilton is at St. Mary's (Phoenix); defending 5A-II champ Chaparral (Scottsdale) hosts 5A-I school Gilbert; defending 4A-I champ Canyon del Oro (Tucson) is at Ironwood Ridge (Tucson); defending 3A champ Blue Ridge (Lakeside) hosts Vista Grande (Casa Grande); defending 2A champ Valley Christian (Chandler) plays Globe Saturday at NAU; and defending 1A champ Joseph City is at Bagdad.

TOP FOOTBALL GAMES TO WATCH
Here are our top picks this week in each conference:
5A-I: No. 7 Desert Ridge (Mesa) at No. 9 Mesquite (Gilbert): High flying offense meets staunch defense.
5A-II: No. 5 Pinnacle (Phoenix) vs. No. 9 Boulder Creek (Anthem): Two programs looking to step up into serious title contention square off.
4A-I: No. 1 and defending champ Canyon del Oro faces 5A-II power Ironwood Ridge (No. 6)
4A-II: The top teams are either idle or loading up on weaker opponents.
3A: No. 9 Winslow at No. 5 Round Valley (Eagar): How will Winslow absorb the loss of RB Chayse Russell, who transferred to Blue Ridge?
2A: No. 8 Thatcher at No. 7 (3A) Empire (Tucson). The Eagles look to recapture recapture past glory that led to four 2A titles in nine years between 1998-2006.
1A: Joseph City at Bagdad: Two playoff mainstays lock horns in an early-season test.

DAWSON STEPS DOWN
Chaparral baseball coach Jerry Dawson has stepped down after a remarkable 37 seasons. The state's career leader in coaching victories (773-301) said ankle, knee and foot surgeries have taken a toll on his 67-year-old body. Dawson recommended to the school that assistant Sam Messina become the coach.

Dawson is the only baseball coach Chaparral has had and helped produce major league talents such as New York Mets first baseman Ike Davis, Chicago White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko and Kansas City Royals pitcher Brian Bannister.

Dawson won eight Class 4A titles in 10 finals appearances.

EARLY SEASON SCANDAL
If you expected the sole focus to be on football as the 2010 season dawns, think again. The football program at Chavez (Laveen) was placed on probation this week for the second time in a year, disqualifying the Champions from the 2010 postseason.

Despite a troubling lack of corroborating evidence, The Arizona Interscholastic Association's executive board voted unanimously to institute the probation for another recruiting violation after the mother of a former Chavez player who used to attend Mesquite told the AIA her son was recruited to play for Chavez last season and was given a tour by coach Jim Rattay and the father of a former player. Rattay denies the allegations.

Last season, Chavez was penalized for an incident involving a North (Phoenix) player who provided information to his school about contact with Chavez.

The executive board has also requested more information from the Blue Ridge and Joy Christian (Glendale) football programs about alleged recruiting incidents.

The Joy Christian case involves former Glendale players now attending Joy Christian. Jordan Morgan, who led Valley Christian to the 2A title last season, is at the center of the Blue Ridge allegation after the Cal commit transferred to Blue Ridge for this, his senior season.

The executive board wants to know more about a Joy Christian volunteer assistant coach who allegedly recruited the Glendale High players and the alleged scholarships former Glendale High players received to attend Joy Christian.

In Morgan's case, Show Low told the AIA it has text messages that were exchanged between a Blue Ridge assistant and Morgan.

CRAIG'S CRANIUM
I was chatting with Arizona Interscholastic Association executive director Harold Slemmer on the sidelines during Hamilton's win over Bishop Gorman in the Sollenberger Classic at Northern Arizona University last week.

The topic was the start of high school football season — and I made a minor confession. After 18 years of covering every major event the American sports world has to offer — from Super Bowls to BCS Championships; World Series to NBA playoffs; series clinching NASCAR races to the raucous crowds at the FBR Open (sorry, I just can't utter its new name); from the thrill of Luis Gonzalez's title-clinching hit to the sorrow the San Antonio Spurs cast over an entire state, there is still nothing that quite matches the thrill of high school football. For me, anyway.

"I'm not sure I should admit that," I told Slemmer. His smile said otherwise.

It's not that prep football is perfect. Far from it. I still think national prep rankings are ridiculous. Nobody will ever have a reasonable clue who the top 10, 25 or 100 teams in America are until they square off against each other on a regular basis.

I still think recruiting news is the height of narcissism. I don't care when a kid has narrowed his choices to 10 schools or five or one. Talk to me when he has actually enrolled in school, and then I will remind him of that whole LeBron James fiasco and ask the kid if he understands the meaning of self-absorption.

I still think some coaches are nuts, and I was reminded of this when one of Hamilton's assistants had to be reprimanded by Huskies athletic director Dick Baniszewski and AIA Assistant State Tournament Coordinator David Hines for stepping far over the line of reasonable conduct during the Sollenberger Classic.

I still marvel at overzealous parents who teach their kids all the wrong lessons by shopping them from school to school, by pressuring coaches, athletic directors and principals for more playing time, by instilling in their kids such a sense of self-importance that they never learn the virtues of adversity, empathy and real humility.

In spite of all that, prep football creates a sense of purpose in me like no other sport. Part of it is selfish. When I cover the NFL for CBS, I'm just one cog in a well-oiled, revenue producing machine. If I vanished tomorrow, nobody would care and I'd be replaced in a heartbeat.

When I step onto the sidelines of a high school game, I'm met by coaches, parents and players who still appreciate every effort on their behalf. Hamilton coach Steve Belles was just about to address his team before the Sollenberger Classic when he saw me, reversed course, shook my hand and thanked me for all I do.

Offensive tackle Christian Westerman's dad has sent me multiple e-mails to the same effect after I wrote a feature on his son. That doesn't happen in college or the pros.

But prep football is more than self-gratification. It's an atmosphere. It's the unpolished strains of the school band. It's somebody's mom selling hot dogs at the concession stand to raise money for the golf team. It's two cheerleaders giggling as they make announcements over the P.A. system. It's a garbled, tinny rendition of the national anthem that still brings everyone to their feet in silence or song. It's the scoreboard operator diligently doing their job to make sure the crowd has all the correct information.

It's about community, a chance for people to come together for one purpose, a chance to find meaning and enjoyment in that purpose. Call me a geek, but I'm hopelessly sold on this sport.

Craig Morgan is a freelance writer who has covered professional, college and high school sports in the Phoenix area for the past 18 years. He currently serves as the Phoenix correspondent for CBSSports.com, covering the Arizona Cardinals and other local teams. He also writes a weekly column and other features for The Arizona Republic. You can reach him at craig@wordsmithonline.com.