26
Youth
February 15 - 28, 2014
www.SanTanSun.com
Hamilton athletes secure college football future BY SETH COX
When the dust finally settled for two of Chandler’s most sought-after prospects, one was staying home to help build Arizona State into a national power, and the other was taking his game to perhaps the most prestigious school on the west coast, Stanford. Santana Sterling, the former Hamilton Huskies standout linebacker, decided to stay local by selecting Arizona State over such illustrious Ivy League schools like as Cornell and Penn. “I just wanted to play at a good school,” Santana says. “I wanted to play in a fun defense, and I really liked the coaches.” Santana’s decision did not come without sacrifice, though, as he will be greyshirting, meaning he will not accept a scholarship for Arizona State until January 2015, but he’ll be a Sun Devil immediately. “Yeah, we talked about the greyshirt,” Santana says “I’ll get to start working out in the summer, and I’ll be at practice, but won’t be able to officially practice this year. I’ll be able to work out, get bigger, learn the system and the clock on my eligibility won’t start. It’s a year to develop and learn about the program which is good.” Hamilton Coach Steve Belles adds, “That was the offer they made Santana. He wanted to be a Sun Devil. They had felt they had filled the position, but they are making it a priority to get the local kids and made him the offer so that’s what he decided.” While he is off for the year, Santana
knows the coaches expect him to improve. “They want me to get bigger and faster, to get my weight up to 235-245 (he’s currently listed at 215 pounds), but also get faster.” The way ASU Coach Todd Graham and linebacker Coach Paul Randolph call the defense also played a role in Santana’s decisions to become a Sun Devil. “I like to blitz all the time,” Santana says. “They let the linebackers get downhill and make plays and I like that challenge.” On the transition to the college game, Belles doesn’t necessarily offer his athletes on-the-field advice, but more of life advice. “Ask yourself where you’ll be in 20 years,” he says. “You’re not going to be playing football. You’re going to either have a family or a job and hopefully you’ll do the best you can with the degree you get.” As for football, Santana will be looking to get time at the “SAM” linebacker position. The “SAM” linebackers are tasked with being the key to stopping the run game of the opposition. It’s something that the all-time tackles leader at Hamilton did for years on Friday nights, now he is taking that to Saturdays at Arizona State.
Casey Tucker goes to Stanford Casey Tucker’s route to Stanford was a bit different than the one Santana has taken to get to ASU. Casey, who was unavailable for comment, is scout.com’s No. 2 overall offensive tackle prospect, and the question wasn’t whether or not he would be playing
$500
OFF
on Full Braces, Invisalign® or Invisalign Teen® Offer good through 2-28-2014
It’s finally here! No more impressions, goop or gagging for our Invisalign treatment! ®
WE HAVE THE ITERO DIGITAL SCANNER.
Stephen D. Hunsaker, D.D.S., M.S.
Call us today to schedule your FREE initial exam!
480-895-2100
BRACES AS LOW AS $99! PER MONTH
• FREE electronic toothbrush • FREE wi-fi & game center • No down payment plans • State-of-the-art facility
aspenortho.com • 3980 E. Riggs Rd., Suite 1 • Chandler
football at a big school, but rather which of the dozens of elite college football programs he would decide to commit to. “I told him to do a pro and con list, and make that list without your parents there, because regardless of what your parents want you to do, it’s your life and your decision, make yourself happy, don’t make other people happy,” Belles says. Initially, Casey verbally committed to USC, but had a change of heart, and his final decision came down to Stanford and Arizona State. The decision to choose Stanford over Arizona State is one that Sun Devil fans may not like, but should understand. “There’s no question that Casey had to take some AP classes this year to just have a chance to get in,” Belles says. “He not only had to take those classes, but do well in them. He had to buckle down and do well. He really wanted that offer, and he earned it.” Stanford has produced numerous early round NFL draft picks in the past couple of years, and project in the 2014 NFL draft to have another offensive lineman taken early, as well as having perhaps the best offensive tackle prospect in the 2015 NFL draft in another local product Andrus Peat. There’s no doubt after talking with Belles that Casey’s biggest hurdle was getting accepted to Stanford. “He was really committed to getting that offer from Stanford, and now he’s committed there,” Belles says. “Casey’s a kid that really invests the time
into his academics, and he knows what’s in front of him.” Other Chandler high school commitments:
Basha High School Rajhan Meriwether-Lafayette University Dillon Udall-Adams State Ivan Sanchez-Benedictine College Christian Mederos-Benedictine College
Chandler High School J.R. Hunt-University of Arizona Dionte Sykes-San Diego State University Wesley Sutton-Northern Arizona University Cruz Flores-Northern Arizona University Zech Culbreath-Northern State (South Dakota) Logan Gunkel- Adams State Garrett Jacobson- Weber State Jordan Hoyt- UC Davis
Hamilton High School Juwan Jones-New Mexico Brooks Dunn-Montana State Northern Josiah Pola-Montana State Northern Bryce Holland-Army Qualen Cunningham-Texas A&M Trent Moore-Oregon State
Perry High School Chandon Herring-University of Arizona Lane Veach-Stanford University Seth Cox is a freelancer for the SanTan Sun News. He can be reached at news@ santansun.com.