Marana High School athlete Isaiah Roebuck, one of the nominees for the 2020 Ed Doherty Award, given to the state’s top football player, has been offered a preferred walk-on spot by Arizona.
Roebuck, who is also one of the most talented baseball players in the state as a right-handed pitcher and center fielder, is coming off one of the best two-week performances of the football season that was shortened by COVID-19.
Roebuck caught six passes for 205 yards with two touchdowns and had an interception and 10 tackles in a 49-35 loss at Walden Grove on Nov. 13. He followed that with seven receptions for 92 yards, two punt returns for touchdowns and eight tackles the following week in a 32-27 win over Tucson High.
“Right now, I’m still contemplating my decision,” said Roebuck, 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds. “I have offers to play both football and baseball, but none of them are NCAA schools. I know (ASU quarterback and former Marana star) Trenton Bourguet and (Arizona receiver and Tucsonan) Stanley Berryhill were both walk-ons and now have scholarships.
“Walking on at Arizona is something I could be looking forward to in the future, especially if one of my closest friends, (Salpointe Class of 2022 quarterback) Treyson Bourguet stays committed to Arizona. It definitely could be an option.”
Treyson Bourguet decommitted from Arizona after Kevin Sumlin was fired and before Jedd Fisch was hired. He told me earlier this month that his recruitment is open for now. Columbia University of the Ivy League offered him a scholarship last week.
NAIA programs Hastings (Neb.) College and Jamestown (N.D.) College have offered Roebuck a scholarship.
Roebuck mentioned Marana coach Louie Ramirez has sent word to Arizona baseball coach Jay Johnson about Roebuck’s baseball exploits. Roebuck was selected in 2019 as the MVP of the Baseball’s Next Level Conquistador Summer Classic.
“Honestly, they were really cool about it,” Roebuck said of Arizona’s preferred walk-on offer from the football staff. “They weren’t too big on me making a decision. They just wanted to let me know I can be part of the family already. It’s pretty big getting a D1 preferred walk-on offer.”
Roebuck added about his two-week performance against Walden Grove and Tucson High that he was “was just warming up on defense” as a cornerback. He credited his quarterbacks Elijah Joplin and Josh Roman Jr. for getting him involved with the offense.
“My offense was outstanding but I was just getting into hitting people on defense and having fun with it,” he said. “We were starting to click and the season got canceled.”
Roebuck said his next activity is preparing for his senior baseball season at Marana beginning Saturday.
In terms of deciding his collegiate future, he said, “I will talk it over with my family and hopefully make a decision in a month or so.”
Roebuck’s father Sean was a three-sport star in football, basketball and baseball at Marana in the 1990’s. He went on to play basketball at Central Arizona before playing for Western Montana. He now coaches the Tigers’ boys basketball team.
His mom Monica Flores led Mountain View to the 1995 state championship in soccer.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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