Cam Denson moved from Salpointe to Arizona. (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)
As Anthony Gimino points out, he’s been covering the Arizona Wildcats for … a long time. One of the true experts on the Wildcats, Gimino recently put together an excellent list of “Fizzling 4-stars” recruited by Arizona beginning with the 2014 season. On that list is former Salpointe standout Cam Denson.
Since 2008, Arizona has landed four Arizona “Big School Player of the Year” recipients (as noted by the Arizona Republic). Adam Hall and Ka’Deem Carey spent one year together and Davonte Neal transferred in from Notre Dame and subsequently spent two years with the Wildcats with Denson.
Arizona State landed one Arizona “Player of the Year” in the last decade, D.J. Foster.
Here is a brief listing of the last ten standouts and I’ll leave it up to the reader to determine hits or misses:
2008: Adam Hall, Sr. DB Palo Verde: University of Arizona (2009-11)
Hampered by injuries, Hall played in 23 games in three years with the Wildcats.
2009: Ka’Deem Carey, Jr. RB Canyon del Oro: Arizona (2011-13)
NCAA All-American and All-Pac 12 First Team honors. 4,239 career rushing yards and 52 touchdowns. Drafted by the Chicago Bears (2014 16).
2010: Davonte Neal, Jr. RB Chaparral: Notre Dame (2012); Arizona (2014-16)
Released by Toronto Argonauts (2017)
2011: D.J. Foster, Sr. RB Saguaro: ASU (2012-15)
4,829 all-purpose yards. Freshman All-American. Patriots (2016); Cardinals (2017)
2012: Mark Andrews Jr. WR Desert Mountain: Oklahoma (2015-17)
Baltimore Ravens (2018)
2013: Cam Denson, Sr. WR Salpointe: Arizona (2014-17); NAU (2018)
DB at Arizona then switched to receiver in 2016. Fifth year at NAU.
2014: Christian Kirk, Sr. ATH Saguaro: Texas A&M (2015-17)
All-American and All-SEC selection. Cardinals (2018).
2015: Daniel Bridge-Gladd. Sr. QB Paradise Valley: Washington (2017); NAU (2018).
Transferred to NAU after one year with Washington.
2016 TJ Green, Sr. RB Chandler: Utah (2017-present)
2017: Brock Purdy, Sr. QB Perry: Iowa State (2018)
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Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014 and he was awarded the Ray McNally Award in 2017 and he has been a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. His own children have won multiple state high school championships and were named to all-state teams. Competing in hockey, basketball, baseball and track & field in high school, his unique perspective can only be found here and on AZPreps365.com. Andy is the Southern Arizona voting member of the Ed Doherty Award, recognizing the top football player in Arizona, and he was named a Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly for 2016. Contact Andy Morales at AMoralesMyTucson@yahoo.com
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