Marana senior receiver/defensive back Dezmen Roebuck, who has signed with Washington, was announced Friday by Gatorade as its Arizona High School Football Player of the Year.
The 6-foot, 190-pound senior wide receiver and free safety made 95 receptions for 1,131 yards and 14 touchdowns this past season, leading the Tigers (10-1) to the Open Division quarterfinals.
A Conference 5A First Team All-State selection as a junior, Roebuck also recorded 51 tackles and four interceptions, returning one for a score.
He concluded his prep football career with a state-record 352 catches.
Roebuck has volunteered locally at a food bank and homeless shelter, and he has donated his time as a youth football and basketball coach.
“Dez is an absolute stud,” Cienega coach Justin Argraves said in a Gatorade press release. “He’s a dynamic playmaker. Teams have to account for him in so many ways, which opens up opportunities for his teammates to make big plays.”
Roebuck has maintained a 3.06 GPA in the classroom.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states across 12 different high school sports – football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field – and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport.
The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.
Roebuck joins recent Gatorade Arizona Football Players of the Year Navi Bruzon (2023-24 & 2022-23, Liberty High School), Nicco Marchiol (2021-22, Hamilton High School) and Ty Thompson (2020-21, Mesquite High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.
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