Salpointe Catholic grad Majok Deng, a freshman at Pepperdine who is likely a redshirt candidate, will be on the Waves’ bench tonight when his team faces his hometown team, Arizona, in the John Wooden Classic.
Researching all the Division I rosters, 70 players who played in Arizona for high schools or prep academies are listed.
Deng, a guard who is 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds, is one of five players from Southern Arizona who are on Division I rosters.
The others, including two from Catalina Foothills High School:
Deion James, 6-8, 220, Sr., Empire — Washington State. He is averaging 2.6 points in five games with the Cougars after transferring from Colorado State. His college career started with Pima College.
Chaz Mack, 6-6, 210, Sr., Catalina Foothills — Cornell. He has played sparingly in four games.
Chase Verdugo, 6-3, 174, Fr., Walden Grove — Southern Utah. He has played in one game, eight minutes with four points against Bethesda College.
Sam Beskind, 6-4, 193, Fr., Catalina Foothills — Stanford. He has played a total of 16 minutes in five games.
Arizona will play this season against three of the schools of these players — Meng of Pepperdine, James of Washington State and Beskind of Stanford.
Deng has yet to play for Pepperdine (3-3). Lorenzo Romar, the former Washington head coach and Arizona assistant, has nine guards who are older than Deng on the roster. Deng is likely also adapting to the perimeter game in college after playing inside and outside for the Lancers.
Arizona’s lone player from the state is former Phoenix Pinnacle guard Nico Mannion, one of the best players in the state’s history. Mannion has been compared to Mike Bibby as one of the most influential point guards as a freshman at Arizona.
In terms of Bibby, the former Phoenix Shadow Mountain coach who is now at Hillcrest Prep at Phoenix, has six of his former players at Shadow Mountain (including his son Michael Jr.) on Division I rosters. Here’s a complete list:
Air Force
Nikc Johnson, 6-8, 195, Fr., Scottsdale Rancho Solano
Carter Murphy, 6-4, 190, Fr., Phoenix Arcadia
Appalachian State
Michael Bibby, 6-3, 175, Jr., Phoenix Shadow Mountain
Arizona
Nico Mannion, 6-3, 190, Fr., Phoenix Pinnacle
Arizona State
Micah Burno, 6-0, 180, Fr., Scottsdale Chaparral
Grant Fogerty, 6-0, 175, Sr., Scottsdale Desert Mountain
Jalen Graham, 6-9, 205, Fr., Phoenix Mountain Pointe
Jaelen House, 6-2, 160, Fr., Phoenix Shadow Mountain
John Olmsted, 6-10, 215, Fr., Morenci
Army
Miles Lightfoot, 6-9, 210, Fr., Gilbert Christian
Boise State
Marcus Shaver, 6-1, 185, Jr., Phoenix Shadow Mountain
BYU
Alex Barcello, 6-2, 180, Jr., Tempe Corona del Sol
Wyatt Lowell, 6-10, 205, Fr., Gilbert Williams Field
Jake Toolson, 6-5, 205, Sr., Gilbert Highland
Cal State Fullerton
Emmanuel Taban, 6-7, 171, Fr., Glendale Apollo
Central Arkansas
Jaxson Baker, 6-7, 200, Fr., Phoenix Brophy Prep
Cornell
Chaz Mack, 6-6, 210, Sr., Catalina Foothills
DePaul
Lyrik Shreiner, 6-3, 195, Sr., Phoenix Hillcrest Academy
Eastern Michigan
Darion Spottsville, 6-3, 195, Jr., Phoenix Shadow Mountain
Grand Canyon
Gabe McGlothan, 6-8, 220, Soph., Chandler Basha
J.J. Rhymes, 6-4, 200, Jr., Phoenix Shadow Mountain
Ethan Spry, 6-6, 200, Fr., Scottsdale Christian Academy
Idaho State
Tarik Cool, 6-4, 180, Jr., Phoenix Desert Vista
Malik Porter, 6-5, 205, Jr., Phoenix Cesar Chavez
Incarnate Word
Bryce Davis, 6-7, 215, Soph., Glendale Deer Valley
Jackson State
Geronimo Warner, 6-2, 185, Fr., Mesa Piney Woods Country Life
Kansas
Mitch Lightfoot, 6-8, 225, Sr., Gilbert Christian
Kansas State
Nigel Shadd, 6-9, 250, Soph., Chandler Tri-Christian Academy
McNeese State
Truman Moore, 6-8, 240, Soph., Gilbert
Montana State
Quentin Guliford, 6-6, 200, Soph., Peoria Liberty
Zach Hobbs, 6-5, 195, Fr., Mesa
Devin Kirby, 6-11, 210, Jr., Chandler Basha
Nevada
K.J. Hymes, 6-10, 210, Fr., Phoenix Hillcrest Prep
New Hampshire
Meek Payne, 6-8, 200, Soph., Chandler Arizona Compass Prep
Northeastern
Connor Braun, 6-9, 200, Fr., Chandler Valley Christian
Northern Arizona
Ajang Aguek, 6-8, 180, Fr., Glendale Ironwood
Chris Bowling, 6-7, 195, Sr., Gilbert
David Cummard, 6-0, 200, Soph., Mesa
Nik Mains, 6-8, 215, Soph., Phoenix Pinnacle
Cameron Satterwhite, 6-4, 172, Jr., Gilbert Christian
Oregon State
Payton Dastrup, 6-10, 240, Jr., Mesa Mountain View
Pacific
James Hampshire, 7-1, 242, Jr., Flagstaff
Pepperdine
Majok Deng, 6-5, 190, Fr., Salpointe Catholic
Portland State
Ian Burke, 6-5, 189, Soph., Phoenix Brophy Prep
Rashaad Goolsby, 6-7, 195, Sr., Phoenix Cesar Chavez
Trey Wood, 6-9, 195, Fr., Anthem Prep
Holland Woods, 6-0, 170, Jr., Glendale Apollo
Rice
Reed Myers, 6-1, 175, Fr., Scottsdale Christian Academy
Sacramento State
Bryce Fowler, 6-6, 195, Jr., Avondale Agua Fria
Grant Greabell, 6-3, 180, Soph., Goodyear Estrella Foothills
Saint Mary’s
Tommy Kuhse, 6-2, 180, Jr., Mesa Mountain View
Elijah Thomas, 6-5, 220, Jr., Peoria Sunrise Mountain
San Diego
Jared Rodriguez, 6-7, 205, Soph., Glendale Mountain Ridge
San Jose State
Christian Anigwe, 6-9, 190, Soph., Phoenix Desert Vista
South Dakota
Caden Hoffman, 6-0, 175, Fr., Scottsdale Rancho Solano
Southern Illinois
Trent Brown, 6-2, 175, Fr., Phoenix Pinnacle
Southern Miss
Isaiah Jones, 6-7, 234, Jr., Phoenix Shadow Mountain
Southern Utah
Andre Adams, 6-9, 230, Sr., Avondale Westview
Dre Marin, 6-0, 170, Jr., Glendale Apollo
Chase Verdugo, 6-3, 174, Fr., Walden Grove
Stanford
Sam Beskind, 6-4, 193, Fr., Catalina Foothills
UC Davis
Wesley Harris, 6-5, 210, Soph., Phoenix Desert Vista
UC Irvine
Jeron Artest, 6-3, 170, Fr., Scottsdale Bella Vista Prep
Emmanuel Tshimanga, 6-11, 275, Fr., Scottsdale Bella Vista Prep
USC
Noah Baumann, 6-6, 215, Jr., Phoenix Desert Vista
Utah
Timmy Allen, 6-6, 204, Soph., Mesa Red Mountain
Utah State
Klay Stall, 6-10, 245, Jr., Chandler Basha
Vanderbilt
Saben Lee, 6-2, 183, Jr., Tempe Corona del Sol
Washington State
Deion James, 6-8, 220, Sr., Empire
Weber State
Tim Fuller, 6-9, 235, Fr., Gilbert Highland
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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.