The Republic's Top 25 all-time Arizona high school football players who played at UA
University of Arizona football coach Jedd Fisch has done a pretty good job, especially this year, keeping top talent home. Such as No. 1 2024 in-state prospect Elijah Rushing, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound edge rusher at Tucson Salpointe Catholic.
This is a good time to break down The Arizona Republic's list of the Top 25 in-state high school football players who made a splash in Tucson and beyond after stellar prep careers. Here we go:
Top 25 in-state players who played at UA
1. Ka’Deem Carey, Oro Valley Canyon del Oro, RB
If you got Carey and Bijan Robinson in your top two all-time Arizona high school running backs, you can't go wrong. Carey was The Republic's state player of the Year his junior season when he led the Dorados to the state championship. He was in the Heisman hunt during his career with the Arizona Wildcats, then played for the Chicago Bears. He finished his 2013 season with the Wildcats with 1,885 rushing yards, which was third in the nation, and 19 touchdowns. He finished his career with 16 consecutive 100-yard rushing games, which was the longest streak in Pac-12 history.
2. Rob Waldrop, Phoenix Horizon, DL
He entered the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011, part of that 1993 famed Desert Swarm defense that held offenses to 30 yards rushing a game. He was considered undersized on the defensive front at 6-foot-1, 265 pounds but he pushed himself in the weight room and on the field to be a dominant force. In '93, he won the Outland, Nagurski, and Bednarik trophies, while being named the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year. It could be argued that he should be atop this list.
3. Byron Evans, Phoenix South Mountain, LB
The current South Mountain High football coach was as dominant as anybody in the nation during his senior year at South in 1982. Then, he took off at UA as a fierce backer, who later starred at middle linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles on those Gang Green defenses that wreaked havoc in the NFL in the late '80s and early '90s. He led the Eagles with 184 tackles in 1989.
4. Mike Dawson, Tucson, DL
Tucson High was a huge pipeline to the University of Arizona and Dawson might have been the best. By the time he was a senior, he was a second-team All-American in 1975. He was a two-time All-WAC player. He was a first-round NFL draft pick in 1976, chosen 22nd overall by the then-St. Louis Cardinals. UA's football program transformed with Dawson part of a 26-7 turnaround in his last three seasons.
5. Trung Canidate, Phoenix Central, RB
He played a starring role in one of the greatest games between ASU and UA ever played in 1998, when he ran for what was then a UA-record 288 yards and three TDs in a 50-42 win that offset QB Ryan Kealy's 511 yards, and four TD night. That locked up the Pac-10 rushing title.
6. Bobby Wade, Phoenix Desert Vista, WR
One of the greatest athletes ever to come out of Arizona high school football (he did it all during Desert Vista's 14-0 1998 state championship season), Wade was moved from running back to wide receiver at Arizona and ended up being inducted into the school's Ring of Honor in 2015. During a career between 1999-2002, Wade caught 230 passes for 3,351 yards and 23 TDs. He went on to play seven years in the NFL.
7. Sean Harris, Tucson, LB
He was a big part of Dick Tomey's Desert Swarm defense, collecting 32.5 tackles for losses and 14.5 sacks in his stellar career. He was taken in the third round of the 1995 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. He finished his career with the Indianapolis Colts in 2001. t
8. John Fina, Tucson Salpointe Catholic, OL
He started out on the defensive line, starring in high school, before finding that he could end up with a pretty good and long NFL career on the offensive line. He ended up being a first-round NFL draft pick in 1992 with the Buffalo Bills. He played 10 seasons and in two Super Bowls with the Bills.
9. Marcus Bell, St. Johns, LB
The late Dick Tomey once called Bell the best inside linebacker he ever coached. He was always outworking everybody from his days at St. Johns High under coach Mike Morgan to UA playing for Tomey, then in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks.
10. Fred Enke, Tucson, QB
The Enke name is as big as any in Tucson. There is a golf course named Enke. He was the best high school quarterback in 1941 and ’42 at Tucson High, made all-state in basketball in ’43 and was a part of seven state championship teams in his career. After a stint in World War II, he went to Arizona where he led the NCAA in total offense in 1948. And, oh, yeah, he lettered in three sports at UA.
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11. Dana Wells, Phoenix Brophy Prep, DL
A 6-foot-1 nose guard, he was twice named the top defensive lineman in the Pac-10 during his UA career then ran from 1984-88. He played on teams that had Byron Evans and Chuck Cecil and finishes his career with 34 tackles for losses in his last two seasons.
12. Bill Lueck, Avondale Agua Fria, OL
He became the first UA player ever to be taken in the first round of the NFL draft in 1968. He was a member of the Green Bay Packers' Super Bowl II winning team. He played for the Packers through 1974 then spent a year with the Philadelphia Eagles.
13. Mark Arneson, Tucson Palo Verde, LB
A two-time all-conference linebacker at Arizona in 1973 and ‘74, he vaulted into the NFL starting 104 games for the then-St. Louis Cardinals. He was a top wrestler and football player in high school and was entered into the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.
14. David Adams, Tucson Sunnyside, RB
He was only 5 feet, 6 inches, but he was so hard to find and too quick to catch coming through seems made by his Arizona linemen. He starred at Sunnyside in the early 1980s, before having a strong career at UA, leading the Pac-10 in rushing one year.
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15. Randy Robbins, Casa Grande, DB
He is a sports legend in Casa Grande, where he heads up the high school’s athletics department. He had 12 career interceptions for the Wildcats, playing in the early 1980s, and ended up in the school’s sports Hall of Fame. He had a good NFL career with the Broncos.
16. Ty Parten, Horizon, DL
He was a 6-5, 275-pound defensive tackle in the 1990s, a force who made the most of his UA career which led him to a seven-year NFL career with the Bengals and Chiefs.
17. Marquis Flowers, Goodyear Millennium, LB
A tremendous two-way athlete at Millennium, he was a high school All-American in 2009, and played in every game as a true freshman for the Wildcats. He moved from safety to linebacker in 2012 and was second on the team with 100 tackles and led the Wildcats with 13 tackles for losses that year.
18. Paul Robinson, Marana, RB
He was a three-sport star in high school, before starting his college career in 1963 at Eastern Arizona. A track scholarship led him to UA, where he played football only in his last year. But that led him to the NFL, where he starred for the Cincinnati Bengals as a third-round pick in 1968 and was a two-time Pro Bowl running back.
19. Michael Bates, Tucson Amphitheater, RB
He was one of the famed Bates brothers, who tore it up in high school, starring for Vern Friedli and his run-oriented teams in the late 1980s. He also was a state record holder in the 100 meters (10.34 seconds) at Amphi, before he played at UA. He won an Olympic bronze medal in the 200 dash in 1992. He was mainly known as a kick returner in the NFL and made five Pro Bowls.
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20. Jimmy Sprotte, Lakeside Blue Ridge, LB
Sprotte was one of the greatest athletes to ever come through Blue Ridge, starring for coach Paul Moro in the early 1990s as a two-way player at running back and linebacker. He had a combination of size and speed that carried over in college, and got him to the Cincinnati Bengals for a couple of NFL seasons.
21. Armon Williams, Chandler Valley Christian, DB
One of the best athletes ever to come through Chandler, Williams played from 1993-96 for the Wildcats, before being taken by Tennessee in the seventh round of the 1997 NFL Draft as a defensive back. He was a versatile football player and track athlete at Valley Christian.
22. Warren Livingston, Mesa, RB/DB
Part of a great football family, Livingston was a two-way player at both halfback and cornerback in the late 1950s at UA. In 1959, he made the All-Border Conference, averaging 6.7 yards a carry. In 1960, he devoted most of his time on defense but he had a three-TD performance in a win over Arizona State.
23. Vance Johnson, Tucson Cholla, WR/RB
A running back in high school who also played receiver, he took off in the NFL with the Denver Broncos as one of the Three Amigos receiving trio from 1987-92 with Mark Jackson and Ricky Nattiel. He was also a great track and field athlete and nearly made the 1984 Olympics in the long jump, finishing fourth at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
24. Fred Batiste, Tucson, RB
He became the first Black football player at Arizona in 1949. He was 23 then, a World War II veteran, who starred in football and track and field at Tucson High in the 1943-44 school year. He opened the door for Black athletes to follow him at UA.
25. Art Greathouse, Tempe McClintock, RB
He was one of the top recruits out of the 1986 class in Arizona, a huge get for the Wildcats. He averaged nearly five yards a carry in his UA career, playing for Larry Smith. He had 1,830 yards and 17 touchdowns rushing in his four years in Tucson.
To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter @azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Top 25 Arizona high school football players who starred at UA
