About 11 years ago, I got a call from a man who had moved to Chandler, Arizona from New York. He explained that he had spent the last couple of decades calling minor league baseball games all over the country, that he was a big high school and college football fan, and he was looking to see if mine and Chilly’s fledgling prep sports website needed any help.

I told him I was looking to start a podcast covering high school sports in Chandler, and he jumped in with both feet.

That man’s name is Brett Quintyne, and I’m excited to have Season 12 of the C-Town Rivals Podcast move to its new home on Sports360AZ for the 2024 season.

For anyone that isn’t familiar with Brett’s work calling various games, or co-hosting the Saturday Morning AZPreps365 show alongside Jose Garcia and Zach Alvira, I figured this would be a great opportunity to get to know him by asking him about one of his favorite subjects; Chandler-area athletes.

Here are mine and Brett Quintyne’s top 3 most important athletes out of Chandler over the last decade:

Brett Quintyne: Chandler’s Bryce Perkins

There aren’t too many quarterbacks better than Bryce Perkins in the state of Arizona @ctownrivals pic.twitter.com/C7fKZynWjU

— Brett (@brettinaz) October 25, 2014

Bryce Perkins did win a Super Bowl with the Rams, and not too many guys from the Chandler area have Super Bowl rings, but it’s about much more than that- without Bryce as quarterback for the 2014 Chandler Wolves team, I don’t think they win the state title, and I don’t think that the Chandler Wolves become the dynasty that won five of the next six rings after that. You can argue that he started at all for the Chandler Wolves by getting the first ever win over Hamilton back in 2013, which kicked off the changing of the guard in both the city, and at the 6A level. Bryce means a lot to the community, and embodies the “Ohana” slogan the Wolves live by.

Editor’s Note: University of Virginia fans definitely agree with this

Ralph Amsden: Hamilton’s Preslie Anderson

Hamilton’s Preslie Anderson celebrates with teammates after defeating Desert Vista three games to zero. @ArizonaAIA pic.twitter.com/mVfkojKzhs

— David Kadlubowski (@Davidkadlu) September 14, 2016

Hamilton girls volleyball has long been one of the premier programs in the state of Arizona, and Preslie Andlerson might be the best to come through the program, if not the whole city. Anderson was an impact player as a freshman, and helped lead the Huskies to a state title appearance- and then stepped things up her sophomore year with a repeat trip to state, and Arizona Player of the Year honors. She repeated as Player of the Year as a senior, and then went on to become an All-Pac-12 player at University of California, and then helped Baylor reach the third round of the NCAA playoffs as a graduate transfer. Part of the reason I have her on the list of most important athletes of the last decade is her role as an assistant coach at Arizona State University, which seems to have had an immediate impact, with last year’s team accumulating the second most wins in program history.

Brett Quintyne: Perry’s Brock Purdy

Perry’s Brock Purdy broke the school record for TD passes in a season last night. He has 35 in 8 games. (Was 32- Josh Ulhorn in 2011)

— ArizonaVarsity.com 🔥PREPS🔥 (@AZHSFB) November 5, 2016

Perry High School is technically in Gilbert, Arizona, but everyone knows it’s a big part of the CUSD. Brock Purdy hasn’t been a pro for very long, but he had a remarkable college career, and heck, he is the quarterback of the NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers, and has become a poster boy for the NFL. The future is bright for Brock- he’s gonna get a very very handsome contract, his jersey is extremely popular., and he’s objectively one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL. When people think of Arizona high school sports in general, let alone the Chandler area, Brock Purdy is who comes to mind.

Ralph Amsden: Basha’s Demond Williams Jr.

Demond Williams dives for the pylon to make the score 38-38, Basha and Hamilton are headed to Double OT pic.twitter.com/yJi8EDijU1

— ArizonaVarsity.com 🔥PREPS🔥 (@AZHSFB) October 7, 2023

If Brett Quintyne is going to give Bryce Perkins his flowers for shifting the culture at Chandler, how about a QB that helped earn Basha an Open Division title, and went an insane 13-0 against the combination of the Chandler Unified School District, and Saguaro. Seriously- think about this… 13 games constitutes the longest season you can have in Arizona’s Open division, and over the course of those 13 games from 2020-2023, Demond Williams stat line was:

13-0
188/273 (69% completions)
2,820 passing yards
25 passing touchdowns
2 interceptions
961 rushing yards
14 rushing touchdowns

The kid had an undefeated MVP season against Casteel, Chandler, Hamilton, Saguaro, and their hated rival, Perry.

It remains to be seen what he’ll accomplish at University of Washington, but seeing how Jedd Fisch used Noah Fifita last year, it’s hard to imagine anything but success for Demond.

Brett Quintyne: Hamilton’s Cody Bellinger

🗣MVP. MVP. MVP.

Congratulations, @Cody_Bellinger, on being named National League MVP! pic.twitter.com/I71hbmcd2k

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) November 14, 2019

The Hamilton product was the MLB’s 2017 Rookie of the Year, and his homer in the division series against the hometown Diamondbacks made him the youngest player in Dodger franchise history to hit a postseason home run. We know how many times the Dodgers have been in the postseason, so that right there is special. Then in 2019, he had a fantastic MVP year with a .305 batting average, 47 homers, and 115 runs batted in. He’s been a bona fide big leaguer for a long, time so I definitely think that Cody Bellinger belongs here, and is easily one of the three people who I would say means the most to Chandler area sports over the last 10 years.

Ralph Amsden: Perry’s Koa Peat

Perry’s Koa Peat w/ a dunk in front of Bobby Hurley. ASU staff out to watch the #5 player in the entire 2025 class in the Arizona state championship game vs Millennium.

Meanwhile, Millennium’s Sabien Cain hit SEVEN three pointers in the first 10 minutes in front of ASU’s staff❗️ pic.twitter.com/VeWQP3eb7o

— Ralph Amsden (@ralphamsden) March 3, 2024

Chandler, Arizona is basically Arizona’s title town, but it took a long time for Perry to join in on the fun when it came to one of the major sports. Back-to-back-to-back hoops championships, as well as the fact that Koa Peat is doing this at a public school in an era when all the elite hoopers attend prep schools makes him one of the most important athletes in state history, much less the city. And we get to see him for another year? When it’s all said and done, Peat could stand alone as #1.