Brad Cesmat
For years now I’ve been telling anyone who will listen that we have a stadium void here in the Valley. I told East Valley leaders back in the early 2000’s that the site of Compadre Stadium in Chandler could be the perfect fit to fill the need. Now, that land is just another sea of houses. I bring this up because I was watching Chandler high schools football team run over a team from Georgia the other night. The game itself wasn’t much of a contest, but the facility that they were playing the game in, is EXACTLY what we need here in the Valley.
“The Star” in Frisco, Texas is run by Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones. It seats 12-thousand and according to the facility website http://thestarinfrisco.com/ has 30 flexible meeting spaces. Speaking to some of the Chandler high school contingent that was on the ground for the game, they couldn’t stop raving about the facility. This isn’t a shot at University of Phoenix stadium or even Sun Devil Stadium, but both are too big for these type of events. The passion towards high school, small college, and club sports has never been greater. We have no Valley facility to stage these types of events. We have the demand, we just don’t have the vision or leadership.
Holiday Leftovers…
Luke Neal, the father of Arizona Wildcat DaVonte’ Neal, is training college prospects for the NFL Draft in Scottsdale. BYU running back Jamal Willis is his latest project…
Randy Ricedorff has been a fixture at Show Low high school as the head football coach. He’s also been on the radar for jobs in the Valley over the last several seasons. Ricedorff is finally making the move off the mountain, having been named the head coach at American Leadership Academy in Gilbert…
Mitch Lightfoot was a terrific high school basketball player at Gilbert Christian, but he’s barely seeing the floor at Kansas. In the Jayhawks first 12 games, Lightfoot has played 49 minuets and has taken just 10 shots. I bring this up because the Jayhawks are bringing in former Arizona State freshman Sam Cunliffe for a visit on January 2nd.
Arizona State transfer Sam Cunliffe tells me he will visit Seattle on January 5th. Will also visit Georgetown on 12/30 and Kansas on 1/2.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) December 24, 2016
It’s “moving season” in high school football. When school gets back in session on January 9th, be ready for a giant wave of transfers. Already hearing that the big, established programs are going to see a new crop of “students” coming in the door. Sad reality of the world we live in…
