Chandler 4-star '27 QB Will Mencl & Basha 4-star '27 RB Noah Roberts headline MVPs at UA Next Camp at Chandler HS

In past years, top AZ recruits had to travel to Salt Lake City or Los Angeles UA Next regional camps to get stars/rating boosts and go up against the best of the best on the West Coast. This year, Under Armor brought the camp to the valley, hosting it at Chandler HS on Sunday morning & afternoon.

Big-time recruiting analysts from 247Sports, On3/Rivals, & ESPN300 were all in attendance. That included Brandon Huffman, Greg Biggins, Blair Angulo, and the man who runs the show: UA All-America Game Director Billy Tucker.

Over 200 top prospects from AZ, CA, NV, WA, OR, & CO came to compete and several AZ guys went home with MVP awards:

QB - Chandler '27 Will Mencl

RB - Basha '27 Noah Roberts

WR/TE - Mesa '27 ATH Kingston Anetema

LB - Higley '27 Brysen Wilkinson

DB - Basha '27 Geremiah Grimes

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Several AZ guys looked sharp at UA Next, but these guys in particular were very impressive to me (alphabetical order, these are NOT rankings):

QBs

Ben Livingston, ALA Gilbert North ('27)

Mason and I did not get any clips of him, but he looked poised and consistently made good throws throughout the day. After a coming out of nowhere with a strong junior season (2,570 yards, 35 TDs, 5 INTs, 333 rush yds, 5 TDs) in 2025, I expect big things from him and an ALAGN team that returns a lot of talent.

Dayne Silver, Red Mountain ('28)

Silver is one of the marquee transfers of the offseason after two years as the varsity starter at 4A Eastmark. Silver has a D-I frame and arm and displayed that throughout the day, delivering strikes to WRs throughout route periods and 1v1s. His lone D-I offer is from NAU but I would expect that to change during his first spring ball with Red Mountain.

Jake Rogers, Basha ('27)

Rogers' stock has gone up exponentially since the start of November. I haven't been sent an official time, but Rogers ran a very impressive 40-yard dash, appearing to beat out Casteel '27 QB Tee Smith, who was a nearly 1,000 yard rusher with 15 rushing TDs in just 9 games this past season.

Rogers made impressive throw after impressive throw at UA Next after having a strong postseason to lead Basha to an Open Division title in the injury absence of now-Oklahoma State QB Brodie Vehrs.

Rogers holds D-I offers from Princeton and Colgate and will likely pick up more this spring, especially with the boatloads of college coaches that will be at every Basha spring practice. I am interested to see when/if he gets added to the Rivals and 247Sports rankings.

Will Mencl, Chandler ('27)

Mencl was the biggest riser and all the recruiting rankings this offseason and he showed why at his own school for UA Next. Delivering strike after strike and testing well, it is going to be quite the group of schools scratching and clawing in the Will Mencl sweepstakes.

It came as no surprise to see his name called for the QB MVP award.

RBs

I gotta be honest, the running backs were absolutely cooking the linebackers in the 1v1 sessions. This was a small but very impressive group. The guys that I expected to perform well showed us quite a bit of what we see in their hudl film.

D'Mari Bryant, Millennium ('27)

Bryant rushed for 2,225 yards, 32 TDs, and 9.2 YPC in 11 games as a junior, where he really came from out of nowhere. But going into UA Next, the name D'Mari Bryant was not a secret to the guys he was competing against. He won every single 1v1 rep that I watched and ran an impressive 40-yard dash.

Bryant picked up his first D-I offer from Idaho last month and I expect many more to come this spring, especially when he gets a great opportunity in front of several college coaches when Millennium and Canyon View get together for a Far West Valley Showcase in early May.

Jaylee Abraham, Desert View ('28)

Argue with a wall, but Abraham is the best RB we have seen in Southern AZ since Bijan and arguably the best overall player we've seen since Bijan, and he still has 2 more years of high school football.

The 2025 BJ Media RB of the Year dominated 1v1s and tested well at UA Next, and that's without having an opportunity to display his best ability - physicality and running through tacklers - at the showcase.

Regardless, he showed off elite route running and pass catching ability against some of the best linebackers on the West Coast and he is due for a potential historical junior season.

He picked up his first D-I offer from Georgia State in December and should have many more college coaches coming down to Tucson to check him out during spring ball. He's a no-brainer to be added to recruiting databases and he made a strong case for the running back MVP.

Noah Roberts, Basha ('27)

The highest rated running back at the event proved why he is such a highly-touted prospect. His incredible speed, especially at his size, was on full display.

The linebackers didn't stand much of a chance against his speed and route running during the 1v1 period. Although his rushing yard and TD numbers weren't as gaudy due to Josh Gaines' phenomenal 2025 campaign, his 50 receptions for 562 yards and 6 TDs as a running back at the highest level of AZHSFB is more than enough to turn heads.

He'll be on the watch to possibly receive a 5th star on platforms where he doesn't already have one.

Skyler Cole, Hamilton ('27)

Cole had his coming out party this past season for the dynamic Hamilton offense. Gatorade POY Roye Oliver was the talk of Arizona Ave, but Hamilton's passing game would not have been nearly as efficient if it weren't for the elite play of Cole, Jacob Brown and the running game.

Cole rushed for 921 yards and 8 TDs with a whopping 9.6 yards per carry in 10 games and his home-run hitting runs kept opposing DCs up at night.

He picked up his first D-I offer from NAU before the 2025 regular season even ended and he'll be a guy who's stock should rise in the spring. He's another guy I expect to debut as a 3-star sometime in May.

WR/TEs

Braxton Huynh, Liberty '27 WR

While Anetema was the overall MVP and the best WR on his side of the field, Huynh, a San Diego State commit, was arguably the best WR on the opposite side of the field. Huynh won all 5 of his 1v1 reps and really showcased his crisp route running and speed throughout the day.

Huynh committed to San Diego State over offers from Arizona, Kansas, Colorado St, NAU, and Sac St.

247Sports recently added him to their rankings as a 3-star recruit and #42 in the AZ '27 class, but he should be ranked a lot higher.

Daryl Little, Thunderbird '28 WR

The 2025 BJ Media WR of the Year was very impressive. After recording 60 receptions for 1,415 yards and 15 TDs, rushing for 330 yards and 3 TDs, and recording 5 INTs, 5 PBUs, 2 FFs, and 47 tackles on defense as a sophomore in 2025, the stats and film weren't ever a question.

However, there were some people questioning his competition level at 4A Thunderbird and he quickly silenced those questions when he cooked multiple of the best DBs on the West Coast at UA Next.

His lone D-I offers are from NAU last summer and Oregon State in January. I would expect that to change during spring ball and I also would expect him to debut as a 3-star in the next Rivals and 247 rankings update.

Henry Tauscher, San Tan Charter '27 TE

Tauscher is arguably the best returning player in all of 2A. The 6'4" 225 pound tight end was moving really well at UA Next, winning multiple 1v1 reps against top DBs on the West Coast just a week after helping the Roadrunners win the Copper Division (1A-3A Open) state title in hoops.

Tauscher received his first D-I offer from Colgate last summer before receiving an NAU offer on a September gameday visit and UNC Charlotte, Yale, Utah Tech, and Idaho in January and February. I would expect more of the Big Sky and multiple G5 programs to offer him this spring. He is another player that should be rated as a 3-star on both Rivals and 247Sports this spring.

Isaac Massey, ALA Gilbert North '27 WR

Massey is probably one of the most underrated players in the state. After recording over 1,000 yards and 9 TDs in 13 games as a sophomore, he totaled over 1,000 yards and 17 TDs as a junior this past season while also recording 6 INTs and 5 PBUs on defense as one of the top two-way players in 5A.

At UA Next, playing WR was the focus and he looked great doing it as a route technician-type of receiver.

Massey picked up his first D-I offer from Oregon State in late January and has received interest from several other schools. His performance at UA Next stood out among the best in the West and he's definitely a recruit to pay attention to this spring.

Jaden Baldwin, Basha '27 WR

Baldwin is very, very fast. I am very curious to see what his 40-yard dash time was, but he is without a doubt one of the fastest players in the state whether it's with track spikes on, a t-shirt and shorts at a camp, or when the pads come on in the fall.

Baldwin's most impressive 1v1 reps were on a go route where he simply just blew past the DB and a double move that had the DB hitting the spider man pose.

With Kash Brock graduating, Baldwin is going to have a huge senior season for Basha. With multiple P4 offers on the table including his Dad's alma mater of Pitt, there will definitely be some contenders "sending the house" this spring and summer to land Baldwin's commitment.

Jai Jones, Chandler '27 ATH

Wearing a black DB camper shirt, Jones went both ways at the camp, but his best plays were at WR in my opinion. My favorite drill that UA Next does is called the "WR Gauntlet" and Jones may have ran it better than any other player, simply making it look easy.

The 4-star will continue to be pursued by several different schools this spring and summer and it's probably easier to name who hasn't offered Jones than it is to name who has.

Kingston Anetema, Mesa '27 ATH

Anetema normally plays both ways for the Jackrabbits, but he was solely playing his primary position of wide receiver at UA Next, where he was named MVP. I only got to see one of his reps and a little bit of testing, but I definitely overheard some Ooo's and Ahhh's on the other side of the field when he stepped up for reps.

As someone who cut up film for every Mesa this past season, Anetema is due for a huge senior season after doing a great job utilizing his lower volume of touches in his junior season.

The 3-star recruit holds D-I offers from Cal, Colorado State, UConn, and Oregon State and is likely to pick up more in the spring.

Makai Nelson, Basha '28 WR

Another big name to transfer schools this offseason is Makai Nelson. He made the move from Mountain Pointe to Basha last month and will be yet another great target for Rogers to throw to.

Nelson turned several heads on Sunday at UA Next, running great routes and making multiple high-focus catches, including an insane one-hander that I'm not sure if anyone caught on video.

Nelson picked up D-I offers Arizona, Colorado State, and Memphis this offseason and will likely be rated as a 3-star very soon and pick up more offers in the spring.

Maxwell Sprott, Chandler '27 WR

In a crowded WR room at Chandler, Sprott is the one that doesn't get talked about a lot and I'm expecting him to have a 1,000 yard season this fall after senior Skyler Ormita graduates.

Sprott ran some great routes at UA Next and had a 1v1 rep where he probably created at least 5 yards of separation.

Sprott holds D-I offers from NAU and Idaho but is still unranked on Rivals and 247Sports.

Miles Woods, Maryvale '27 ATH

Like Little, Woods is another 4A prospect who stood out enough last season to get the invite to UA Next.

After transferring from Carl Hayden to Maryvale last summer, Woods made the transition from RB to WR and caught 7 TD passes in 5 games as a junior.

With a lot of questions about competition level from last season, Woods also answered the call when he went up against the best of the best and won of a few of his 1v1 reps and tested well at the showcase.

He'll be another prospect to pay attention to this spring. The main thing working against him in his recruitment will be only having 5 games of film at receiver because of transfer rules but those 5 games of film were so great that I see it being something he'll overcome. I also think NAU would be a great fit for Woods regardless of if he picks up additional offers or not.

Talan Scott, ALA Queen Creek '27 TE

Scott has been absolutely blowing up this offseason. He picked up double digit Power 4 offers in the last 2 months and has several official and unofficial visits set up for the rest of spring and summer.

After a strong camp where he ran a 4.8 40-yard dash, I think Scott has positioned himself to earn a 4th star between the additional offers and standing out against other 3, 4 and 5 star recruits at UA Next.

Scott doesn't appear to be in the narrowing down stage quite yet, so really any Power 4 program that has interest should pursue and can have a chance at landing him if they come with a good recruiting pitch.

Torrin Hill, Centennial '28 TE

The 6'3" and 220 pound TE/WR hybrid had himself a day at UA Next. Every time I looked up it seemed like Hill was blowing past a DB.

He also had one of the best WR gauntlet performances of the day and he proved why he was one of just 9 Arizona Class of '28 players that is already ranked on 247Sports.

OL/DL

Caleb Jordan, Basha '27 DE

A key piece of Basha's very deep defensive line, Jordan was impressive Sunday morning against some of the best offensive linemen on the West Coast.

The 3-star received several FCS and G5 offers early in his recruitment before picking up P4 offers from K-State and Iowa State.

He already has locked in an official visit to Iowa State, which had a high footprint of AZHSFB alums under Matt Campbell that will likely continue under Jimmy Rogers.

If he were to commit to the Cyclones, he would be the 3rd AZHSFB alum to commit to the Cyclones in the past two classes (Liberty's Tyler Burnstein & Campo Verde's Jake Jones).

Derrick LeBlanc, Hamilton '27 DE

LeBlanc had an absolutely monster junior season and finished 2nd in voting for 2025 BJ Media Defensive Lineman of the Year and 3rd in Defensive POY after recording 13.5 sacks, 33 TFLs, 78 total tackles, 7 forced fumbles, and 4 PBUs.

He picked up right where he left off in late November.

He also won several 1v1 reps against some of the best guards and tackles in the West.

The 3-star picked up offers from Colorado State, Western Kentucky, NAU, and Dartmouth this offseason to add to his existing offers from Arizona, Sac State, Eastern Kentucky, and Cornell.

I'm a bit surprised that he hasn't gotten more FBS offers, but spring hasn't even started yet so that could very well change. I don't think there's a defensive end in the state with better 2025 season tape and production than LeBlanc.

Landen Miguel Wade, Basha '28 DE

Wade is one of those prospects that just has size that you can't teach. As a sophomore he was a part of Basha's legitimate two-deep on the defensive line and guys like Wyoming EDGE Dante Bruley being on the same team made it difficult to put up gaudy numbers, but he showed flashes of how great he can be.

We got to see more of those flashes at UA Next.

Wade holds 14 P4 offers and counting and will likely be a fringe 3/4-star when Rivals and 247Sports update their 2028 rankings. He is a high-upside player that is due for a big junior season with significantly more reps.

Sione Taueli, Mesa '28 DE

Taueli was very impressive during the 1v1 session and showed off his speed off the edge.

He had an impressive sophomore season for the Jackrabbits and has a ton of upside at 6'5" and 220 pounds. He's also put on a significant amount of muscle so far this offseason.

Tye Kennedy, Mountain View (Mesa) '27 OT

One of the better tackles in Arizona looked solid at UA Next. His recruitment has blown up as of recent and he has well into the double digits of P4 offers.

I would expect strong contenders for his commitment to be his father's alma mater (Washington), Utah, Arizona State, Arizona, and a couple others. He already has official visits to Utah and Washington scheduled. He also may end up landing a 4th star on Rivals, 247, or both.

Yuen Taufate'e, Brophy '29 OG

There was only a handful of '29s in attendance, which is a testament to how special of a player Taufete'e has the potential to be. He really held his own against top notch and older defensive linemen and had some really good reps.

I've been impressed with him since he was competing in the summer big man competitions last summer before his freshman year. He backed that up with the pads on

as he was a finalist for the 2025 BJ Media Freshman of the Year award.

He holds D-I offers from Arizona, Oklahoma State, and Cal and I expect him to get many more this spring alongside fellow freshman OL starter Colin Itule.

LB

Brysen Wilkinson, Higley ('27)

When it comes to Higley linebackers, 6A-leading tackler and 2025 BJ Media LB of the Year Dax White is the player that gets the majority of the love.

However Brysen Wilkinson turned heads and shocked a lot of people, myself included, with his performance at UA Next, where he eventually was named MVP.

Many of the linebackers struggled in 1v1s against an elite running back group, but Wilkinson never wavered.

Wilkinson does not currently have any D-I offers or recruiting rankings on any of the platforms, but his MVP performance may start the process of changing that.

Injuries plagued his junior season but he was still able to put up some solid film in his 9 games of health.

Marc Duerson III, Basha ('27)

One of the hardest-hitting linebackers in the state had a solid day at UA Next, especially during indy drills and testing.

After recording 121 tackles, 6 TFLs, 2 FFs, and 6 PBUs in his junior season, Duerson picked up his first D-I offer from NAU last month. With how many college coaches that will see him this spring, I'd be very surprise if he doesn't add to that list.

At 6' and 200 pounds with great speed, I would expect him to be more of a nickel or strong safety at the next level, but at the high school level he's one of the best backers in the state.

DBs

Elijah Carothers, Centennial ('27)

The three-star looked like his normal self at UA Next, which is being one of the best corners in the state. Carothers made some nice plays during 1v1 sessions and showed why he is rated as one of the best prospects in a deep AZ 2027 class.

He holds nine total D-I offers (1 P4 - Iowa St, 6 G5, 2 FCS) and K-State seems to be in the mix of his recruitment despite him not reporting an offer from them quite yet. The 6'1" and 185 pound corner will be yet another prospect to monitor during spring ball.

Geremiah Grimes, Basha ('27)

Grimes really stuck it to the UA Next folks that didn't originally give him an invite. Grimes dominated the combine on Saturday to get an invite for Sunday and then he came right back to Chandler HS and picked up where he left off, this time against some of the best WRs on the West Coast.

Basha has been absolutely flooded with great DBs the last couple of seasons and buried in the fold has been Grimes.

Grimes was a part of Basha's 4x100M relay team that won the state title last year and his speed showed up on Sunday when he made play after play.

He does not currently have any stars or D-I offers, but he is another player that could end up blowing up this spring.

LeGarrette Blount Jr, Mountain Pointe ('28)

Cue in the "we're old" replies under this for folks that remember his father winning 2 Super Bowls and dominating the Pac-12 at Oregon. I'm sure LB and his father find the replies on all his D-I offer posts to be hilarious.

Blount Jr plays both ways for the Pride, but the focus at UA Next was him playing DB. I thought he tested well and he looked good during 1v1 reps.

Blount Jr made the most of his 7-game sophomore season after transferring to Mountain Pointe from Hamilton and will likely have a larger role on both sides of the ball this fall.

Blount holds D-I offers from UNC, UNLV, Memphis, Colorado St, Marshall, Southern Miss, and Sac St.

Nekhi Lambeth, Desert Edge ('28)

Lambeth won every single 1v1 rep that I watched with some of the WRs struggling to even keep their routes in bounds with the physicality he plays with.

He showed a lot of the same dominance I saw from him last month at Battle Las Vegas, where he won the championship with Tucson Turf.

The 3-star has a chance of being bumped to a 4-star alongside teammates Jalanie George and Jaelyn Easterling-Flores in the next rankings updates and has received six of his 16 D-I offers in the last 2 months.

It's safe to say Lambeth isn't flying under any radars and he is a well-known commodity at this point.

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With so many prospects in attendance, I'm sure there's definitely guys I'm missing on this list just because of not really getting much of a chance to see them or because of a lack of reps, so please don't take it personal if you weren't on the list. Every player that got the invite is elite, there were just some guys that were the best of the best.

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To access camera clips and MVP ceremony photos: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1q9x-PEgf1NciitlQ3BKItmbhIQxNzaPe

To download any clips that we posted to the BJ Media Twitter, copy and paste the link of the tweet to this website: https://ssstwitter.com/.