The football players who took part in Friday’s Southern Arizona All-Star Showcase at Tucson High generally fell into two categories — those who plan to play collegiately starting this fall, and those suiting up one last time.
Jamir Gasaway fell somewhere in the middle. Sahuaro High School’s do-everything wide receiver, defensive back and kick returner has the ability to play at the next level. His high school coach, Scott McKee, calls him an “SEC talent.” The man in charge of the Blue Team on Friday night, Nemer Hassey, summed up Gasaway with one word: “Electric.”
However, challenges related to the coronavirus pandemic, remote learning and a family illness has Gasaway’s career in limbo.
Friday may have marked his final football game, though Gasaway hopes that’s not the case. If anything, he hopes game film from Team Red’s 10-5 win over Gasaway’s Team Blue will find its way to colleges looking for an athletic, versatile player.
He called the Showcase “great.”
“It’s an unbelievable feeling just to play one more time on the field and showcase what I got, so I can get to the next level,” he said.
Heading into the 2020 season, the 6-foot-2-inch Gasaway was expected to be one of the top playmakers in Southern Arizona. He rushed 49 times for an eye-popping 942 yards and 11 touchdowns as a junior in 2019, and the Cougars earned the No. 1 seed in the Class 4A bracket.
But then coronavirus pandemic hit, and Gasaway did not play for the Cougars during their truncated three-game season. He fell behind academically, too. Gasaway did not graduate with his Sahuaro teammates last month; instead, he’s finishing up the final credits of his senior year at Canyon Rose Academy, a tuition-free public high school where students who were unable to graduate can earn a GED.
Like so many other students in Tucson, Gasaway struggled with remote learning. He called it “a big transition.”
Gasaway blamed “a bunch of family issues and I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to do” and online connection problems. He and his family moved across town, and transportation issues meant he couldn’t take COVID-19 tests with his teammates early in the morning. As the fall semester progressed, Gasaway’s attendance — both in the remote classroom and the real-life football field — plummeted. By December, he was no longer a student at Sahuaro.
Said McKee: “I think the thing with remote learning is people didn’t know how to conduct it — students, teachers or parents. … It’s not the same when you don’t have them (in person) every single day.”
While home this spring, Gasaway took on a larger role in helping take care of his older brother, Keandre, who was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer two years ago. Their mother, Gabrielle McBride, worked throughout the pandemic. And while she wanted him to focus on football and school, Gasaway was able to contribute at home.
“We’re close and we do mostly everything together. That’s definitely my big brother,” he said of Keandre, 24. “I was going to just watch him and work to help my mom around the house, but she told me to stick to what I’m doing. I’m here today because of her.”
Eventually, Gasaway worked his way back into the classroom and is on track to graduate from Canyon Rose this summer. He has drawn interest from Bakersfield College and Shasta College in California. Football — and college — could be in his future.
“He’s a special kid, man. We just gotta fight through this,” McKee said. “There’s a lot of kids who’ve gone through the junior-college ranks.”
Wherever Gasaway lands, the chance to play football won’t be taken for granted. Whether it was his final football game or not, Friday night’s showcase was a window for him to display his raw potential.
“I feel like I’m one of the best in the Class of 2021,” Gasaway said. “This next opportunity for me, I have to do my part as a student-athlete and take care of school first to get to that next level, then hit the weight room hard . And then it’s up there for me.”
