There has been no conclusive agreement about the best all-around athlete in Tucson history.
From world-class sprinter and all-state running back Joe Batiste of Tucson High in the 1930s to Cholla HIghβs Vance Johnson, an NCAA long jump champion and three-time Super Bowl receiver of the 1990s, itβs a close call.
Olympic sprint medalist and NFL all-pro Michael Bates, maybe? NFL quarterback and all-state baseball and basketball standout Fred Enke? Or how about four-time rodeo world champ Sherri Cervi of Marana, who was also a basketball whiz?
But there is little debate about which Tucson athlete had an unmatched season of high school sports excellence β Sahuaroβs Rodney Peete.
Even though he was only a sophomore in 1981-82, Peete was a first-team all-state receiver β yes, receiver, which seems strange because Peete went on to finish No. 2 in the Heisman Trophy balloting as USCβs quarterback in 1988 and played 16 seasons as an NFL QB β and led Sahuaro to state championships in basketball and baseball.
Rodney Peete of Sahuaro High School tries to block a Phoenix Union player in the 1982 Class AA state basketball championship at the ASU Activity Center in Tempe.
Peete was a sophomore shooting guard for Hall of Fame coach Dick McConnellβs 1982 state championship basketball team, 28-1, the last Tucson team to win the state title at Arizonaβs highest classification.
It wasnβt that Peete was a go-to guy. That was 6-foot-5-inch senior David Haskin, who led the Cougars and the state with a 27-points-per-game average and became part of Lute Olsonβs first four Arizona basketball teams. And it wasnβt that Peete was Sahuaroβs leader. That was point guard John Gwozdz, a gamer, perhaps the top defensive player and floor leader of McConnellβs 39 seasons at Sahuaro.
The β82 Cougars had it all. Center Andre Lewis averaged 10 points and 10 rebounds a game. Power forward Nick Mueller averaged 14 points and seven rebounds. It mightβve been the best boys high school basketball team in Tucson history.
But in the 69-50 state championship victory over long-dominant Phoenix Union, it was Peete who scored 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting to key the blowout before 7,186 at ASUβs Activity Center.
Sahuaro High School coach Dick McConnell during the 1982 Class AA State Basketball Championship at the ASU Activity Center in Tempe.
βWe were in control all the way,β said McConnell, then 53, who could go on to coach at Sahuaro until 2007, adding back-to-back state championships in 2000 and 2001 and bow out with 774 victories, then No. 1 in Arizona prep history.
βWe dictated tempo, shot better and did a much better job rebounding. I kept expecting (Phoenix Union) to make a surge but they didnβt because we kept our poise.β
If thatβs not a description of a state champion, what is?
Sahuaroβs only loss in 1981-82 was a classic 65-64 thriller against rival Santa Rita, then a state power, in the region championship game. The loss didnβt slow the Cougars down. They blew through the state playoffs with double-figure victories over Phoenix Greenway, Phoenix St. Maryβs and Phoenix Union, which had won 16 state basketball championships.
McConnell was not one to publicly compare his 1982 championship team to his first of four state champs, the 1970 Cougars, only the second team in the history of Tucsonβs then-new eastside school.
But he did say that it was a luxury to have someone of Peeteβs skills combined with veteran starters Haskin, Gwozdz, Muller and Lewis. After the β82 state championship game, McConnell said: βRodney played like a veteran. He kept learning during the year but tonight he couldβve given lessons on how to play an all-around game. He was super.β
Sahuaro High School defeated Phoenix Union in the 1982 Class AA State Basketball Championship at the ASU Activity Center in Tempe.
Two months later in the state championship baseball game, Peete was the starting pitcher and leadoff hitter in a 6-3 victory over Phoenix Brophy Prep. Peete had not started a game as a pitcher all seasons but pitched 6 β innings and was the winning pitcher. He also had two hits, keying a loaded lineup that included future first-round draft pick Sam Khalifa and first-team all-state players Wes Kent and Joel Estes.
Peete played only one more season at Sahuaro, 1982-83, before moving to Kansas with his family for his senior year. Peeteβs father, Willie, had been an Arizona assistant football coach for 13 seasons before accepting a job on the Kansas City Chiefs staff.
A year later, Peete chose to attend USC over Arizona.
But his sophomore season at Sahuaro remains one for the record books.
