MESA JACKRABBIT ALUMNI    
   

LEE CUMMARD

 Lee Cummard was named the 2004 Arizona Player of the Year and a McDonald's All-America nominee while leading the Jackrabbits to the 5A State Championship. He averaged 20.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists as a senior in 2003-04, shot 56 percent from the floor and made 41 percent of his three-point attempts. He was also named region player of the year in 2004 and played for the Arizona Cager Elite Club team.

A 6-foot-7 guard at Brigham Young, Cummard was the Mountain West Conference Co-Player of the Year and received Associated Press All-America honorable mention in 2007-08. The do-everything junior swingman led the Cougars in scoring (15.8), field-goal percentage (.569), three-point percentage (.472) and blocked shots (1.0) while ranking second in rebounds (6.3), assists (3.5), steals (0.9) and free-throw percentage (.857). Known as a fierce competitor and all-around contributor, Cummard also led the team in shooting, steals and minutes while ranking second in assists and blocks and third in scoring and rebounds as a sophomore. A three-year starter and top perimeter defender, Cummard has good ball-handling skills, excellent shooting range and the toughness to rebound and finish in traffic.

Read the archived  account of the 2004 Championship game HERE

GRAHAM HATCH
As a junior, Graham made the final four free throws of the 5A championship to propel Mesa to the State title. He averaged 14.5 points on 56 percent from the field as a senior at Mesa High before taking two years to go on his Mormon mission. He shot 34 percent from the arc and 85 percent from the line and as a junior, he was All-East Valley Region, averaging 10 points and four rebounds

Graham was named MVP in the 2011 NIT Championship game on March 31, 2011 at Madison Square Garden in New York City after Wichita State defeated Alabama 66-57.

AARON FULLER

The Arizona Republic's 2007-08 Big Schools (Class 4A-5A) Player of the Year, Aaron averaged 24.7 points, 11.6 rebounds, two blocks his Senior season. In January 2008, he set a school record for points in a game by hitting for 46 against Mesa Westwood. Mesa won the East Valley Region title and beat Mountain View both times in region play.
Aaron Fuller never missed a day of school at Mesa, was never late and put in extra time after school on the basketball court. That dedication paid big dividends when he was offered a scholarship from the University of Iowa.

Fuller, who played for Arizona Magic during the spring and summer AAU circuit, will bring a versatile game to Iowa City. Fuller is a face-up four that has a solid shooting touch out to the stripe as well as a fundamentally sound post-up game, including a nifty jump hook, Overall, Fuller is a great competitor with a terrific court demeanor that could propel him into contributing at the Big Ten level.

Aaron transferred to the University of Southern California and will join the Trojans for the 2011 season.

Read the Arizona Republic account of Fullers award HERE

DONTE MEDDER

Medder, a 6'1" 190-pound guard, was considered one of the nation's top point guards by ESPN.com with a national ranking of No. 14 among prep point guards. He was also ranked by Bob Gibbons All-Star Sports Report as the 140th top senior in the nation.

He was a three-year letter winner and two-year starter at Mesa (Ariz.) High School. As a senior, Medder averaged 22.6 points, 5.0 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 2.5 steals. He shot 47-percent from the field and 35-percent from three-point range in leading his team to a 15-10 record. He also converted 79 percent of his free throws.

Medder was a first-team all-state selection by both the Arizona Republic and the East Valley Tribune. He also earned first-team all-East Valley Region honors as a junior and senior. In his junior campaign, Medder averaged 14.0 points and 6.0 assists while teaming up with the Arizona Player of the Year Aaron Fuller, now at the University of Southern Cal. During his career, Medder totaled 1,032 points in his three seasons.

After two season at Tulsa, which were marred by two serious knee injuries, Donte transferred to Cal State-San Bernardino for the 2012 season.

Details of Donte's signing can be read HERE
 

Michael Crowell

Michael Crowell was a key on Mesa High’s 2003-2004 State Championship. He was named 2nd Team All-Region as a senior while averaging 12.8 points and 6 rebounds per game. Michael was key in limiting Desert Vista’s two 6’8 stars in the State Championship game, despite playing through severe shoulder and foot injuries which required surgery after the season.

Following his stellar high school career, Michael averaged 12 points and 5 rebounds a game at Blinn Junior College (TX) before transferring to Central Arizona College where he really blossomed. He ranked 12th in the nation in scoring (21.7) and 5th in rebounding (11.3) before accepting a scholarship to the University of Idaho. At the University of Idaho, Michael was a two year starter and averaged 10.9 PPG and 5..3 RPG and shot a team leading 45% from 3-point range as a senior. Michael is now playing professionally in Scotland for the Glasgow Rocks after successful stints in Spain and Germany.
 

HAKEEM ROLLINS
Hakeem Rollins was a vital player in Mesa High’s success in 2001. Averaging 10 points and 5 rebounds a game, he was also named the team’s Defensive Player of the Year. After graduating at 6’5 and about 200 pounds, Hakeem took an interesting route to college basketball. He turned down a full academic scholarship offer to the University of Arizona to pursue his basketball dream. He enrolled at Mesa Community College to play basketball, where he grew 3 inches and gained over 30 pounds of muscle. Following an All-American sophomore year in which he averaged 24.8 points and 9 rebounds per game, Hakeem accepted a full scholarship to the University of Washington. Hakeem was the starting center on Washington’s NCAA #1 seed featuring Brandon Roy and Nate Robinson.

Hakeem graduated with two degree’s, one being biochemistry (which was such a difficult degree that ESPN followed him throughout the NCAA tournament to show him taking finals on plane flights to each game for a segment on Sportscenter.) Since his days at Washington, Hakeem has become a hot commodity overseas where he was named the best American player in his league in Argentina. This past year Hakeem averaged 14 points and 8 rebounds per game for Gimnasia Esgrima Comodoro Rivadavia in Argentina’s A League.

BLONDY BARUTI

Blondy Baruti's story was well documented throughout his time at Mesa High School. Arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo as a junior standing at 6'8, 155 pounds, Blondy graduated at 6'9, 200 pounds and ESPN's 23rd ranked center in the country. In Blondy's two season's at Mesa High, the Jackrabbits were a combined 24-7 in games Blondy played. He finished his career averaging 10 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 4.3 blocks per game and an Elite-8 appearance. Blondy had a career high 17 rebounds vs. Desert Ridge in the 1st round of the State Playoffs and had two games in which he recorded 9 blocks. David Van Dyke (UTEP) and Blondy Baruti are considered the two best shot-blockers in school history. He earned Honorable Mention All-State as a senior.

Prior to his senior season, Blondy committed to the University of Tulsa, and joined Jackrabbit Alum, Donte Medder. Blondy made his Tulsa debut as a freshman against Oklahoma State in which he scored 3 points, had 2 blocks, 1 rebound, and took a charge in 7 minutes. Blondy is medical-redshirting the 2011-2012 season due to ankle surgery.

Read his Tulsa recruitment story HERE

JAHII CARSON
The Arizona Republic's 2010-11 Big Schools (Class 4A-5A) Player of the Year, all eyes were on Mesa point guard Jahii Carson during the season, and he didn’t disappoint. The 5-foot-10 senior finished the season with an average of 32.2 points per game, taking the Jackrabbits to the 5A Division I semifinals before getting knocked off by Brophy.

Carson’s swan song may have been his most impressive high school game. He shot 25-of-38 from the field and scored 58 points against the Broncos. If he didn’t foul out with 1:35 remaining, Carson may have broken the 5A single-game scoring record of 62 points, set by North’s Dennis Dairman in 1960. Jahii ended up being ranked by Rivals.com as the 33rd best player in the nation and one of the top point guards.

Carson will be leading the Arizona State Sun Devils during the 2012-13 season.

Read his Player of the Year story HERE.