With nearly a handful of Power 5 program offers just months after his sophomore season concluded, wide receiver Deric English is certainly the exception, not the norm among local 2023 prospects. The Sun Devils recently offered the 6’4” 215-pound Scottsdale Saguaro player, and he told us that the college team in his backyard has been making a significant impression on him through their recruiting efforts.

“I've been in touch with them for a couple of months now,” English said. “I've been talking a lot of coaches there…the offensive coordinator (Zak Hill) the wide receivers coach (Prentice Gill), and it was coach Gill who gave me the offer. He said I was very impressive for my size, how fast I am at that size (English reported a 40-time of 4.52), and what I’m already doing at a young age. He said he loved seeing that much talent in-state around him.

“I would like to say I'm a very different wide receiver than everybody else because I got the whole mix. My athletic abilities are through the roof, I make some crazy catches, and my speed is hard to catch up to.”

English spent his sophomore year at another local high school, Glendale Mountain Ridge, and his transfer to Scottsdale Saguaro, according to him had various reasons, although he wasn't necessarily exclusively motivated by the multiple state championship the Sabercats have captured in the last decade.

“A lot of it (the decision to transfer) was the athletic part,” English remarked, “and a lot of it has to do with academics too. They're really very organized with everything, and they have help for you whenever you need it. They really help you focus on school, and that's really what I needed. Really all the people that are easy to get along with. It's a small campus, and you really get to know everyone around you.

“I just feel their program would just make me better overall.”

By his own admission, English doesn't watch much college football in-person or on TV, which is the reason why he didn't attend more than just a few games held at Sun Devil Stadium. Nonetheless, that doesn't diminish his affinity to Arizona State, and there’s naturally a great degree of familiarity with the team and the school itself.

“I've liked them (ASU) my whole life,” English stated. “It is a nice school, and it’s a place I drive by almost every day. I just love the campus, and I know if I went there, it'd be a good environment being so close to home. I’ve seen some good receivers play there, like Brandon Aiyuk - he's a crazy good athlete.”

Arizona State has prided itself playing their younger players early and often in their career in Tempe, and there are no shortage of starters on both sides of the ball on their current 2021 roster who have actually started multiple games as a true freshman. That fact hasn’t gone unnoticed by English and has been highlighted throughout the recruiting process with the Sun Devils.

“A lot of what I like about them has to do with them starting young guys,” English described. "That's one thing that really caught me. The (ASU) coaches talk a lot about that, and they always tell me that they start whoever is the best. I really like how they early on want to know me on a personal level and talk about whatever.”

English has offers from Florida State, Michigan State, and Arizona, and most Power 5 offers have arrived just in the last two weeks. English feels that ASU has been recruiting him the hardest out of all his suitors and showing the highest level of interest as well. That undoubtedly bodes well for a school already located in his backyard.

“My family and I talked about (possibly) sating close to home,” English noted, “because it's never a bad thing. I'm still doing a lot of my research, and I really want to get to know everything about ASU. I didn’t have a chance to take a (football) visit, but when I can see it will probably be the first one on tour (of the schools recruiting him).

“For this type of program that they have going on, to what their building process is like and everything, it’s definitely gonna be one of my top schools.”

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