As exciting as it is to acquire the services of four and five-star premier talent, followers of college football recruiting are also often mindful of the proverbial “diamonds in the rough” each year in the form of prospects that for one reason or another lack major attention but have high-level potential.

Since Rivals began its evaluations for the 2002 class, ASU has had a handful of players that came to campus with little to no recruiting fanfare but exited Tempe with impressive accolades and some created legendary careers with the Sun Devils.

This list includes nine two-star recruits and one that was not even given a star ranking (though, spoiler alert, he turned out to be pretty good anyway). Also, this evaluation is limited only to recruits that had a two-star rating or worse as prospects.

10. P Josh Hubner (2011)

A two-star junior college signee for the 2011 class, Hubner became the most accomplished member of the signing class in terms of postseason accolades. With offers reported on Rivals also from Arizona, UNLV, and Utah State, the Scottsdale Community College product ultimately chose the Sun Devils over the rival Wildcats. His first season, Hubner averaged 41.3 yards per punt and as a senior compiled one of the most memorable in school history by a punter, averaging a school record 47.1 yards per punt.

A Ray Guy Award semifinalist, also in 2012 Hubner was a Third-Team All-American by Lindy’s in addition to numerous other All-America accolades and a Second-Team All-Pac-12 selection and he also participated in the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine. His 43.9-yard cumulative punting average ties for the second-best career average in Arizona State history.

9. WR/KR Rashad Ross (2011)

Signed a few weeks after National Signing Day 2011, Ross came to ASU with only Arkansas State and Utah State listed as competing scholarship offers after his time at California’s Butte Community College. Over his two years at ASU, Ross was a stable receiver as he totaled 55 catches for 864 yards with eight touchdowns and was an electric returns threat as he averaged 27.8 yards on kickoff returns with two touchdowns.

Ross finished his college career in spectacular fashion with 139 receiving yards and three touchdown catches against Navy in the 2012 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl and though he was not picked in the 2013 NFL Draft, he has been in the league all four seasons since finishing at ASU.

8. CB Deveron Carr (2008)

As senior at Scottsdale’s Chaparral High School, Carr made tremendous strides and earned late recruiting attention and ultimately landed offers from Arizona and Colorado State in addition to ASU. Ranked by Rivals as a two-star prospect and just the 24th best player in the state of Arizona, Carr signed with the Sun Devils. He played in a reserve role as a redshirt freshman and an injury cut his sophomore season short, but Carr would go on to start all 26 games of his junior and senior seasons.

In all, Carr appeared in 42 games with 34 starts and posted 86 tackles with 22 pass breakups and was named an Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 selection as a senior in 2012. Carr was not drafted in 2013 but spent parts of the 2013, ’15 and ’16 seasons with NFL franchises, playing nine games with Tampa Bay in 2013.

7. S Josh Barrett (2003)

A two-star prospect with no position ranking and no listed offers to compete with ASU, the Reno, Nev., product signed with ASU in 2003 and ultimately used his elite physical tools to make his way to the NFL. Barrett’s best season came as a junior in 2006 when he posted team-highs of 82 tackles and three interceptions and was named the team’s Defensive Most Valuable Player.

For his career, Barrett totaled 174 tackles including 15.0 for loss with six interceptions and 23 pass deflections. Known at ASU for his incredible combination of size and speed, at 6-2, 223-pounds, Barrett ran a 4.34-second 40-yard dash at the 2008 NFL Combine. A seventh-round pick of the Denver Broncos later that spring, Barrett played five seasons in the NFL.

6. DB Alden Darby (2010)

Darby did it all on the field at Long Beach (Calif.) Millikan High School, but the two-star Athlete prospect had no reported offers other than ASU and committed to the Sun Devils less than a week before National Signing Day 2010. Despite the minimal recruiting attention, Darby made his way onto the field as a true freshman and improved each year, earning Second-Team All-Pac-12 recognition as a junior in 2012 and First-Team All-Pac-12 honors his senior season.

A charismatic leader, Darby played cornerback and safety for the Sun Devils and posted 80 tackles with three interceptions as a junior and 72 tackles with four interceptions as a senior. Darby was not selected in the 2014 NFL Draft but has spent time on preseason rosters in the NFL each of the three seasons since he finished at ASU.

5. DE Dexter Davis (2005)

A local product from Phoenix Thunderbird High School, Davis’ Rivals profile lists no other scholarship offers beside the one ASU provided. Measuring 6-2, 215-pounds at the time of his recruitment, Davis went on to become one of the elite pass rushers in ASU history. Davis’ career began on a high note as he was an Honorable Mention Freshman All-American after posting 40 tackles including 10.5 for loss with 6.0 sacks. He would go on to record double-digit sack seasons in both 2007 and ’08 and was named a First-Team All-Pac-10 pick as a senior in 2009.

A model of consistency, Davis set a school record by notching 50 starts over his Arizona State career, never missing a game or a start in his four years as a Sun Devil. In the end, Davis finished his ASU career ranked third all-time in program history in total sacks (31.0), behind a pair of eventual first-round NFL Draft selections in NCAA sacks record holder Terrell Suggs and Shante Carver. Davis was selected in the seventh round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks and spent three years in the NFL and one in the Canadian Football League.

4. LB Dale Robinson (2004)

A New York native who attended Glendale (Ariz.) Community College, Robinson stayed in Arizona to become a Sun Devil, choosing ASU over a moderate offer sheet that also included Colorado State, Temple and Washington State. It didn’t take long for the two-star recruit to show five-star talent, as he started all 12 games of the 2004 season and earned Honorable Mention All-Pac-10 accolades by totaling 93 tackles including 13.0 for loss with 4.5 sacks and an overall aggressive knack for bone-jarring hits.

Robinson’s senior year saw even more growth as he was a co-recipient of the Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year Award with Oregon’s Haloti Ngata and was also a First-Team All-Pac-10 pick after collecting 115 tackles including 15.0 for loss with 4.0 sacks.

3. QB Taylor Kelly (2010)

After four-star prospect Pete Thomas decommitted from ASU in the 2010 cycle, the Sun Devils had to revert to backup options to fill the void at quarterback in the class as signing day approached. Just a few weeks before National Signing Day, ASU was able to lure Kelly away from his verbal pledge to Nevada – his only other reported scholarship offer – to ultimately sign with the Sun Devils. A two-star recruit with no position rating and listed as the fourth-best prospect in the state of Idaho, no one at the time could have predicted Kelly would become as integral to the Arizona State football program as he would over his five years in Tempe.

After seeing action in a reserve role behind Brock Osweiler as a redshirt freshman in 2011, Kelly, in what was a general surprise at the time, outlasted Mike Bercovici and Michael Eubank to become ASU’s starting quarterback in 2012 after Osweiler was off to the NFL. In season one as a starter, Kelly proved that the coaches made the right decision as he threw for 3,039 yards and 29 touchdowns with just nine interceptions and added 516 rushing yards and a score. The next year, Kelly not only topped those numbers with 3,635 passing yards with 28 touchdowns and 608 rushing yards and nine touchdowns, but also improved ASU’s team stock by guiding the Sun Devils to their first and only Pac-12 south division title.

Kelly’s senior season was significantly affected by a foot injury, but he graduated with four-year totals of 8,819 passing yards with 79 passing touchdowns and established himself as the top dual-threat quarterback in program history with his 1,404 rushing yards with 13 touchdowns. In terms of ASU career records, Kelly ranks third in program history in total offense (10,223 yards) and passing yards and is the program’s all-time leading rusher among quarterbacks.

2. WR Derek Hagan (2002)

From the moment he stepped on the field as a true freshman it was a head scratcher as to how Hagan was merely a two-star, unranked wide receiver prospect by Rivals for the 2002 class. With reported competing offers only from Fresno State and UNLV, the California native came to Tempe and not only worked his way into the lineup as a true freshman but surpassed program legend John Jefferson’s freshman receiving marks by catching 32 passes for 305 yards. As a sophomore, Hagan posted his first of three consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons by catching 66 passes for 1,076 yards with nine touchdowns, followed the next year with 83 receptions for 1,248 yards and 10 scores and lastly 77 catches for 1,210 yards and eight touchdowns as a senior. He is the only player in school history to post three 1,000-yard receiving seasons and is joined by Jaelen Strong (2013-14) as the Sun Devils with multiple 1,000-yard receiving seasons.

Hagan graduated as the Pac-10 Conference’s all-time leader in receptions (258) and his 3,939 yards and 27 receiving touchdowns remain school records as well. A third-round selection of the Miami Dolphins in the 2006 NFL Draft, Hagan played nine pro seasons. In 2015, Hagan was inducted into ASU’s Sports Hall of Fame and the next season he assumed the position of sideline analyst for ASU football radio broadcasts.

1. K Zane Gonzalez (2013)

In 2012, ASU endured instability at placekicker and used both Alex Garoutte and Jon Mora over the course of Todd Graham’s first season in Tempe. The next year, Graham signed a kicker as a late addition to the 2013 class, but little did Graham know that kicker would go on not only to become the greatest at the position in Arizona State history but statistically the best in NCAA history.

A 150-pounder from Deer Park, Texas without a star or position ranking by Rivals, no other scholarship offers are reported for Gonzalez beside that of ASU as he was nearly junior college bound before the Sun Devils offered in late March – nearly two months after National Signing Day.

Gonzalez arrived in the fall of 2013 and not only claimed placekicking duties from day one but did so in spectacular fashion, earning First-Team All-Pac-12 honors after connecting on 25-of-30 field goals, all 63 PAT attempts and ranking first in the league and 10th nationally in scoring (9.9 per game). Gonzalez earned Second-Team All-Pac-12 recognition as a sophomore in 2014 and after a solid junior season put together a legendary senior year for the Sun Devils.

Altogether, his senior season is one of the most illustrious individual efforts by an Arizona State athlete of any sport in school history as he won the Lou Groza Award, became just the third Unanimous All-American in ASU football history and was selected as a First-Team All-Pac-12 pick for the second time in his career. Gonzalez connected on 23-of-25 attempts including a school record 59-yarder and finished his college career as the FBS all-time leader in field goals (96), points by a kicker (494) and is also the holder of four other FBS records.