Nickolas Montei is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Liberty High School for AZPreps365.com.

Last Saturday, the Liberty Lions were dethroned from their back-to-back championship standing, with a heartbreaking 19-13 loss to Chandler Basha in the AIA Open semi-final round.

Despite the loss, the player development at Liberty is among the best in Arizona.

Once the class of 2026 graduates, head coach Colin Thomas will have sent a staggering 14 players to the Division 1 ranks, according to 247sports.com. 247sports.com is one of, if not the, premier recruiting analysis websites. Thomas began coaching at Liberty in 2020.

As of November 30, three additional players have received Division 1 offers, according to Arizonavarsity.com, which tracks all player offers across Arizona. 

“Liberty has been a great lesson,” senior athlete TJ Fo'ilefutu said. “They have been getting me ready for college. If you want to get ready for college, Liberty is the place.” 

Fo'ilefutu is one of five defensive players moving on to the next level this year, with three more players on offense also holding offers from Northern Arizona. 

Following his transfer from Tonopah Valley to Liberty before the 2025 season, Fo'ilefutu recorded nine rushing touchdowns, five tackles for loss, and four sacks. 

He committed to Hawaii in June, with two other FBS offers from UTEP and New Mexico State. 

Lining up next to Fo'ilefutu on defense was fellow senior linebacker Hudson Dunn, who also gave Liberty a lot of credit for his development. 

Dunn recorded 36.5 sacks in his three years as a varsity starter, including 15 in his sophomore season.

Unlike Fo'ilefutu, Dunn spent all four years at Liberty.

“They’ve changed me as a player and as a man,” Dunn said of Liberty. “These coaches have poured into me ever since I’ve been here.”

In addition to his four years at the high school level, Dunn also said he was a member of Liberty’s feeder program, giving him a special relationship with a lot of the players off the field as well. 

“They’re really my brothers,” Dunn said. “It’s a blessing to be a part of something like this.”

Dunn will continue his career at Minnesota, much closer to Michigan, where he is originally from. He is one of two players on Liberty who will be going to a power program. 

“I’m excited to get up there,” Dunn said. “Learn everything I can and put myself there to do what I need to do.” 

Both Fo'ilefutu and Dunn are going quite far from Arizona. Senior safety Zeth Thues, on the other hand, is staying close to home, committing to Arizona State.

Thues transferred to Liberty among a wave of exits from the Saguaro program during the 2023-24 scandals involving emails sent between athletic staff. 

Among many other players, Thues is thankful he chose Liberty as home for his junior and senior seasons.

“I’m so proud to be a Lion,” Thues said. “I’m so grateful I came over here, an amazing program. It really boosted my life a lot.”

Thues, who has said he prides himself on his physicality, plays the safety position more like a linebacker, constantly finding himself in the backfield. 

The 6-foot, 1-inch, 195-pound safety recorded two sacks and eight and a half tackles for loss in his senior season, according to Maxpreps. 

Thues is graduating from Liberty early to enroll at ASU in time to be a part of their spring season. 

Like Dunn, Thues highlighted learning in his excitement to get to the next level.

“Just to learn, man,” Thues said. “Just to get up in there and learn about the program, learn everything. Grow as a human first off the field and then on the field.”