Senior Signing Spotlight: Conner Cordts

This is No. 6 in a month-long series of profiles of Arizona high school seniors that signed with four-year colleges. Here's the full list (currently totaling 270) of players from within the state moving on to the next level.

SPOTLIGHT: 2/13/20

Conner Cordts waited, and eventually, went with the school that showed him the love first.

The Cactus senior, who quarterbacked the Cobras to within a whisker of the 4A Conference championship game, signed with Concordia St. Paul, a Division II program in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

Cordts committed last Tuesday in front of his teammates in the gym and made it official the next day.

"I became aware of Concordia St. Paul when the quarterbacks coach (Ollie Taylor) reached out to me in early December," Cordts said in an e-mail interview. "I loved the fact that they were my first Division II offer, and they took a chance on me."

The 6-2, 190-pound signal caller ended up with a total of six D-II offers to choose from. He took a visit up to the Twin Cities and came away impressed.

"I loved the big-city atmosphere, the family-oriented team, and the religious aspect," Cordts said. "The #1 appealing factor was the coaching staff. I loved head Coach (Shannon) Currier and Coach Taylor. They're coaches that are not only going to push me to be the best quarterback I can be, but also help me to become a better person and better man."

Cordts was 16-5 as a starter over the past two seasons. Last year, he threw for 2,158 yards and 27 touchdowns. The element he added to his repertoire as a senior was using his speed and agility to carve through defenses on the ground. Cordts rushed for 841 yards and 16 TDs.

One of the highlights for the Cobras in 2019 was beating rival Peoria not once, but twice. CHS knocked the Panthers out of the playoffs in the quarterfinals, 34-7. On that night, it was through the air that Cordts did his damage as he passed for 240 yards and had touchdown strikes to seniors TJ Rucker and Nicc Quinones.

When Cordts started his time at Cactus, it was with legendary head coach Larry Fetkenhier. In the last two years, it was Joseph Ortiz at the helm bringing an energy to the team that Cordts said was "fun to be around". In addition to those two men, Cordts credits Mason Crossland with his development. Crossland played quarterback at Higley just a few years ago and came on to the CHS staff last year as the QB coach.

And then, of course, there are his teammates.

"The main thing that made Cactus an enjoyable football experience was the brotherhood I had with my teammates," Cordts said. "As a team, we were all really close and that led to our success on the field."

Cordts has also had a basketball experience at Cactus. He has played on the varsity team for all four of his years and is averaging 10 points and seven rebounds per game. His football season ended with a heartbreaking 28-27 loss to Mesquite in the semifinals on Nov. 22 and 10 days later, he was suiting up on the hardwood for the hoop team for its season opener at Ironwood. Cactus travels to Yuma on Friday night for a 4A play-in game against Gila Ridge.

Cordts plans to study Kinesiology and has plans to pursue a doctorate in Physical Therapy.

Concordia St. Paul added 48 recruits in this class (29 from high schools and 19 transfers). The only private, Division II school in the state of Minnesota, CSP had a winning season (6-5) in 2019. It was the best record for the Golden Bears since 2011.