Senior Signing Spotlight: Jack Littleton

This is No. 17 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 286) of players from within the state moving on to the next level.

SPOTLIGHT: 2/25/20

Casteel High School senior Jack Littleton will get to keep playing football after he graduates this May. He signed a letter of intent earlier this month to Fort Lewis College in Durango.

The 6-1, 210-pound linebacker had offers from 10 schools. It was a late visit to FLC the weekend before signing day in which everything just felt right according to Littleton.

"The opportunity to play football and pursue a degree in Southwest Colorado is important," Littleton said in an e-mail interview. "Outdoor activities seem to be a big part of the culture."

He will know another person on campus as he has a cousin that plays on the Fort Lewis women's volleyball team.

Fort Lewis is a Division II school in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Skyhawks started last year 3-2, but injuries decimated the team and it lost its last five games. Darrius Smith was named the new head coach a couple weeks ago. Last year, Smith was the offensive coordinator at Bryant (R.I.). Smith replaces Brandon Crosby, who resigned to join the coaching staff at Boise State.

Littleton is a beast in the weight room at Casteel. The Chandler District school, located in Queen Creek, opened in 2015. It's weight room is dubbed The Steel Mill. The place where the size, strength, and speed are built even has its own Twitter account. Chris Musselman is the head strength coach and developed the program for Casteel's student athletes.

"There are a lot of colleges that don't have facilities like Casteel," Littleton said. "I have friends at other schools who tell me about their strength and conditioning programs and they really don't have one. Coach Muss does a fantastic job for all of Casteel's athletes."

Littleton went on to boost that squat number from last spring to 475. His maxes for the different lifts are 525 (deadlift), 285 (clean), and 295 (bench).

He was a four-year varsity player for the Colts. Last season, Littleton made 59 tackles and had 3.5 sacks. In addition to gaining the experience, there are other benefits to playing on the varsity squad in his earlier high school years.

"The access to the varsity level coaching on the field and in the weight room paid off for all of us," Littleton said. "Four trips to the playoffs, including one state championship (in 2017) was a lot of fun. Our hard work paid off."

In addition to football, Littleton competes on the Colts' track and field team. This spring will be his fourth year throwing the shot put and discus. His throws coach is Eric Young, who is also the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach on the football team.

"Being around him all year is good for team and position chemistry," Littleton said. "Throwing is all about very minute details and constantly serves as a reminder that the little things matter. I'm hoping to take state this year."

In addition to being a multi-sport athlete, Littleton maintains a focus on academics. He carries a weighted GPA of 4.19.

"It can be difficult, especially during football," Littleton said. "With track & field season, due to the long meets sometimes interrupting school, it's not easy balancing it all. But I get it done. My academics made some expensive schools very affordable. Some almost 100 percent if you include athletics. I'm proud that I could do that for my family."

In its second year at the 5A level, it was a successful season with a 9-4 record and a trip to the semifinals. However, it wasn't necessarily what Littleton had hoped for personally.

Over the summer at a camp in Montana, he pulled a hamstring. That forced a hard rehab the remainder of the offseason to get ready for the opener against defending 5A champion Centennial. Littleton made it back for that and made eight tackles as the Colts pushed CeHS and lost by just seven.

Then the very next week, he suffered a high ankle sprain. That injury caused Littleton to miss two games as he worked on his recovery.

He didn't miss any more games, but later in the season, Littleton was diagnosed with walking pneumonia. He played through it (lost about 15 pounds) and was physically drained.

"In the end, I was happy to help the team however I could," Littleton said. "Making it to the semifinals is great, but we fell short of the goal which was to go to state and win. This season taught me a lot about persevering in tough situations. I was dealt a bad hand, though I couldn't let that stop me from achieving my goals. I'm ready to go and compete at Fort Lewis!"