In January, Corona Del Sol Wide Receiver Raiden Vines-Bright announced that he would be transferring to IMG Academy in Florida. As of yesterday afternoon, RVB is not the only former AZHSFB rising star that will be taking their talents to Bradenton, Florida. Tolleson TE Judah Lancaster announced on social media that he will also be transferring to IMG for the Fall 2024 Season.

Lancaster, considered to be one of the top recruits in the Class of 2027, was expected to be a big part of the receiving core at Tolleson this season. The 6’3, 205-pound freshman appeared in 8 games last season for T-Town, posting a season stat line of 17/194/2. Despite this, his measurables and potential has peaked the interest of 20+ Division 1 Colleges around the country. His offers include the likes of Alabama, Oregon, Texas A&M, and many more. Lancaster racked up these offers in just the last couple of months. We can expect to see the two-way sophomore’s recruitment blow up even more this upcoming season, as he continues to impress coaches at the next level and only grow more as a player from here.

The interesting trend of receivers leaving the school continues for Tolleson with the loss of Lancaster. In January, WR/FS Hamisi Juma left for Chandler. Just two weeks later, WR Asad Ali left for Centennial. In addition to contributing on offense, Juma led the team in tackles per-game and tackles-for-loss last season. On the other side of the ball, Ali finished with the 2nd-Most receptions and 2nd-Most Touchdowns for Tolleson. Both will be with different schools this upcoming season. Now, Junior Rico Blassingame and Senior Tyeshon Howard will be called upon to carry the load on offense, a task that is well-doable for the duo.

Lancaster’s transfer to IMG continues the trend of high school players moving schools in the ultimate pursuit of setting themselves up for a successful athletic career. Despite callouts from some in the community, there is no indication that there will be a change to player’s ability to transfer schools freely any time soon. It will be interesting to see what moves come in the future from AZHS Stars.