After grinding through 12 years of school, a senior’s final semester before graduation is usually a time of celebration.
There are pep rallies, easy classes, open periods, senior skip days, ordering your cap and gown and, of course, prom night.
Desert Pines senior Tony Fields is trading his tuxedo and pocket square for a helmet and shoulder pads.
While his classmates are celebrating, Fields will be on the field and in the weight room on the campus of the University of Arizona.
Wednesday afternoon, Fields put pen to paper and officially committed to Arizona.
He will graduate from Desert Pines early so he can enroll in college right away and take part in spring practice.
“It feels great,” Fields said. “I know I’m about to start the next level of my life. I have four years to make an impact on the college level and hopefully further my career to the pros.”
By graduating early, Fields will be able to participate in 15 or so practices that he would otherwise miss. That experience can be the difference between seeing the field on Saturdays or riding the pine.
To make it happen, Fields sacrificed his summers in the classroom and his nights studying at home.
“You lose a lot of sleep but it’s all worth it at the end of the day,” Fields said. “I didn’t always get to go out with my friends when they go out. I always had to handle more important business, but it will all pay off later on in life.”
Across the U.S. fewer than 3 percent of students graduate high school early, according to the National Center for Education Statistics' most recent report from 2004.
It has been Fields’ plan all along.
“It’s something that my dad and I thought about during my freshman year,” Fields said. “We just waited to see how things panned out and if I didn’t get the opportunities, then I was going to stay and wait for college coaches to come. But once I found the offer that I wanted and found out where I wanted to be I, knew that I was going to go.”
Fields was offered a scholarship to Arizona on Feb. 24 after four dominant years for the Jaguars at linebacker and receiver.
He is expected to play linebacker for the Wildcats.
“It think he’s the perfect fit for the modern game as an outside linebacker,” Desert Pines coach Tico Rodriguez said. “He’s very skilled. He’s able to cover slot receivers. He can come off the edge. He’s smart, he’s physical and he’s the prototype now.”
On Wednesday he sat in the Desert Pines gymnasium, his parents by his side, with the state championship trophy next to him as he proudly slipped on an Arizona Wildcats cap.
“This is a very special moment,” Rodriguez said. “It’s amazing to have a kid going to a power-five conference like the Pac-12. It’s always a great thing to see your kids that you’ve had since they were freshmen, and they said they want to be a Pac-12 player, and they do all the work and get a scholarship.”
Fields is currently finishing up his English and U.S. government credits, will attend his last day of high school on Jan. 6 and departs for Arizona on Jan. 8.
He plans on studying law at Arizona and will begin football activities as soon as possible.
“We will be doing workouts and watching film, and that starts immediately as soon as I get there,” Fields said.
And while he will miss some of the senior experiences, Fields holds out hope that he could make it back to Las Vegas for prom night. That will be up to his coaches at Arizona.
“I’m so ready,” Fields said. “It’s going to be a humbling experience for sure, but I feel like I’m ready to take on the challenge, and whatever comes at me I’ll be ready to overcome it.”
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