Tallying 100 tackles in a single high school season is quite an accomplishment.
Now try doing it three-straight years.
North Canyon High School senior hybrid linebacker/strong safety Tre O’Guinn recorded close to 400 career tackles with the Rattlers. Now the 6-foot-1, 200-pounder is hoping that production will produce a D-I scholarship opportunity in the coming months.“As recruiting is starting to heat up, I’m getting more Division I looks,” O’Guinn said to Sports360AZ.com. “When they start pulling the trigger on me they’ll definitely be happy.”
No one will argue O’Guinn, a three-sport athlete who also plays basketball and runs track at NCHS, has a knack for finding the football as one of the more complete defensive players in Arizona.
“His instincts have always been there but now he’s able to cover, as well,” Rattlers’ head coach Airabin Justin explained to Sports360AZ.com. “Not only can he play in the box but he can also play outside and cover receivers.”
Speaking of receivers, O’Guinn has benefitted from practicing against and training with ESPN Top 300 national recruit, teammate and close friend Solomon Enis .
“He’s a hard-working kid,” Enis said to Sports360AZ.com of his classmate O’Guinn. “He’s that player who’s going to do what other players won’t, especially in the off-season.”
The vocal and emotional leader of the North Canyon defense, O’Guinn was happy to give back to the school which provided him an opportunity to excel both in the classroom, as well as in athletics after his family moved from the west Valley into the North Canyon neighborhood.
“Staying home, not leaving [North Canyon] like other people do,” he said. “Always being there for somebody that was there for you from the beginning. The high school I was supposed to go to, they didn’t think I could play there. They gave me a chance here and I took it.”O’Guinn, who watches video of NFL ball-hawking stars Tyrann Mathieu and Kam Chancellor the night before every game, already has offers from Ottawa University, Scottsdale Community College and Simpson College (Iowa). A number of Big Sky schools like Montana and Southern Utah have shown interest, as well as ASU who is hoping O’Guinn walks on to Todd Graham’s program.
It only takes one Power Five school to offer before others will likely follow.
Wherever O’Guinn ends up, rest assured, he will give it his absolute best on and off the field.
The North Canyon Rattler community can certainly attest to that.
A Valley native, Eric has had a passion for the Arizona sports scene since an early age. He has covered some of the biggest events including Super Bowls, national championships and the NBA and MLB playoffs in his near 20 years in local media.