• Hildebrand is ranked as the No. 13 overall offensive tackle in the nation for the 2027 class by 247Sports.
• Arizona State, Miami, Alabama, Texas A&M and USC are among his current favorites.
• The 6-foot-6 left tackle has started every varsity game since his freshman year at Chandler Basha.

Chandler Basha left tackle Jake Hildebrand, the state’s No. 1 2027 college football prospect, said Arizona State and Miami are among the top potential schools on his recently revealed 10-best list.

Miami is playing in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl as part of the College Football Playoff semifinal against Ole Miss at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Jan. 8.

Hildebrand, 6-foot-6, 293 pounds, has started every varsity game since his freshman year and helped lead the Bears to the Open Division state title this past season. He won’t be able to attend the Fiesta Bowl because he’s in San Antonio, getting ready to play in the Jan. 10 Navy All-American Bowl. The game airs at 11 a.m. MST on NBC.

Hildebrand also has CFP semifinalists Indiana and Oregon, along with Texas A&M, Alabama, USC, Ohio State and Texas among his top 10 colleges.

“A few schools that are my favorite from the top 10 are ASU, Alabama, Texas A&M, Miami and USC,” Hildebrand said in a direct message to The Arizona Republic. “They have definitely been the schools that have been contacting me the most and built the best relationship with.”

There is no timetable for when Hildebrand will commit. He could wait until he makes trips this spring, summer and fall. But he is among the most coveted left tackles in the country, who has 38 offers, according to 247Sports.

The 247Sports Composite has Hildebrand ranked as the No. 13 overall offensive tackle in the country in the 2027 class. He is ranked No. 1 in the class of 2027 by The Republic.

Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. Catch the best high school sports coverage in the state. Sign up for Azcentral Preps Now. And be sure to subscribe to our daily sports newsletters so you don’t miss a thing. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert

• Three lawsuits are before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to prevent the U.S. Forest Service from transferring Oak Flat to a mining company.
• The site, sacred to Apache and other Native peoples, would be destroyed by a proposed copper mine by Resolution Copper.
• The land exchange was authorized in 2014 through a last-minute addition to a defense bill, sparking a decade-long battle.

Three lawsuits aiming to keep the U.S. Forest Service from turning over Oak Flat to a mining company for a massive copper mine go in front of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for arguments Jan. 7.

The British-Australian firm Resolution Copper has long sought the exchange to build a mine that bodes to obliterate a site Apaches and other Native peoples hold sacred. It also is one of Arizona’s few functional wetlands.

Two lawsuits filed by the San Carlos Apache Tribe and a coalition of environmentalists and the Inter Tribal Association of Arizona challenged the land exchange, authorized by a last-minute amendment to a “must-pass” defense bill in December 2014. The arguments in the lawsuits are based on the tribe’s religious beliefs and on environmental concerns, including disputes over water usage and possible damage of one of central Arizona’s key aquifers.

In the third suit, the latest to be filed, a group of Apache women who have spiritual and cultural connections to the site argue that the exchange would violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the First Amendment’s religious rights protections and two environmental laws.

Arizona’s Oak Flat: See 30-year history of the proposed copper mine there

Their lawsuit also brought two new factors into play: a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that affirms parental rights to direct their children’s religious education and references to Justice Neil Gorsuch’s blistering dissent to the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear another case related to the land exchange.

• The president praised both Jay Feely and Gina Swoboda as “Highly Respected America First Patriots.”
• The president’s team had not publicly confirmed his endorsement of Swoboda before the Jan. 6 social media post.
• The district, which includes wealthy pockets of Paradise Valley, Scottsdale, and north Phoenix, has a hot-and-cold relationship with the president.

President Donald Trump endorsed not one but two Republicans in a highly watched Arizona congressional primary, boosting a new candidate after his first pick met resistance from some in the GOP.

In a Jan. 6 social media post, Trump said he was backing Jay Feely, a former Cardinals kicker and sports commentator who recently switched his campaign into Arizona’s Scottsdale-area 1st Congressional District, in addition to Gina Swoboda, the state GOP chair whose candidacy has divided Republicans despite her securing Trump’s support in October.

The president praised both Feely and Swoboda as “Highly Respected America First Patriots.”

“JAY OR GINA WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” he wrote on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns.

The announcement is a blow to Swoboda, a polarizing figure among Arizona Republicans. Her longtime rivalry with Turning Point, the network of conservative advocacy groups founded by the late activist Charlie Kirk, has shadowed her candidacy, prompting attacks and infighting among Arizona Republicans.

The president’s team had not publicly confirmed his endorsement of Swoboda before the Jan. 6 social media post.

In an interview with The Arizona Republic, Feely said he thought the endorsement came back to his “friendship” and shared values with the president.

“I love what he’s doing. I believe in what he’s doing. I’m committed to the same principles that he and his administration have,” Feely said.

“We wish Gilbert resident Jay Feely well in his latest campaign for Congress, but nothing has changed,” Swoboda campaign consultant Chris Baker shot back in a written statement to The Republic. “Gina Swoboda will be the Republican nominee in AZ01.”

The endorsement will also set back two other high-profile GOP candidates in the race, the ultra-conservative state Rep. Joseph Chaplik and businessman John Trobough, who both told The Republic they, too, had been in touch with the White House.