Jim Acton has been around small school basketball in Arizona, and with a lot of success.  Coach Acton has made stops in Valley Union, Saudi Arabia, San Carlos,  Superior, Globe, River Valley, and currently Chino Valley.  Coach Acton's Superior Panthers were the Class 2A State Basketball Champions in 1996 and 1998.  The Panthers were also the State Runner-Up in 1995.  Acton stresses defense and conditioning and believes his players will always meet the challenge in the fourth quarter.

Coach Jeffrey Griffith had an incredible record coaching softball at Cactus High School.  His Lady Cobras won six 4A State Championships under his leadership.  His girls were the best in 1987, 1989, 1994, 2003, 2004, and 2006.  Griffith's teams had won titles in 3 different decades.  The Lady Cobras were also the 4A State Runners-Up in 1995 and 2002.

Nadine Sass' Lady Camelback Spartans were the Class 5A State Volleyball Champions 5 times during her tenure (1980, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990).  Her 1988 team was the State Runner-Up.  Coach Sass' 1989 and 1990 Lady Spartans were back-to-back undefeated teams.  The gymnasium at Camelback now bears the Sass name. Coach Sass was inducted into the National High School Coaches Hall of Fame in 2021.

Dennis Pirch was a long time symbol of excellence in the 3A level wrestling programs of Arizona.  Coach Pirch was the head wrestling coach at Payson high school from the early 1980's to the early 2000's.  During that span Coach Pirch's Longhorns were the Arizona 3A State Wrestling Champions 7 times (1993, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99, and 2000).  The 5 years of back-to-back titles was a remarkable period of dominance by Payson teams.   Payson was also the State Runners-Up 4 times during that period.   Coach Dennis Pirch leads all Arizona prep wrestling coaches with 10 lifetime State Team Titles.

Bob Crosswhite was one of Arizona's winningest high school wrestling coaches during his career.  Coach Crosswhite led the Winslow Bulldogs and Joseph City Wildcats to 8 State Championships.  The Bulldogs were first in 1981, 82, 85, 86, 87, and 1988.  During that span Crosswhite's teams were also second in 1983 and had two thirds at the state meet in 1989 and '90.  The Wildcats were back to back State Champions in 1997 and '98.  Coach Crosswhite was a very common name on the mats of every high school in northeastern Arizona.