Anyone watching Flowing Wells High School’s junior varsity baseball game against Sierra Vista Buena on Friday afternoon probably had no idea that the 70-year-old man coaching the Caballeros has a sports background among the best in Tucson history.
Jeff Stanley, who was coaching his last game at Flowing Wells, not only was a star receiver/defensive back on Flowing Wells’ 1971 and 1972 state championship game football teams under coach Larry Hart – the Cabs went 19-2-1 in those seasons – but was also a three-year starter for Flowing Wells baseball teams of the early ’70s, and also a two-year FWHS basketball starter.
Stanley became a starting shortstop for Central Arizona College in 1976 when the Vaqueros won the NJCAA national championship. He was then recruited by UA coach Jerry Kindall to play for the Wildcats, who were coming off the 1976 NCAA championship.
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Stanley was a reserve outfielder for Arizona in ’77, but transferred to NAIA Emporia (Kansas) College to join a historic team coached by Palo Verde High School grad Dave Bingham.
Former Tucson Baseball players Fred Riesgo, Jeff Stanley, Darrell Alexander, Nick Barnes and Pete Villaescusa were all members of the 1978 Emporia State college national championship team and were inducted into the school's hall of fame in 2004. The copy photo is from the 'Sunflower' which is the school year book from 1978.
With Stanley starting at shortstop in ’78, Emporia won the NAIA national championship, a Tucson-stocked team that included Tucsonans Fred Riesgo, Tom Riesgo, Darrell Alexander, Rick Barnes and Pete Villaescusa.
Stanley returned to Tucson, earned a UA degree in engineering, raised seven children and was a civil engineer in Tucson for almost five decades. He has spent the last 14 years coaching in the Flowing Wells baseball program, helping his alma mater in his spare time.
That’s a career well done.
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