Highlands Ranch High School quarterback Jake Rubley, the top-rated football player in Colorado in the class of 2021, says he is contemplating a move to Iowa.
The Kansas State commit may transfer to Valley High School in West Des Moines so he can play his senior season.
“You work your whole life to play football,” said Rubley, the 19th-ranked quarterback in the country by 247Sports.com. “And your senior season should be the most fun season you play.”
With the Colorado High School Activities Association yet to clarify the status of fall high school football in the state, the move made sense for Rubley. His father, Highlands Ranch coach T.J. Rubley, is an Iowa native. The familiarity with the area, along with a potential business opportunity for the family, has made the idea of a transfer something to consider.
“If you have a choice about where to live, one state is playing football and one state’s not,” T.J. said. “(Jake) wants to play. He’s worked his tail off, he’s worked very hard to do the things he’s been able to do. He’s still getting better and he needs a lot of work, but it’s a pretty simple decision.”
T.J. said his son has struggled watching other districts begin practices while teams in Douglas Country aren’t allowed to practice with a ball yet. And while he is all for a safe return to play, the delays and lack of a formal plan as of Aug. 3 have made him question the state’s commitment to returning kids to play football.
“My perspective as a parent is you have to go where they’re serious about playing football,” he said.
The Iowa High School Activities Association announced July 24 that its season will be played on schedule, with the first practice scheduled for Aug. 10. A seven-week regular season is set to kick off Aug. 27, followed by a playoff bracket that concludes Nov. 20-21 with the state championships. IHSAA was already the first high school governing body to bring sports back, allowing baseball to begin play June 15.
Jake’s likely not going alone either. Senior offensive lineman Tye Chirico and junior tight end Jade Arroyo may join their quarterback in Iowa if a season is delayed to the spring, according to Jake. And while the signal-caller is already committed, he thinks college recruiting is certainly a factor for his teammate’s potential move.
“They need to have film,” Jake said. “If they play in the spring those rosters are going to be filled up at those Division I schools, and they’re trying to get their school paid for and play at the next level, so it’s going to be huge for them to get film and play some pretty good talent.”
Despite the progress made on a move to Iowa, nothing is official yet.
Jake said an announcement from CHSAA or Gov. Jared Polis would have an impact on his decision — if it came soon. As an early enrollee, he wouldn’t be able to play in a spring season. But even if the season was delayed a few weeks in the fall, he knows what his answer would be.
“I would stay 100 percent,” he said. “If they came out in the next week and they had a for sure plan that we were playing I would for sure play.”
