Arizona-Kansas State battle highlights local kids coming and going

Arizona football wide receiver Tre Spivey and Kansas State safety Gunner Maldonado face their former teams on Friday.

Sep 11, 2025, 8:25 AM Updated: 12:07 pm

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Both the Arizona and Kansas State Wildcats have a transfer from the opponent on their roster.

Arizona’s Tre Spivey and Kansas State’s Gunner Maldonado are also both Chandler natives.

“Definitely, when I committed here, I thought it was going to be an awesome opportunity to play against my old teammates again,” said Spivey, who went to Hamilton High School and is the son of former Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Junior Spivey. “I thought that was a cool little detail.

“Honestly, I look back at those days (at Kansas State) and I smile, because I feel like I grew a lot there,” Spivey said. “Just kind of getting a formula for how to become a man, and I think that coming to Arizona has helped me grow and expand off of that.”

The 6-foot-4 sophomore recorded 14 catches for 160 yards last season with KSU and through two games at Arizona has two catches for 37 yards and a touchdown.

The landscape of college football has shifted, with transferring becoming more common for players to get playing time and find new environments.

“I’m happy for Tre Spivey, that he found a home and that he’s playing,” Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman said. “That’s what it’s about: finding a place that you fit and play. I’m happy for Tre, happy we were able to get Gunner here, but that’s just college football now.”

Maldonado, who went to Chandler High School, spent four years in Tucson, piling up 172 tackles, four interceptions and six forced fumbles before a serious knee injury ended his season early on last season.

“I would love to have Gunner here because when you have multiple guys that have that much experience, there’s so much more you can do with packages,” said Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales. “But being an every-down player, knowing the wall he was against, he decided that going to Kansas State would give him that opportunity to have a refreshed start.

“As a person, I absolutely love Gunner. Any kid that decides to give themselves a better chance — like, the city of Tucson should still love Gunner Maldonado.”

Both sides will look to come out victorious against their former teammates, but there is a mutual respect the players have for each other.

“I’ll always appreciate my boy Gunner,” Arizona safety Dalton Johnson said. “He’s a great athlete and a great teammate. We definitely had a connection when he was playing here … Never mad at him, wish him the best of luck and excited to see him this weekend.”

Added defensive back Genesis Smith: “That’s my dog, but it’s war time, man. … That’s one of my best friends when I was here. Paved the way for me, honestly.”

Arizona vs. Kansas State football history reset

For the second consecutive week, the Arizona Wildcats (2-0) will face another group of Wildcats, this time Kansas State (1-2) on Friday at 6 p.m. MST on FOX.

Both teams are in the Big 12, but the game was scheduled before Arizona’s departure from the Pac-12, so it will not count for conference play.

The two programs have had wildly different starts to the year. Arizona has dominated their first two games by a combined score of 88-9, while each of Kansas State’s three games has been decided by three points.

This will be the ninth-ever matchup between the two schools, with UA holding a 5-2-1 record. The schools have only met once since 1979, a 31-7 KSU victory last season in Manhattan.

Kansas State is the first Power Four opponent for Arizona.

“Each week is a faceless opponent,” Johnson said. “We’re just trying to be the best we can every day. We’ve got a big game in front of us, so it’s a great one to win.”

Both quarterbacks come in having played well to start the season.

Kansas State’s Avery Johnson and Arizona’s Noah Fifita enter the game on pace for career bests in yards per game in the small sample size of the season at 254 and 276 yards per game, respectively.

Fifita is also the conference leader in passer rating.

“I think we all know what kind of conference we have and how competitive it is,” Klieman said. “The quarterback play is I think where it’s really, really good right now.”