Every year, Pete Kaffey’s nationally acclaimed basketball program at AZ Compass Prep attracts more than a dozen of the top high -school-aged basketball players in the country and world.
The list of former AZ Compass players who’ve been drafted in the NBA is growing at a rapid rate and Kaffey’s 2024-25 roster featured players from five different states, Finland, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Four of the five seniors from that team signed with Division I schools. Two players taken in the 2025 NBA draft, Jeremiah Fears (Oklahoma) and Javon Small (West Virginia), came up through the Chandler, Arizona-based program.
The AZ Compass path is a highly competitive alternate route for players looking to take their game to the next level, but it’s not for everyone. It demands a level of dedication, commitment and, perhaps above else, maturity, from teenagers who otherwise wouldn’t be leaving home for another year or two.
Now in his freshman year at Gonzaga, Davis Fogle was 17 years old when he decided he’d leave his hometown of Anacortes, Washington, to sharpen his game in the Phoenix area, transform his body and develop the tools necessary to contribute for Mark Few and the Zags early in his college career.
Fogle’s game was already advanced – that’s a prerequisite for anybody joining AZ Compass’ loaded roster – but Kaffey noticed other things that distinguished the Washington native from his teammates.
“Nobody knows this,” Kaffey said, “but Davis actually lived on his own.”
Those who transfer to AZ Compass from outside of the Phoenix area are invited to reside in a boarding house on school grounds. Players who forgo that option typically have a parent or guardian living in the same house during their time at the academy. Fogle chose neither.
His parents had the financial means to purchase a temporary rental home in the area, but only made a handful of visits during Fogle’s lone year in Chandler. So, the 18-year-old who otherwise would’ve been living back home, attending high school football games on Friday night and spending off-hours with friends, made a noble sacrifice and traded social outings in Anacortes for long, tiresome gym sessions in Arizona, followed by solitude in a single-bedroom home.
Others in his position might struggle with the newfound independence. Fogle used it to his advantage, gaining many of the life skills he would’ve otherwise developed during his freshman year at Gonzaga.
“The fact that he just went home after practice, he didn’t do no nonsense, he didn’t have a car,” Kaffey said. “You’re a basketball star, you’re in Arizona, recipe to do anything right? This kid was focused, up in the morning, late nights. He was locked in.”
Fogle’s role at Gonzaga as a freshman still hasn’t been defined and his minutes could hinge in part on transfer guard/wing Tyon Grant-Foster receiving an eligibility waiver from the NCAA. As of Tuesday, five days before GU’s annual Kraziness in the Kennel showcase, the Zags still hadn’t received clarity on whether the former Grand Canyon standout would be able to suit up for another college season.
“We haven’t talked a lot about that,” Fogle said of his role during an interview at Spokane Hoopfest in July. “As of right now, just doing what I can in practice and workouts and let everything else take care of itself. As of right now they’ve got me in the ‘2’ and ‘3’ positions.”
Nonetheless, Fogle feels and looks more equipped for whatever role he’ll slide into at Gonzaga after a pivotal year at AZ Compass Prep where he played alongside other college and NBA prospects and faced a national schedule that pitted the wing and his teammates against many of the top high school teams in the country.
“His ability to score the basketball at that size and play multiple positions, I thought that was intriguing,” Kaffey said. “He seemed like this little tough-nosed competitor and it seemed like he just was in love with basketball. Just a kid that was in love with basketball. You could see all those things, just how he approaches the game.”
Fogle was an established scorer in the Washington 2A ranks prior to arriving at AZ Compass Prep, averaging more than 30 points as a junior at Anacortes High. He would’ve had a chance to do the same as a senior, probably without breaking a sweat, but knew it wasn’t conducive to his long-term development and aspirations of playing in college and beyond.
“Just playing against bigger and more physical guys and just being able to play through contact better and just guarding better, multiple positions and stuff,” Fogle said.
Fogle arrived in Chandler with a rail-thin frame, listed by multiple recruiting services last spring and summer at 6-foot-7, 175 pounds. Transferring to AZ Compass not only allowed him to put on mass and strength through the program’s college-level weight training program, but routinely placed him in matchups where he didn’t have a size advantage.
“Shooting the ball consistently, playing against physical teams,” Kaffey said, asked what areas the coaching staff highlighted when it came to Fogle’s development. “Because he’s so frail, he got bigger but he used to be so skinny. It used to bother him. And making better reads. And defensively moving his feet.”
At the 2A level in Washington, Fogle usually wasn’t seeing the best teams in his own state. At AZ Compass, it wasn’t uncommon to encounter the top high school teams in the country, often two or three of them in successive days.
Before the Chipotle Nationals tournament, AZ Compass was ranked No. 14 in the country by ESPN and had already stashed wins against No. 2 Link Academy, No. 4 Brewster Academy, No. 5 Prolific Prep, No. 7 Montverde Academy and No. 9 Wasatch Academy. AZ Compass also had a number of close calls in losses to No. 3 Long Island Lutheran, No. 6 CIA-Bella Vista, No. 8 IMG Academy, No. 16 Sunrise Christian and No. 19 Calvary Christian.
“It was a great experience, just playing in that competition and playing with other great players, traveling and just getting ready for this level,” Fogle said. “Kind of on the same schedule we are here as far as weights every day and workouts and practice. Definitely a good decision.”
Fogle was the MVP of a nationally televised game against Montverde – the high school program where former Gonzaga point guards Andrew and Ryan Nembhard starred. He scored 12 points, pulled down seven rebounds and totaled three assists in a gritty 45-41 win at the prestigious Hoophall Classic event.
“I’m happy he came here because you could tell all he knew how to do was score and sometimes he didn’t see the floor right,” Kaffey said. “And that’s all he was focusing on, so when he wasn’t doing that at times, he felt like he was being used right and I think he finally understood.”
On an unusually small AZ Compass team, the longer and taller Fogle could shift between positions, playing point guard on offense in games where he may have also been guarding the opponent’s power forward.
“He could guard other 4s and then he could beat a lot of 4 men off the dribble,” Kaffey said. “Then at times we had him playing the ‘1’ because at times he was our best ball-handler, and then to score we’d put him at the ‘2.’ So he was just a basketball player for us.”
Kaffey is regularly in communication with NBA teams that show interest in his players. Multiple scouting departments have already reached out about Fogle, a skilled ball-handler at his size who’s shown the ability to knock down 3s and finish at the rim.
“I’ve already got some calls from NBA teams, he’s on their radar,” Kaffey said. “I think he’s going to help (Gonzaga), I heard he’s doing really well. … I’ve heard through the grapevine he’s doing well over there.”
Fogle’s already seeing the benefits of being a young player on one of the oldest teams in college basketball. There’s no shortage of mentors on a team with a handful of fourth-, fifth- and sixth-year players and he’s spent the summer seeking advice from veterans like Graham Ike, Braden Huff, Braeden Smith and Steele Venters.
“Obviously the game is a lot faster and it’s more physical,” Fogle said. “Playing against guys that are 24, 25, but I’d say I’m adjusting pretty well to it and just trying to learn from the older guys, learn from the coaches.”