The Arizona Interscholastic Association is planning to honor the 1988 state basketball championship teams during Saturday’s state finals at Jobing.com Arena and Tim’s Toyota Center in Prescott.

Among those teams that will be recognized and is planning to reunite for Saturday’s 25^th anniversary ceremonies is Window Rock, considered the greatest girls team in the Navajo Nation’s long and rich basketball history. The “Pele” of the Navajo Nation, Window Rock’s Ryneldi Becenti, also is planning to attend Saturday’s festivities.

Becenti played professionally after winning Player of the Year honors her junior year and playing for Arizona State.

List of teams being honored

Boys

Buckeye

Mesa

North

Phoenix Christian

Salome

Girls

Hopi

Joseph City

Mesa Mountain View

Marana

Window Rock

Schmidt receives Outstanding Service Award

Chuck Schmidt, the AIA’s associate executive director, recently received a prestigious award from the National Federation of State High School Associations.

He was given the Outstanding Service Award for significant contribution to high school activity programs. Schmidt served on the initial team that developed the Fundamentals of Coaching course for the NFHS as well as helping lead the charge to sanction Unified Sports as a sanctioned AIA sport.

The AIA’s Unified Sports for student athletes with intellectual disabilities has become the largest organization of its kind in the nation. More than 100 of the AIA’s schools participate in Unified Sports.

Some of Arizona’s Unified Sports teams recently took the floor during a state semifinal game at Jobing.com Arena to play a game. Schmidt also helped launch aia365.com.