Oklahoma State football DC Derek Mason's childhood ties to Arizona State remain strong

STILLWATER — From his Phoenix-area home, Kevin Miniefield will be watching intently when 10th-ranked Oklahoma State hosts Arizona State at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium.

In a matchup that includes his best friend on one side and his beloved alma mater on the other, Miniefield will be pulling for a very specific result.

“Hopefully we win 7-6,” said Miniefield, who played cornerback at Arizona State in the late 1980s and now serves as the associate director of Sun Devil Letterwinners, an alumni engagement program that maintains connections between the university and its former athletes.

Once upon a time, Miniefield’s best friend would have been pulling for an Arizona State victory, too.

But those days are nearly 40 years in the rearview for Derek Mason — the 52-year-old Phoenix native who is now in his first season as Oklahoma State’s defensive coordinator.

“I grew up an Arizona State fan,” Mason said last week, following his first game as a Cowboy. “But you know, that’s a long time ago. I’ve lived a lot of life since I was 12, 13 years old.”

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Mason’s ASU passion came naturally, and not just by proximity, even though most Phoenix kids his age — including Miniefield — were instantly drawn to the Sun Devils. Back then, the NFL’s Cardinals were still in St. Louis. Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks and hockey’s Phoenix Coyotes were mere dreams.

Phoenix had the Suns in the NBA, and Arizona State in nearby Tempe, a blossoming suburb sitting on the city’s eastern edge. Sun Devil football was the pinnacle in the minds of many boys growing up in Phoenix during the 1970s and 1980s.

Beyond that, Mason’s father, Isaac Mason Jr., and his uncle on his mother’s side, Calvin Demery, had both played for legendary Arizona State coach Frank Kush, for whom the field at Sun Devil Stadium is now named.

“Calvin Demery was a local legend,” Miniefield said. “You heard a lot about him, because he was so well-known around the Valley.”

Coming out of Camelback High School, Derek Mason was recruited to Northern Arizona by head coach Larry Kentera, who had been the defensive coordinator under Kush when Mason’s father was at ASU.

Mason has left his fandom behind, but his ties to Arizona State remain strong. And perhaps the most present such connection is Miniefield.

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The two met at Camelback High School in the mid-1980s. Mason was a sophomore when Miniefield arrived as a freshman.

Both went on to be defensive backs in college, but played all over the field for Camelback.

And both were solid basketball players, too.

“Believe it or not, as short as Derek is, he was a really good rebounder,” Miniefield said. “And he was a terror on defense. He had five fouls to use and he used four of them.”

In the sports arena, the friendship of Mason and Miniefield was fortified.

“In high school, you have friends who inspire you by what they do and how they present themselves,” Miniefield said. “Derek was a ‘Yes, sir/Yes, ma’am’ type of young man, and just a hard worker. He was probably one of the first friends that I knew that had a job, working at Jack in the Box.”

Miniefield was named the state’s high school basketball player of the year and had a scholarship offer from Arizona, about 110 miles away in Tucson. But he opted for football at ASU.

Mason was already at Northern Arizona, located in Flagstaff, about 140 miles north of Phoenix.

But the bond built at Camelback remained.

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“We always stayed close,” Miniefield said. “He would come down to ASU or I would go up to NAU and he would take me out there. That’s where I first met his wife, LeighAnne, when they had first started dating.

“We just always remained close throughout that period of our lives.”

Mason was at Miniefield’s home on the day of the 1993 NFL Draft, after Miniefield had completed a stellar career as a cornerback for the Sun Devils.

They waited together, but the phone wasn’t ringing.

“I was disappointed — like anybody else, you think you’re gonna go higher than what you actually do,” Miniefield said. “But Derek was right by my side.

“I needed to get out of the house, so he took me to a nine-hole golf course by ASU. We went out and hit some balls. It was before cell phones, so I got back to the house and my dad was like, ‘Hey, we’ve been trying to get ahold of you. Detroit drafted you.’ I didn’t even know.

“But Derek was with me in those type of moments.”

Both men were in each other’s weddings. They regularly take summer vacations together. Mason and his wife are the godparents of one of Miniefield’s daughters.

More:How will Oklahoma State's defense, running backs respond against Arizona State football?

Miniefield expects to talk to Mason at some point before Saturday’s game, though he knows what it’s like being on the wrong end of an ASU matchup with a Mason defense.

They met twice when Mason was at Stanford, and the Sun Devils lost both.

So Miniefield hopes for his ideal scenario on Saturday, the 7-6 outcome.

“First and foremost, I’m always about us getting the ‘W’, right?” Miniefield said. “But I’m always pulling for Derek and his defense.”

But in reality, the final score won’t matter either way to Miniefield.

“Honestly, Derek is like a brother more than a friend,” Miniefield said. “We’re able to share with each other and just be ourselves.

“He’s just genuine and authentic in himself. And he’s caring. He’s always been a guy that not everything was about him. When you’re with him, he gives you his time and his attention. He’s just a real individual.”

OSU vs. Arizona State

KICKOFF: 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater (ESPN2)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State football: What are Derek Mason's ties to Arizona State?