An East Valley basketball coach has died after being hit by a car on Interstate 10 in Goodyear.
GILBERT, Ariz. — The driver killed in a crash on Interstate 10 early Monday morning has been identified as a basketball coach at Mesquite High School.
Michael Donovan Cain Taylor Kulinowski, 26, of Gilbert, died after being hit by a vehicle on Interstate 10 in Goodyear, the Arizona Department of Public Safety said.
Taylor was involved in a two-vehicle crash near Dysart Road. When he got out of the car, his third car hit him. Taylor later died from his injuries.
Taylor has been a part of Mesquite's basketball program since 2021, according to the high school's athletic department.
“Coach Mike did a great job with these kids and contributed greatly to their development,” the department said in a statement. “He definitely left his mark on our students and our program.”
Locals refer to the Phoenix metropolitan area as “The Valley.” It is considered the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest.
In addition to Phoenix, the Valley is made up of a variety of other major cities, including:
- mesa
- chandler
- scottsdale
- Tempe
- glendale
- surprise
- Peoria
- gilbert
- El Mirage
- Avondale
- Litchfield Park
- goodyear
- buckeye
Whether a city is in the “East Valley” or “West Valley” depends on where the city is in relation to Phoenix.
According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the total population of Valley cities is 4,845,832. This makes it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country behind the Boston and Atlanta areas.
How large is Maricopa County?
According to the 2020 Census, Maricopa County is the fourth largest county in the United States with a population of 4,485,414 people.
This county contains approximately 63% of Arizona's population and covers an area of 9,224 square miles. This makes the county larger than her seven states in the United States: Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.
One of the largest park systems in the United States is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks, including hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers, and campgrounds.
The county seat is Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the fifth most populous city in the United States according to the census.
The county is named after the Maricopa or Piipaash Native American tribe.