Tag: gatorade player of the year

Juju Watkins named Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year

Sierra Canyon star Juju Watkins was named the Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year after a dominant season.

Juju Watkins capped her illustrious high school career with one of the most prestigious awards at of the HS sports level. On Monday, it was announced that the Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) star was named the Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

Watkins had a stellar senior year, averaging 27.5 points, 13.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.7 blocks per game as she led Sierra Canyon to a 31-1 record. She had a 45-point, 16-rebound performance on Jan. 26 and then broke her points record five nights later with a 60-point, 21-rebound performance on Jan. 31.

Listed at 6-foot-2, Watkins has entered legendary ranks among girls high school levels. She was the MVP of the FIBA World Cup championship, a McDonald’s All-American, the 2020 Sports Illustrated Sports Kid of the Year, and named the Los Angeles Times Girls Basketball Player of the Year in both her sophomore and junior years (this season’s LA Times award has yet to be announced). Watkins was also Klutch Sports Group’s first female athlete client.

Gatorade also takes community service and education into consideration when choosing awards. Watkins is very involved in the neighborhood of Watts in Los Angeles, working with the Watts Labor Community Action Committee established by her great-grandfather Ted Watkins.

She has said she wants to help the community gain financial literacy and education opportunities, inspire young girls to persevere through adversity, and bring Fortune 500 companies into the area.

“My angle is to inspire my community and become a frontier for women’s basketball,” Watkins said around the she signed with Klutch. “We don’t have as many resources as others, so just speaking up and being a part of that story of women’s basketball.”

She also volunteered locally for Hands of Hope and Shoes for Souls, according to Gatorade. Watkins had a 3.72 GPA.

The No. 1 player in the class of 2023, Watkins has signed with USC, where she will attend this fall.

Notre Dame commit among finalists for national player of the year

Quite the honor for the future Irish star.

The Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year has ended up at Notre Dame a few times. [autotag]Brianna Turner[/autotag] won it in 2014 and [autotag]Skylar Diggins[/autotag] in 2009. Two other winners, Erin Boley in 2016 and Michelle Marciniak in 1991, began their collegiate careers at Notre Dame but transferred elsewhere after one season. Another player could soon be joining those ranks.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] of Paul VI in Haddonfield, New Jersey, committed to the Irish on Nov. 15. This came a few months after winning gold with the U.S. in the FIBA U17 Women’s World Cup. Now, she is one of three finalists for the Gatorade National Girls Player of the Year.

When Hidalgo announced her decision to commit to the Irish, [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] said the following:

“Irish eyes are smiling! We are ecstatic to welcome five-star point guard Hannah Hidalgo to the ND family!  Hannah brings swag, competitiveness, and a relentless drive that will instantly elevate our program. She is-multi dimensional, lightning fast and tenacious defensively with a scorer’s mentality and a high basketball IQ.  Hannah does a great job of pushing pace and making everyone around her better.  The Joyce Center will be electric to watch one of the fastest backcourts in the country with the additions of Hannah, Cass Prosper and Emma Risch.”

Here are some profiles of Hidalgo and the other two finalists for this award:

Nebraska commit Harper Murray named Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year

Harper Murray, enrolled at the University of Nebraska, was named Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year.

In a year when Harper Murray became a gold medalist and was an All-American, the Skyline High School (Ann Arbor, Mich.) was named the Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year.

The No. 1-ranked volleyball in the class of 2023, Murray dominated, recording 726 kills and 409 digs to go with 86 service aces, 44 assists and 40 blocks.

She led the team kills per set every season since entering high school. She started with a storm, amassing 700 kills as a freshman, improved her kill percentage to 54.7% and hit percentage to 43% as a junior, and set career-highs with 726 kills and 6.1 kills per set as a senior.

In August 2022, she led the United States to a U-19 Pan Am Cup gold medal and was named Best Spiker at the event.

MaxPreps and the American Volleyball Coaches Association named her a First Team All-American.

In naming players of the year, Gatorade also considers education and community service. Murray volunteered for the Vada Murray Endowed Fund for Cancer Research, named for her late father who passed away in 2011 at the age of 44 after battling lung cancer for three years.

She performed community service in his memory and took after Vada, who played football at the University of Michigan, in athletics, and is set to pave her own path at the University of Nebraska. She cited the program’s culture, staff and history of player development in an interview with Rivals. In the 23 years under head coach John Cook, the Cornhuskers have a record of 384-51 (.883) and have won four national championships.

Murray was presented the Gatorade award on Monday.

Photo: Gatorade

Jackson Arnold named Gatorade National Football Player of the Year

Oklahoma commit Jackson Arnold was named the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year over Arch Manning and Malachi Nelson.

Oklahoma quarterback commit Jackson Arnold capped his illustrious high school football career with one of the most prestigious distinctions in this level of the sport.

Arnold was named the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year on Thursday. He led Guyer High School (Denton, Texas) to a 14-1 record by passing for 3,476 yards and 33 touchdowns to go with 921 rushing yards and 24 rushing touchdowns, good for 4,397 total yards and 57 total touchdowns.

Former Dallas Cowboys star Jason Witten presented the local five-star player with the award on Thursday.

Arnold dominated on the football field and exceeded Gatorade’s standards for classroom and community impact in its award requirements. According to the organization, Arnold has a 4.5 weighted GPA and spent three and a half years as a member of the Texas Young Men’s Service League, where mothers and sons do community service together.

Arnold is an early enrollee at Oklahoma.

(Courtesy of Gatorade)

Ranked the No. 4 quarterback and No. 7 player in the class of 2023 on the 247Sports Composite, Arnold took Texas high school football by storm as a junior after being named the starting quarterback. He threw for about 3,900 yards, led Guyer to a championship appearance in 2021, and continued his upward trajectory over the past summer by being named the 2022 Elite 11 Finals MVP. Arnold was boosted to a five-star prospect around that time.

Over his two seasons as a starter, Arnold passed for more than 7,000 yards and 67 touchdowns while only throwing eight interceptions, according to his Oklahoma bio. He rushed for 1,580 yards and 36 touchdowns.

Arnold was named the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year over finalists Malachi Nelson and Arch Manning. Nelson, a USC commit, is ranked as the No. 3 player on the 247Sports Composite, while Texas commit Manning is listed as the No. 1 player in the class.

Watch the surprise announcement below:

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Alabama five-star signee Caleb Downs wins Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year Award

Alabama signee Caleb Downs takes home another fantastic honor.

Former Mill Creek standout and future Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Caleb Downs has been named the 2022-23 Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Georgia.

The five-star prospects helped lead his Mill Creek Hawks to a Georiga Class 7A state championship during his senior season.

The award recognizes both athletic accomplishments, as well as high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character, demonstrated on and off the field.

During his senior campaign, Downs recorded 76 tackles and made five interceptions, returning two of them for touchdowns. Downs was also a standout on the offensive side of the ball as well where he tallied over 800 all-purpose yards and 23 touchdowns.

Downs is the first player from Mill Creek High School to win the prestigious award.

The five-star safety will be enrolling at Alabama later this month and will participate in spring practice with the Crimson Tide.

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Ducks well represented among 2023 Gatorade Players of the Year

The Gatorade Players of the Year were announced for all 50 states on Friday, and the Ducks were well represented.

There are many ways to determine who the best recruits in high school sports are each year, but one of the best ways that have come about over the past few decades is to look at who was named the Gatorade Player of the Year.

Gatorade highlights dozens of spectacular athletes across all sports, and they award the top player from each state year after year. While this isn’t a perfect way to determine who the top 50 players in the nation are, since there are often multiple deserving players in each state, it goes to show who the most talented player in all 50 states is.

In the world of football, the 50 winners were announced on Friday, January 6, and it turns out that the Oregon Ducks are well represented. We wanted to celebrate those players for their achievements and look at a couple of other players — one potential future Duck, and another former Duck — that made the cut as well.

Oklahoma QB signee Jackson Arnold wins Texas Gatorade Player of the Year Award

Oklahoma Sooners QB Jackson Arnold named Texas Gatorade Player of the Year and is a finalist for Gatorade National Player of the Year.

Former Denton Guyer Wildcat and future Oklahoma Sooner quarterback Jackson Arnold’s efforts in his final high school season have been rewarded. Arnold has been named the Texas Gatorade Player of the Year.

During this regular season, Arnold completed 69% of his passes and totaled 4,400 yards and 57 total touchdowns during his senior year. He also added Arnold also took very good care of the football, with only three interceptions on the season.

While being named the best football player in the state of Texas is a phenomenal accomplishment for the young QB, Arnold is still on the shortlist for the Gatorade National Player of the Year Award as one of three finalists.

Former winners are a who’s who of college and NFL players. Clemson’s Cade Klubnik won it in 2021, and Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba won it in 2019. Other notable winners of the award include Spencer Sanders, [autotag]Kyler Murray[/autotag] (twice), Matthew Stafford, and Cedric Benson.

While being named the best football player in the state of Texas is a phenomenal accomplishment for the young QB, Arnold is still on the shortlist for the Gatorade National Player of the Year Award as one of three finalists.

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The other two are very familiar faces: Texas signee [autotag]Arch Manning[/autotag] and USC signee and former OU commit [autotag]Malachi Nelson[/autotag].

Arnold’s Denton Guyer did fall in the state semifinals, but the numbers he had against the competition he played against is hard to argue with. Being a finalist alongside future Red River rival Arch Manning and USC’s Malachi Nelson just feels like how it was meant to be.

Even if Arnold doesn’t win the national award, being selected as the best player in the state of Texas across multiple publications is quite an accomplishment. Arnold’s time at the helm may not come until 2024, but he’s already got excitement building for his debut.

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Gatorade National Football Player of the Year finalists announced

Jackson Arnold, Malachi Nelson and Arch Manning have been announced as the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year finalists.

Three elite quarterbacks were announced as the finalists for the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year on Friday morning.

Oklahoma commit Jackson Arnold, USC commit Malachi Nelson and Texas commit Arch Manning are the three finalists for the prestigious annual award. Each is the Gatorade football player of the year in his respective state.

In choosing winners, Gatorade takes grades and extracurricular activities into account, in addition to prowess on the field.

Arnold was key to the success of Guyer High School (Denton, Texas), the only team among the three finalists that was a fixture in the Super 25 this season. With a 14-1 record, the team was in the upper half of the national rankings for most of the year before falling in the semifinals and ending at No. 25.

The five-star quarterback went 231-for-336 with 3,476 yards, 33 touchdowns and three interceptions. He added 24 touchdowns on the ground and rushed for 921 yards, finishing the season with 4,397 total yards and 57 total touchdowns.

He graduated in December with a weighted GPA of 4.5 and will attend spring classes at Oklahoma. He participated in clubs, including Texas Young Men’s Service League, Lantana Chapter, and was a math aide, according to Gatorade.

Nelson, a five-star quarterback ranked No. 3 in the class on the 247Sports Composite, led Los Alamitos (Calif.) to a 9-3 record as he passed for 2,898 yards and 35 touchdowns. He added two more touchdowns and 153 yards on the ground.

The 6-foot-3-180-pound QB donated a portion of his NIL deal to a local Pop Warner group, according to Gatorade. He has also volunteered as a youth football coach.

Manning is ranked as the No. 1 player in the class on the 247Sports Composite. He led Isidore Newman (New Orleans, La.) to an 8-3 record as he passed for 2,305 yards, 34 touchdowns and two interceptions and rushed for 378 yards and four touchdowns.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound quarterback graduated in December with a 3.5 GPA and has enrolled for the spring semester at Texas, according to Gatorade. He has volunteered at a local camp for children with special needs.

Gatorade is scheduled to announce the winner of the 2022-2023 Gatorade National Football Player of the Year next week.

Winners in previous years include Penn State running back Nick Singleton, Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart, Georgia tight end Arik Gilbert and Jake Smith, a USC wide receiver who is in the transfer portal.

Kansas high school football “Player of the Year” names Nebraska to Top 10

The best high school football player in Kansas from last year names Nebraska one of his Top Ten teams!

A class of 2023 running back and the best high school football player in Kansas last year has announced his top ten schools, and Nebraska is in the running. Dylan Edwards, a four-star recruit out of Derby High School in Derby, Kansas, announced the ten schools that he will continue to focus on during his recruitment process. Those schools are Jackson State, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, and Nebraska. In a tweet sent out on Friday afternoon, Edwards writes.

“Through this process I was blessed enough to build great relationships with coaches, and I am forever grateful of that. These are my top 10 schools that i will focus on. I will take my 5 official visits In the months of June, and plan to commit shortly after that. “

 

Edwards has already earned multiple accolades for his on-the-field excellence. He’s been named an Under Armour All-American and was the 2021 Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year. During his award-winning junior season, Edwards ran for 2,603 yards and 40 touchdowns with 3,214 all-purpose yards. In addition, he averaged 13 yards per carry and 221 yards per game for a Derby High School team that lost in the Class 6A state championship game.

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Huge honor for Clemson’s 5-star QB commit

Huge honor for Clemson’s five-star quarterback commitment: In its 37th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Cade Klubnik of Westlake High School is the 2021-22 Gatorade Texas Football Player of the Year. …

Huge honor for Clemson’s five-star quarterback commitment:

In its 37th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Cade Klubnik of Westlake High School is the 2021-22 Gatorade Texas Football Player of the Year. Klubnik is the first Gatorade Texas Football Player of the Year to be chosen from Westlake High School.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Klubnik as Texas’s best
high school football player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Football Player of the Year award to be announced in December, Klubnik joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners, including Emmitt Smith (1986-87, Escambia High School, Fla.), Matthew Stafford (2005-06, Highland Park High School, Texas) and Christian McCaffrey (2012-13 & 2013-14, Valor Christian High School, Colo.).

The 6-foot-3, 186-pound senior quarterback had led the Chaparrals to a 13-0 record, a No. 2 national ranking in the USA TODAY Super 25 and a berth in the quarterfinals of the Class 6A-II state tournament at the time of his selection. Klubnik completed 147 of 207 passes for 2,486 yards and 34 touchdowns, with just two interceptions, through 13 games. He also rushed for 362 yards and 11 touchdowns on 52 carries. The USA TODAY Offensive Player of the Year as a junior, he was MVP of the Elite 11 quarterback competition and has been selected to play in the 2022 All-American Bowl. Klubnik is ranked as the nation’s No. 1 quarterback recruit in the Class of 2022 by 247Sports.

Klubnik has volunteered locally on behalf of the Special Olympics and youth sports programs. “Klubnik has the size and the speed and all the intangibles,” said Brad LaPlante, head coach at Hutto High School. “The game is never too fast for him. He can put the ball where it should be in a small window and he really controls the game.”

Klubnik has maintained an A average in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to play football on scholarship at Clemson University next fall.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and
determine the state winners in each sport.

Klubnik joins recent Gatorade Texas Football Players of the Year Sawyer Robertson (2020-21, Coronado High School), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (2019-20, Rockwall High School), Chase Griffin (2018-19, Hutto High School), and Spencer Sanders (2017-18, Ryan High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.

Gatorade has a long-standing history of serving athlete communities and understands how sports instill valuable lifelong skills on and off the field. Through Gatorade’s “Play it Forward” platform, Klubnik has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national organization of their choosing that helps young athletes realize the benefits of playing sports. Klubnik is also eligible to submit a short video explaining why the organization they chose is deserving of one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants, which will be announced throughout the year. To date,
Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $3.5 million across more than 1,300 organizations.

Since the program’s inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of professional and college championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their communities, becoming
coaches, business owners and educators.

–Press release courtesy of The Gatorade Company 

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