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Mr. Basketball USA, formerly known as the ESPN RISE National Player of the Year and EA SPORTS National Player of the Year, is an award presented to the United States boys' high school basketball national player of the year by Ballislife.com. Before 1996, retroactive recognition was determined for honorees going back to 1955's selectee Wilt Chamberlain, determined by National High School Hall of Fame member Doug Huff, who has been a McDonald's All-American Game selection committee member since the game's inception, CalHiSports.com Editor Mark Tennis and Ballislife.com National Editor Ronnie Flores.[1] From 1996–2002 the selections were made by Student Sports and from 2003–2009 by EA Sports.[1] From 2010–2012 the award was determined by ESPN HS until the award was taken over and executed by Flores in 2013 after his tenure with ESPN ended.
According to information posted online by Ballislife, "Selections are based on high school accomplishment, not future college/pro potential, and are reflective of those that lead their teams to state championships. Ballislife does not knowingly select fifth-year players, and those ineligible due to age or academics, Mr. Basketball USA or to its various All-American teams."[1] Furthermore, selection uses "on-the-floor performance" without regard to academics, volunteer work or most other off-the-court criteria.[2]
Current selections are made through a season-long polling process of a 10-member expert panel with a final year-end ballot to determine the winner. The panel includes five McDonald's All-American selection committee members. The panel is polled weekly for a list of the top seven national player of the year candidates regardless of graduating class. The votes are then translated into a 10-point scoring system, with 10 points for a first-place vote, nine points for second-place vote, and down to four points for a seventh-place vote.[2]
Ronnie Fields is an American former professional basketball player.
The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys baseball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls cross country, boys football, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls track & field, girls softball, and girls volleyball.
An All-American team is an honorary sports team composed of the best amateur players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans". Although the honorees generally do not compete together as a unit, the term is used in U.S. team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media. Walter Camp selected the first All-America team in the early days of American football in 1889. The 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans are honorary lists that includes All-American selections from the Associated Press (AP), the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), the Sporting News (TSN), and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) drawn from the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. All selectors choose at least a first and second 5-man team. The NABC, AP and TSN choose third teams, while AP also lists honorable mention selections.
Each year the California Mr. Basketball award is given to the person chosen as the best high school boys basketball player in the U.S. state of California. Many have gone on to play in the NBA.
Quincy Cortez Miller is an American professional basketball player for SeaHorses Mikawa of the Japanese B.League. He played for the Detroit Pistons, Sacramento Kings and Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as the Reno Bighorns, Iowa Energy and Grand Rapids Drive of the NBA Development League.
Nicole Anne Kaczmarski is an American former professional basketball player. A standout player in high school, she received a Gatorade Player of the Year award, was named Miss New York Basketball and earned a spot in the 1999 USA Today All-USA high school basketball team. Heavily recruited by colleges, Kaczmarski eventually enrolled at UCLA and played one season for their women's basketball team. Kaczmarski then enrolled at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Afterward, she had brief stints with two Women's National Basketball Association teams, the New York Liberty and the Los Angeles Sparks. In 2011, she became a color commentator for basketball telecasts. Kaczmarski's high school career and college recruitment were chronicled in the documentary film Running Down a Dream.
Jabari Ali Parker is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the second overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, after one season of playing for Duke University. Parker was a standout high school athlete, helping his team win four straight Illinois state championships for Simeon Career Academy, and was named the National High School Player of the Year by Gatorade and McDonald's. In his freshman year for the 2013–14 Duke Blue Devils, he was named a consensus first-team All-American, the USBWA National Freshman of the Year, and the runner-up for the John R. Wooden Award.
Alfonso Clark "Trey" Burke III is an American professional basketball player for the Stockton Kings of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines where in the 2012–13 season, he earned National Player of the Year and led the 2012–13 Wolverines to the championship game of the 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Shortly after the tournament he declared his eligibility for the draft.
An All-American team is an honorary sports team composed of the best amateur players of a specific season—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans". Although the honorees generally do not compete together as a unit, the term is used in U.S. team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media. Walter Camp selected the first All-America team in the early days of American football in 1889. Chuck Taylor made the first boys' high school basketball All-American selections in 1949. The ESPN RISE boys' high school basketball All-American (2009–2011), formerly EA Sports boys' high school basketball All-American (2005–2008) and Student Sports boys' high school basketball All-American (1989–2004), is an annual honorary list that includes twenty first team All-American selections of the best high school basketball players for a given season.
Jahlil Obika Okafor is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player who last played for the Capitanes de Ciudad de México of the NBA G League. He played his freshman season of college basketball for the 2014–15 Duke national championship team. He was selected with the third overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.
An All-American team is an honorary sports team composed of the best amateur players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans". Although the honorees generally do not compete together as a unit, the term is used in U.S. team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media. Walter Camp selected the first All-America team in the early days of American football in 1889. The 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans are honorary lists that include All-American selections from the Associated Press (AP), the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), the Sporting News (TSN), and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) for the 2012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. All selectors choose at least a first and second 5-man team. The NABC, TSN and AP choose third teams, while AP also lists honorable mention selections.
Cliff Alexander is an American professional basketball player for Sagesse Club of the Lebanese Basketball League (LBL). He completed his freshman season at the University of Kansas for the Jayhawks' on their 2014–15 team. He declared himself eligible for the 2015 NBA draft but was undrafted. He played one season for the Portland Trail Blazers and earned a second year of NBA service with the Brooklyn Nets.
Jalen Marquis Brunson is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Villanova University, where he was the National Player of the Year as a junior and won two national championships.
Ty Jacob Leaf is an Israeli-American professional basketball player for the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). After playing one season of college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, he was selected by the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the 2017 NBA draft with the 18th overall pick.
The Ballislife All-American Game is an annual American all-star game featuring high school basketball players. It was founded in 2011 by Ballislife.com to provide a stage for West Coast players who were not selected to other All-American games. At the time, few players from the region were selected for the McDonald's All-American Game in Chicago or the Jordan Brand Classic in New York. Over time, the Ballislife game evolved to include top players throughout the nation. A girl's game was added in 2023.
Ballislife.com is an American sports website that provides basketball coverage and video mixtapes. Founded in 2005 by young basketball fans Matt Rodriguez and Jonathan Durden, the site is now owned by Rodriguez and Arek Kissoyan. It specializes in creating highlights of high school players, as well as delivering up to date coverage in and around the sport of basketball as a whole. The company also sells a line of apparel to supplement its YouTube advertising revenue, and hosts a summer camp for fifth through ninth graders.
Zion Lateef Williamson is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the power forward position. Following a freshman-year stint with the Duke Blue Devils, Williamson was selected by the Pelicans with the first overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2020. In 2021, he became the fourth youngest NBA player to be selected to an All-Star game.
Isaiah Stewart II is an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Washington Huskies. Listed at 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 m) and 250 pounds (113 kg), he plays the center and power forward positions.
The Cheryl Miller Award is an award presented annually to the best women's basketball small forward in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. It is named after Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller. While at Riverside (CA) Polytechnic High School, Miller set a single game scoring record of 105 points in a game in 1982. She was a four-time All-America, a three-time Naismith Player of the Year and a Wade Trophy winner while accumulating 3,018 career points at USC from 1982 to 1986. Miller is a 1984 Olympic gold medalist and was named the best college basketball player, both male and female, in 1986 by Sports Illustrated.
Katin Thomas Reinhardt is an American professional basketball player for Belfius Mons-Hainaut of the Pro Basketball League. A native of Laguna Beach, California, he played high school basketball at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, where he was ranked among the top 50 players of his class, was a USA Today All-American and won the John R. Wooden Award as the best high school player in CIF Division I. He played his freshman year of college basketball at UNLV but he transferred after one season, and played two years at USC before transferring a second time, spending his last season in college at Marquette. After going undrafted in the 2017 NBA draft, Reinhardt started his professional career in Lithuania with Dzūkija. He has since played in Lithuania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany and Belgium.
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