Kansas freshman guard Andrew Wiggins was named the Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year, honoring the top prep male athlete for 2012-13, in an awards ceremony Tuesday evening.
Morgan Andrews, a repeat winner, was the female Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year. The biggest names in high school and professional sports convened in Los Angeles Tuesday as Gatorade honored the top prep male and female athletes with the 11th annual Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year awards. Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year Andrew Wiggins (Huntington St. Joseph’s Prep/Huntington, W. Va.) was named the 2013 Gatorade Male High School Athlete of the Year and Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year Morgan Andrews (Milford High School/Milford, N.H.) received 2013 Gatorade Female High School Athlete of the Year honors.
The nation’s unanimous No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2013, Wiggins averaged a double-double in just 25 minutes per game. A native of Toronto and a fixture on Team Canada’s junior national team, Wiggins has twice anchored bronze medal squads at the international level. Bound for Kansas, he shot 58 percent from inside the arc as a high school senior.
Wiggins and Andrews received their awards at a dinner emceed by ESPN’s Stuart Scottand attended by Paul George (Indiana Pacers All-Star Forward), Philip Rivers (San Diego Chargers Quarterback), Abby Wambach (two-time Olympic gold medalist and 1997-98 Gatorade New York Girls Soccer Player of the Year), Bryshon Nellum (2012 Olympian and 2006-07 Gatorade National Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year) and Misty-May Treanor (three-time Olympic gold medalist).
Established in 1985, 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. In addition to athletic excellence, the award recognizes academic achievement and exemplary character on and off the field. In 2003, the Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year awards were established to identify and honor the nation’s top overall male and female high school athletes from among the 12 Gatorade National Players of the Year honored during the high school athletic season.
All Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year nominees will walk the ESPY red carpet and be featured as special guests during The ESPY Awards Show. The show will take place Wednesday evening and air live on ESPN at 8 p.m. (Central).
— KU Sports Information —