Skyline High School’s Marcus Garrett has been named the 2016-2017 Gatorade Texas Boys Basketball Player of the Year!
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes Garrett as the best high school boys basketball player in Texas.
“I am humbled and honored to receive this award, and I have my coach and teammates to thank,” Garrett said.
Skyline Head Basketball Coach Paul Graham describes Garrett as someone who is humble and thankful and has good people in his life. Since Garrett has played for Skyline, the basketball team has only lost about 15 games over four years.
“Any time you have a kid like Marcus on your team, it makes your job easier as a coach,” Graham said. “He is a winner, a great kid, and he deserves this honor.”
Garrett averaged 17.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, 9.1 assists, 3.1 steals and 2.9 blocks per game this past season, leading the Raiders (34-2) to the Class 6A state semifinals. Garrett amassed 32 double-doubles and 12 triple-doubles in 36 games. He is a two-time District MVP and was a First Team All-State selection as a junior.
Garrett has volunteered locally as a youth tutor and at a homeless shelter in addition to donating his time at Children’s Medical Center Dallas. He has also maintained a weighted 3.26 GPA in the classroom and signed a national letter of intent to play basketball on scholarship at Kansas University beginning this 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 work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.
