POY Watchlist: Week 6
The State Player of the year is one of the most prestigious awards a prep player can take home in his career. No POY race in recent memory has had as many potential candidates as this one. Throughout the season…
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Continue ReadingThe State Player of the year is one of the most prestigious awards a prep player can take home in his career. No POY race in recent memory has had as many potential candidates as this one. Throughout the season PH will keep you updated with the POY race. In this article, we take a look at the candidates after week 6.
Favorites:
Julian Strawther 6’6 SF Liberty 2020 (#2 2020) – Statistically Strawther has a case for POY. His team however, has struggled recently and will need to get back on the winning track to keep him leading the race.
Daishen Nix 6’5 PG Trinity International 2020 (#1 2020) – Nix has put together a dominating season so far. He will be back in Las Vegas this week as Trinity travels to Bonanza.
Jaden Hardy 6’4 PG Coronado 2021 (#1 2021) – Hardy put together a masterful week, with big performances against Liberty and Green Valley.
Zaon Collins 6’1 PG Bishop Gorman 2021 (#2 2021) – Gorman lost both bigs, before the start of the season. They lost a Pac 12 signee early in the season, and have dealt with injuries throughout. Yet they are 5-0 in conference and 13-2 overall. Their two losses were in a Championship game against the #9 team in the country, and a hard-fought quarterfinal game against the #22 team in the country. A lot of this has to do with the play of Collins who is becoming a special player. He had a quadruple-double the other night to help the Gales survive a scare from Durango.
Contenders:
Milos Uzan 6’3 PG Desert Pines 2022 (#3PHN 2022) – Up and down week for Uzan. The floor general led DP to an easy victory over Silverado, however, he struggled to shoot it against Winward in a game the Jags lost at the buzzer.
Will McClendon 6’4 SG Bishop Gorman 2021 (#3 2021) – A lot of the things said about Collins could apply to McClendon. He is a big game player that has kept a depleted Gorman squad in National contention. Big national stage for him this week at the Hoophall.
Mason Whittaker 6’5 PG Spanish Springs 2020 (#44 2020) – Whittaker just keeps playing well and Spanish Springs just keeps winning games. This is a good combination.
Donavan Yap 6’2 SG Arbor View 2020 (#5 2020) (featured image) – Yap is close to stepping up to the next level on the POY watchlist. He has been consistent, scoring over 20 in four consecutive games. Arbor View travels to Faith on Monday night.
Dark Horses:
Kareem Rowe 6’6 PF McQueen 2020 – Thanks to the broadcast crew at McQueen, I’ve gotten to see quite a bit of Rowe. The forward has a nice face-up game out to about 15 and continues to score and rebound at a high level.
Anthony Hunter 5’11 PG Durango 2020 (#6 2020) – Keep an eye out for Anthony Hunter. The 5’11 PG has already proven he can carry Durango to victories. The Trailblazers took Gorman to the limit and are a dangerous team as we inch closer to playoff time.
M’Wani Wilkinson 6’6 SF Bishop Gorman 2020 (#4PHN 2020) – Wilkinson has quietly put together a POY type season. He has been the glue holding the Gaels together during a difficult stretch of the season. While he hasn’t always been the best player on the floor, he has consistently been one of the two best. He recently averaged 19 a game at the Les Schwab Invitational.
Long Shots:
Keshon Gilbert 6’2 PG Durango 2021 (#7 2021) – The combination of Gilbert and Hunter has made Durango one of the more dangerous teams in the state.
Glenn Taylor 6’5 SF Cheyenne 2021 (#4 2021) – It’s Taylor time. Taylor showed last season that he has the ability to carry his team to a playoff birth. He’s currently averaging over 22 per game and playing all positions for Cheyenne.
Michael Klekas 6’3 SF Elko 2022 – (#10 2022) – The state’s second-leading scorer helped Elko improve to 14-1 on the season.
Ethan Speaker 6’6 SF Boulder City 2021 (#8 2021) – He’s probably not going to win it, however, something needs to be said about the season Speaker is having. Boulder has played a heavy 4A schedule and Speaker has staked his claim to best player on the floor in most of them. He had 35 in his last time out against Spring Valley.