Bryce Thompson tabbed Gatorade Oklahoma Player of the Year
In its 35th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, today announced Bryce Thompson of Booker T. Washington High School as its 2019-20 Gatorade Oklahoma Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Thompson is the third Gatorade Oklahoma Boys Basketball Player of the Year to be chosen from Booker T. Washington 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 Thompson as Oklahoma’s best high school boys basketball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year award, Thompson joins an elite alumni association of past state boys basketball award winners, including Karl-Anthony Towns (2012-13 & 2013-14, St. Joseph High School, N.J.), Dwight Howard (2003-04, Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, Ga.), Chris Bosh (2001-02, Lincoln High School, Texas), Paul Pierce (1994-95, Inglewood High School, Calif.), Chauncey Billups (1993-94 & 1994-95, George Washington High School, Colo.) and Jason Kidd (1991-92, St. Joseph Notre Dame High School, Calif.).
The state’s returning Gatorade Player of the Year, the 6-foot-5, 185-pound senior guard had led the Hornets to a 20-5 record and a berth in the Class 6A state semifinals at the time of his selection. A 2020 McDonald’s All-American, he averaged 24.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists through 25 games. Thompson led the Hornets to the Class 6A state championship in 2019. Ranked as the nation’s No. 20 recruit in the Class of 2020 by 247 Sports and took part in the 2019 Team USA Junior National Team minicamp.
Also, a talented musician, Thompson has volunteered locally on behalf of a food bank and youth basketball programs. “Bryce Thompson, in my opinion, is hands down the Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year,” said Rickey Bruner, head coach at Sapulpa High. “He embodies what coaches want in a kid on and off the court. On the court, he is dynamic in every way, and the most special thing about him is every time we have played them, he has gotten better and added something to his game. He is unstoppable. He is a competitor, he is a leader, and he is respectful and humble. He makes everyone around him better.”
Thompson has maintained a 3.28 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball on scholarship at the University of Kansas this fall.
Two-time winner Thompson joins Gatorade Oklahoma Boys Basketball Players of the Year Mason Harrell, (2017-18, Carl Albert High School), Trae Young (2016-17 & 2015-16, Norman North High School) and Shake Milton (2014-15, Owasso High School) among the state’s list of former award winners.
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.
The 2019-2020 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year announcement has been temporarily postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. To ensure the safety of everyone involved, The Gatorade Company will follow the guidance of experts and health officials as it determines the appropriate time to announce this year’s winner.
As a part of Gatorade’s cause marketing platform “Play it Forward,” Thompson also has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national youth sports organization of his choosing. He is also eligible to submit an essay to win one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants for the organization of choice, which will be announced throughout the year.
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.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit www.Gatorade.com/POY, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GatoradePOY or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Gatorade.