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.

A "State Player of the Year" award is given to the best student-athlete in each of the twelve sports in the District of Columbia and each of the fifty states, where each sport is recognized as an interscholastic sport. Selection is based on three criteria: athletic achievement, academic excellence, and exemplary character (including sportsmanship, and participation in community and other activities). Twelve "National Player of the Year" awards are then given to the best student-athlete in each of the twelve sports, chosen from the state winners in the respective sport.

Finally, one male Athlete of the Year and one female Athlete of the Year are selected from the twelve National Player of the Year recipients. The two winners are voted on by a national panel with about 400 sports journalists, coaches, and others. In 2025, the two athletes of the year, Cameron Boozer and Jane Hedengren, received their awards at a special ceremony prior to The ESPY Awards.

The Gatorade Company established the awards in 1986. The selection process was administered by ESPN RISE, ESPN's division for high-school sports. The selection process is currently run by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee.

Past national winners include Peyton Manning and Emmitt Smith for football, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant for basketball, Allyson Felix for track and field, and Kerri Walsh for volleyball.

Athletes of the Year

Awards include: + Male Athlete of the Year Year Winner Sport Hometown College 2003 Basketball Akron, OH None 2004 Basketball Atlanta, GA None 2005 Football Syracuse, NY Duke (basketball), Syracuse (football) 2006 Basketball Indianapolis, IN Ohio State 2007 Basketball Lake Oswego, OR UCLA 2008 Football Santa Ana, CA USC 2009 Football Austin, TX Texas 2010 Basketball Fort Lauderdale, FL Kentucky 2011 Baseball Owasso, OK None 2012 Football Aledo, TX Texas 2013 Basketball Thornhill, ON, Canada Kansas 2014 Basketball Metuchen, NJ Kentucky 2015 Football Allen, TX Texas A&M / Oklahoma 2016 Basketball St. Louis, MO Duke 2017 Baseball Whiteville, NC None 2018 Football Santa Ana, CA USC / Georgia / West Virginia / Rice 2019 Baseball Colleyville, TX None 2020 Football Marietta, GA LSU / Georgia 2022 Cross country Newbury Park, CA NAU 2023 Baseball Franklin, IN None 2024 Basketball Newport, ME Duke 2025 Basketball Miami, FL Duke 2026 Baseball Fort Worth, TX TBA+ Female Athlete of the Year Year Winner Sport Hometown College 2003 Track & field North Hills, CA USC 2004 Basketball Naperville, IL Tennessee 2005 Volleyball Long Beach, CA Stanford 2006 Basketball Middle Village, NY UConn 2007 Basketball Lawrenceville, GA UConn 2008 Track & field Easton, PA Tennessee 2009 Basketball South Bend, IN Notre Dame 2010 Basketball Cypress, TX Stanford 2011 Soccer St. Simons Island, GA Virginia 2012 Basketball North Syracuse, NY UConn 2013 Soccer Milford, NH Notre Dame 2014 Basketball Manvel, TX Notre Dame 2015 Track & field Conyers, GA None 2016 Track & field Scotch Plains, NJ Kentucky 2017 Track & field Scotch Plains, NJ Kentucky 2018 Cross country, track & field Thiels, NY NC State 2019 Softball Sharpsburg, GA Washington 2020 Basketball Minnetonka, MN UConn 2022 Basketball Bethesda, Maryland UCLA 2023 Softball Montgomery, TX Florida 2024 Track & field Ventura, CA NC State 2025 Track & field Provo, UT BYU 2026 Soccer St. Louis, MO North Carolina

National sports winners Awards include:

Baseball

Year Winner Hometown College 1986 Tampa, FL Did not attend 1987 Jersey City, NJ 1988 Hamilton, OH 1989 Chicago, IL 1990 Arlington, TX 1991 Orlando, FL 1992 Midwest City, OK Stanford 1993 Miami, FL Did not attend 1994 Sarasota, FL Did not attend 1995 San Diego, CA Stanford (football) 1996 Waynesboro, PA Did not attend 1997 Englewood, CO 1998 Brighton, MI Michigan (football) 1999 Moses Lake, WA Did not attend 2000 Coppell, TX 2001 Seminole, FL 2002 Apopka, FL 2003 Collegeville, PA 2004 Topsham, ME 2005 Chesapeake, VA 2006 Dallas, TX 2007 West Orange, NJ 2008 Riverside, CA 2009 Norco, CA 2010 Adel, GA 2011 Owasso, OK 2012 Tampa, FL 2013 Loganville, GA 2014 Tullahoma, TN 2015 Conroe, TX TCU 2016 Dallas, TX Did not attend 2017 Whiteville, NC 2018 Loretto, TN 2019 Colleyville, TX 2020 Refugio, TX 2021 Buford, GA 2022 Orchard Lake Village, MI 2023 Franklin, IN 2024Konnor GriffinFlowood, MS 2025 Corona, CA 2026 Fort Worth, TX TBA

Basketball

+ Male Basketball Player of the Year Year Winner Hometown College 1986 Virginia Beach, VA North Carolina 1987 Bay City, TX Louisville 1988 Chesapeake, VA Georgetown 1989 Jamaica, NY Georgia Tech 1990 Bedford, IN Indiana 1991 Detroit, MI Michigan 1992 Russellville, AR Arkansas 1993 New Orleans, LA LSU 1994 New York, NY St. John's 1995 Brooklyn, NY Georgia Tech 1996 Ardmore, PA Did not attend 1997 Santa Monica, CA UCLA 1998 Elizabeth, NJ Did not attend 1999 Ann Arbor, MI Michigan 2000 Bloomington, IN Indiana 2001 Flint, MI Michigan State 2002 Akron, OH Did not attend 2003 2004 Atlanta, GA 2005 Indianapolis, IN Ohio State 2006 2007 Lake Oswego, OR UCLA 2008 North Hollywood, CA 2009 Fort Lauderdale, FL Kentucky 2010 2011 St. Louis, MO Florida 2012 Chicago, IL Duke 2013 Thornhill, ON, Canada Kansas 2014 Metuchen, NJ Kentucky 2015 Melbourne, Australia LSU 2016 St. Louis, MO Duke 2017 Columbia, MO Missouri 2018 Mississauga, ON, Canada Duke 2019 Nashville, TN Memphis 2020 Ann Arbor, MI Memphis / Eastern Michigan 2021 Minneapolis, MN Gonzaga 2022 Wichita, KS Kansas 2023 Miami, FL Duke 2024 Newport, ME Duke 2025 Miami, FL Duke 2026 Fairfax, VA Arkansas+ Female Basketball Player of the Year Year Winner Hometown College 1986 Deming, WA Texas 1987 Scotch Plains, NJ Seton Hall 1988 Indianapolis, IN Texas 1989 Louisville, KY Tennessee 1990 Inglewood, CA USC 1991 Allentown, PA Notre Dame / Tennessee 1992 Logan, OH Ohio State 1993 Hampton, VA Georgia 1994 Wilmington, DE Virginia 1995 West Lebanon, IN Purdue 1996 Fort Thomas, KY Western Kentucky 1997 Frederick, MD North Carolina 1998 Dayton, OH UConn 1999 Middle Island, NY UCLA 2000 Copperas Cove, TX Purdue 2001 Indianapolis, IN Tennessee 2002 Highlands Ranch, CO UConn 2003 Naperville, IL Tennessee 2004 2005 Highlands Ranch, CO Duke 2006 Middle Village, NY UConn 2007 Lawrenceville, GA 2008 Cypress, TX Stanford 2009 South Bend, IN Notre Dame 2010 Cypress, TX Stanford 2011 Santa Ana, CA UConn 2012 North Syracuse, NY 2013 Springfield, OR Tennessee 2014 Manvel, TX Notre Dame 2015 Huntington Beach, CA UConn 2016 Hodgenville, KY Notre Dame / Oregon 2017 Richmond, VA UConn 2018 Little Rock, AR 2019 Arlington, VA 2020 Minnetonka, MN 2021 Wilmington, NC South Carolina 2022 Bethesda, Maryland UCLA 2023 Los Angeles, CA USC 2024 Camden, SC South Carolina 2025 Lubbock, TX Oklahoma 2026 Whitestone, NY UConn

Cross country

+ Male Cross Country Athlete of the Year Year Winner Hometown College 2008 Naperville, IL Stanford 2009 The Woodlands, TX Wisconsin 2010 Orland Park, IL Oregon 2011 2012 Indianapolis, IN Northern Arizona 2013 Newark, NJ Oregon 2014 Grand Blanc, MI Stanford 2015 2016 Purcellville, VA Oregon 2017 American Fork, UT BYU 2018 Provo, UT BYU 2019 Larkspur, CA Stanford 2020 Newbury Park, CA Northern Arizona 2021 Greenwood Village, CO North Carolina 2022 Newbury Park, CA Northern Arizona 2023 American Fork, UTBYU2024 2025 Rio Rancho, NM BYU 2026 Herriman, UT BYU+ Female Cross Country Athlete of the Year Year Winner Hometown College 2008 Wellington, FL Duke 2009 San Luis Obispo, CA Oregon 2010 Rochester Hills, MI Washington 2011 Cornwall, NY Stanford 2012 Hartland, WI Notre Dame 2013 Simi Valley, CA Oregon 2014 Camas, WA 2015 Mishawaka, IN Notre Dame 2016 Colorado Springs, CO Oregon 2017 Aurora, CO California 2018 Thiells, NYNC State 2019 2020 2021 Rawlins, WY Arkansas 2022 Flower Mound, TX Oklahoma State 2023 Morgantown, WVStanford2024Addison RitzenheinNiwot, CONAU 2025 Provo, UTBYU 2026 Ann Arbor, MI

Football

Year Winner Hometown College 1986 Indianapolis, IN Purdue / Illinois 1987 Pensacola, FL Florida 1988 Monroeville, PA Pittsburgh 1989 Tabb, VA Virginia 1990 Euclid, OH Ohio State 1991 Winter Park, FL Florida State / Central Florida 1992 St. Paul, MN Miami (FL) / Minnesota 1993 Berwick, PA Notre Dame 1994 New Orleans, LA Tennessee 1995 Puyallup, WA Washington 1996 Hyden, KY Kentucky 1997 Baton Rouge, LA Florida State 1998 Hampton, VA North Carolina (football and basketball) 1999 Long Beach, CA Stanford 2000 Shreveport, LA Florida / Miami (FL) 2001 St. Paul, MN Did not attend 2002 Oxnard, CA Florida State 2003 Danville, CA Miami (FL) 2004 Fort Collins, CO USC 2005 Syracuse, NY Duke (basketball) / Syracuse 2006 Springdale, AR Arkansas / USC 2007 Ocala, FL Florida 2008 Santa Ana, CA USC 2009 Austin, TX Texas / SMU 2010 Westlake Village, CA UCLA 2011 Rock Hill, SC Tennessee 2012 Aledo, TX Texas 2013 Sammamish, WA USC / Pittsburgh 2014 Chesapeake, VA Virginia 2015 Kyler Murray Allen, TX Texas A&M / Oklahoma 2016 Lake Stevens, WA Georgia / Washington 2017 Las Vegas, NV Ohio State / Miami (FL) / UNLV 2018 Santa Ana, CA USC / Georgia / West Virginia / Rice 2019 Scottsdale, AZ Texas / USC / Arizona State 2020 Marietta, GA LSU / Georgia / Nebraska / Savannah State 2021 Draper, UT USC / Ole Miss 2022 Shillington, PA Penn State 2023 Denton, TX Oklahoma / Auburn / UNLV2024DJ LagwayWillis, TXFlorida / Baylor2025Keelon RussellDuncanville, TXAlabama2026Nixa, MOMiami (FL)

Soccer

+ Male Soccer Player of the Year Year Winner Hometown College 1986 Hazelwood, MO SIU Edwardsville 1987 Boise, ID Duke 1988 Storrs, CT Virginia 1989 Everett, WA UCLA 1990 Ellicott City, MD North Carolina 1991 Newark, NJ Virginia 1992 St. Louis, MO Saint Louis 1993 Batavia, IL Virginia 1994 Chagrin Falls, OH Virginia 1995 Milford, CT Maryland 1996 Milwaukee, WI Maryland 1997 Dallas, TX Indiana 1998 Redmond, WA Maryland 1999 Westport, CT Virginia 2000 Oradell, NJ Virginia 2001 New Lenox, IL Indiana 2002 Mission Viejo, CA UCLA 2003 Poway, CA Notre Dame 2004 Wilbraham, MA Wake Forest 2005 Plano, TX Indiana 2006 Portage, MI Indiana 2007 West Orange, NJ Seton Hall 2008 Severn, MD Virginia 2009 Plano, TX Notre Dame 2010 Dearborn, MI Michigan 2011 Midlothian, VA Duke 2012 Accra, Ghana UC Santa Barbara 2013 Pico Rivera, CA Washington 2014 Takoradi, Ghana UCLA 2015 Bolton, England Wake Forest 2016 Arlington, VA Virginia 2017 Tamale, Ghana Michigan 2018 Millbrook, NY Stanford 2019 Dalton, GA Wake Forest 2020 Olathe, KS Liberty / UMKC / MidAmerica Nazarene University 2021 Keller, TX Notre Dame 2022 Baltimore, MD Georgetown 2023 Newark, NJ Clemson2024 2025 Monkton, MD North Carolina 2026 West Orange, NJ UCLA+ Female Soccer Player of the Year Year Winner Hometown College 1998 San Jose, CA Santa Clara 1999 Massapequa, NY Penn State 2000 Lakewood, CO BYU 2001 Lakewood, CO North Carolina 2002 West Hills, CA UCLA 2003 East Brunswick, NJ North Carolina 2004 Satellite Beach, FL North Carolina 2005 Rancho Santa Margarita, CA USC 2006 Indianapolis, IN UCLA 2007 Garland, TX Notre Dame 2008 Palo Alto, CA Stanford 2009 Lake Forest, IL Stanford 2010 Durham, NC Duke 2011 St. Simons Island, GA Virginia 2012 Milford, NH Notre Dame 2013 2014 Forest, VA Tennessee 2015 Highlands Ranch, CO UCLA 2016 Loganville, GA Duke 2017 Cerritos, CA Stanford 2018 San Juan Capistrano, CA Santa Clara 2019 Atherton, CA Duke 2020 Flemington, NJ Rutgers 2021 Studio City, CA Did not attend 2022 Roswell, GA Did not attend 2023 Southlake, TX Did not attend2024Maddie DiMariaSt. Louis, MONorth Carolina 2025 Somerset, NJ Virginia 2026 St. Louis, MO North Carolina

Softball