South Atlanta High School Standout Named Gatorade Georgia Boys Basketball Player of the Year

CHICAGO (March 24, 2009) — In its third decade of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in partnership with ESPN RISE, today announced Derrick Favors of South Atlanta High School as its 2008-09 Gatorade Georgia Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Favors is the first Gatorade Georgia Boys Basketball Player of the Year to be chosen from South Atlanta 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 court, distinguishes Favors as Georgia’s best high school boys basketball player. Favors is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year award to be announced in late March.

The 6-foot-9, 220-pound senior forward led the Hornets to the Class AAA state title this season, averaging 28.1 points, 13.3 rebounds, five blocks, four steals and three assists per game. Favors scored 38 points with 21 rebounds and four blocks in an 81-62 win over Westover High in the state final, the first ever basketball championship for South Atlanta High. A four-time First Team All-State selection and the returning Gatorade Georgia Boys Basketball Player of the Year, Favors won the prestigious 2009 Naismith Trophy, which is awarded to the top high school and college basketball players in the country. Favors was also selected as a 2009 McDonald’s All-American and a 2009 Jordan Brand Classic All-American.

Favors has maintained a B average in the classroom. He has volunteered during the holidays delivering food to disadvantaged families, as a youth mentor at his local community center and as an area youth basketball coach.

“There are three things that make Favors a special player,” said South Atlanta High Coach Michael Reddick. “The first is his mental ability. He is so strong mentally, he would pick up on things in practice as an eighth grader that varsity seniors wouldn’t comprehend. The second is his competitiveness and his desire to win, which are unmatched by anyone I’ve seen at this level. The third is his great athleticism. He is just so quick and so strong, he really is the complete package as a basketball player.”

Favors has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball on scholarship at Georgia Tech University 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. The selection process is administered by ESPN RISE, which works with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Favors joins recent Gatorade Georgia Boys Basketball Players of the Year Gani Lawal (2006-07, Norcross HS) and Javaris Crittenton (2005-06, SW Atlanta Christian Academy) among the state’s list of former award winners.

For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a list of past winners, and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit gatorade.com/playeroftheyear.