CHICAGO (March 13, 2026) — In its 41st year celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Kate Harpring of Marist School is the 2025-26 Gatorade Georgia Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their excellence in sport, academics and community. The award recognizes Harpring as Georgia’s best high school girls basketball player, and she joins an elite legacy that spans professional athletes and coaches to CEOs, such as Candace Parker (2002-03 & 2003-04, Naperville Central High School, IL) Paige Bueckers (2020-21, Hopkins High School, MN) and Aaliyah Chavez (2024-25, Monterey High School, TX).
At the time of her selection, the 5-foot-11 senior guard had led the War Eagles to a 27-2 record and a berth in the Class 4A state championship game. Harpring averaged 29.5 points, 11.2 rebounds, 4.2 steals and 4.1 assists while shooting 62.0 percent from the floor through 29 games. The state’s returning Gatorade Player of the Year, Harpring is one of five finalists for the Naismith Award. Ranked as the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2026 by 247Sports, she entered the state final with 3,394 points in her prep basketball career, five points shy of the state record.
Harpring has volunteered locally with the Sandwich Project, which distributes meals to alleviate food insecurity in Atlanta, and she has donated her time to multiple community service initiatives through her church. “Kate Harpring is one of a kind,” said Kevin Moore, head coach of St. Pius X High School. “She impacts the game in almost every way: scoring, facilitating, defending and leading. What makes her special isn’t just her statistical production, but the consistency with which she influences the flow of the game.”
Harpring has maintained an A-minus average in the classroom. She has signed a written letter of athletic aid to play basketball at the University of North Carolina this fall.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one state winner from each of the 50 states and Washington D.C., in 12 different sports: football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball, boys and girls soccer, and boys and girls track & field. In total, 610 high school athletes are honored each year. From the pool of state winners, one national winner is selected in each of the 12 sports. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the winners in each sport.
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $6.4 million in grants to winners across more than 2,200 organizations.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade, Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY and X(Twitter) at x.com/Gatorade.
