Mr. Basketball USA, formerly known as the ESPN RISE National Player of the Year and EA SPORTS National Player of the Year, is an award presented to the United States boys' high school basketball national player of the year by Ballislife.com. Before 1996, retroactive recognition was determined for honorees going back to 1955's selectee Wilt Chamberlain, determined by National High School Hall of Fame member Doug Huff, who has been a McDonald's All-American Game selection committee member since the game's inception, CalHiSports.com Editor Mark Tennis and Ballislife.com National Editor Ronnie Flores.[1] From 1996–2002 the selections were made by Student Sports and from 2003–2009 by EA Sports.[1] From 2010–2012 the award was determined by ESPN HS until the award was taken over and executed by Flores in 2013 after his tenure with ESPN ended.

Mr. Basketball USA
Black man kneeling on one knee with a basketball resting on the other and his hand atop the basketball. He is wearing a red, white and blue Harlem Globetrotters uniform.
Wilt Chamberlain is recognized as the first Mr. Basketball USA
Awarded forHigh school basketball's top male player
CountryUnited States
Presented byBallislife (EA Sports 2003–2009; Student Sports 1996–2002)
First awarded1996 (retroactive to 1955)
Currently held byCooper Flagg

According to information posted online by Ballislife, "Selections are based on high school accomplishment, not future college/pro potential, and are reflective of those that lead their teams to state championships. Ballislife does not knowingly select fifth-year players, and those ineligible due to age or academics, Mr. Basketball USA or to its various All-American teams."[1] Furthermore, selection uses "on-the-floor performance" without regard to academics, volunteer work or most other off-the-court criteria.[2]

Current selections are made through a season-long polling process of a 10-member expert panel with a final year-end ballot to determine the winner. The panel includes five McDonald's All-American selection committee members. The panel is polled weekly for a list of the top seven national player of the year candidates regardless of graduating class. The votes are then translated into a 10-point scoring system, with 10 points for a first-place vote, nine points for second-place vote, and down to four points for a seventh-place vote.[2]

Winners

edit
(left to right): Jerry Lucas, Kareem-Abdul Jabbar and LeBron James are recognized as the only two-time winners of Mr. Basketball USA.
GGuard
CGCombo guard
PGPoint guard
SGShooting guard
FForward
PFPower forward
SFSmall forward
CCenter
— in Runner(s)-up column indicates years in which the voting procedures and the resulting votes yielded a consensus winner with no runner(s)-up named.
— in College column indicates that player either returned to high school or went directly to professional basketball in the subsequent year.
Mr. Basketball USA Winners
Year Player High school City Height Position College Runner(s)-up
1955 Wilt Chamberlain Overbrook Philadelphia, PA 7' 1" C Kansas Oscar Robertson
1956 Oscar Robertson Crispus Attucks Indianapolis, IN 6' 5" G Cincinnati Kelly Coleman, Jerry West
1957 Jerry Lucas Middletown Middletown, OH 6' 8" F Tony Jackson
1958 Jerry Lucas Middletown Middletown, OH 6' 8" F Ohio State Bill McGill, Wayne Hightower
1959 Bill Raftery St. Cecilia Kearny, NJ 6' 5" F LaSalle Arthur Heyman
1960 Connie Hawkins Boys Brooklyn, NY 6' 9" C Iowa
1961 Bill Bradley Crystal City Crystal City, MO 6' 5" F Princeton Reggie Harding, Billy Cunningham
1962 Cazzie Russell Carver Chicago, IL 6' 5" F Michigan John Austin, Larry Conley
1963 Edgar Lacy Jefferson Los Angeles, CA 6' 6" F UCLA Lew Alcindor
1964 Lew Alcindor Power Memorial New York, NY 7' 1" C Wes Unseld
1965 Lew Alcindor Power Memorial New York, NY 7' 1" C UCLA
1966 Calvin Murphy Norwalk Norwalk, CT 5' 9" G Niagara
1967 Spencer Haywood Pershing Detroit, MI 6' 9" F Detroit Ken Durrett, Jim McDaniels
1968 Paul Westphal Aviation Redondo Beach, CA 6' 4" G USC Ralph Simpson
1969 George McGinnis Washington Indianapolis, IN 6' 8" F Indiana Kevin Joyce
1970 Tom McMillen Mansfield Mansfield, PA 6' 11" C Maryland Bill Walton, Dwight Jones
1971 Maurice Lucas Schenley Pittsburgh, PA 6' 9" F Marquette Raymond Lewis, Roscoe Pondexter
1972 Quinn Buckner Thornridge Dolton, IL 6' 3" G Indiana Alvin Adams, Phil Sellers
1973 Adrian Dantley DeMatha Hyattsville, MD 6' 6" F Notre Dame Kent Benson, Tom LaGarde
1974 Moses Malone Petersburg Petersburg, VA 6' 11" C Skip Wise
1975 Bill Cartwright Elk Grove Elk Grove, CA 7' 1" C San Francisco David Greenwood, Darryl Dawkins
1976 Darrell Griffith Male Louisville, KY 6' 4" G Louisville Albert King
1977 Albert King Fort Hamilton Brooklyn, NY 6' 6" F Maryland Magic Johnson, Gene Banks
1978 Mark Aguirre Westinghouse Chicago, IL 6' 6" F DePaul Dwight Anderson
1979 Clark Kellogg St. Joseph Cleveland, OH 6' 7" F Ohio State Isiah Thomas, Ralph Sampson
1980 Doc Rivers Proviso East Maywood, IL 6' 4" G Marquette Patrick Ewing, Earl Jones
1981 Patrick Ewing Rindge & Latin Cambridge, MA 7' 1" C Georgetown
1982 Wayman Tisdale Washington Tulsa, OK 6' 9" F Oklahoma Billy Thompson
1983 Reggie Williams Dunbar Baltimore, MD 6' 7" SF Georgetown Dwayne Washington
1984 John Williams Crenshaw Los Angeles, CA 6' 9" SF LSU Danny Manning, Delray Brooks
1985 Danny Ferry DeMatha Hyattsville, MD 6' 10" F Duke Jeff Lebo
1986 J. R. Reid Kempsville Virginia Beach, VA 6' 10" C North Carolina Rex Chapman, Terry Mills
1987 Larry Johnson Skyline Dallas, TX 6' 7" F UNLV Marcus Liberty
1988 Alonzo Mourning Indian River Chesapeake, VA 6' 10" C Georgetown Shawn Kemp, Billy Owens
1989 Kenny Anderson Archbishop Molloy Briarwood, NY 6' 1" PG Georgia Tech
1990 Damon Bailey North Lawrence Bedford, IN 6' 3" G Indiana Ed O'Bannon
1991 Chris Webber Country Day Beverly Hills, MI 6' 10" C Michigan Glenn Robinson
1992 Jason Kidd St. Joseph Alameda, CA 6' 4" PG California Rodrick Rhodes
1993 Rasheed Wallace Simon Gratz Philadelphia, PA 6' 11" F North Carolina Jerry Stackhouse, Randy Livingston
1994 Felipe López Rice New York, NY 6' 5" SG St. John's
1995 Kevin Garnett Mauldin / Farragut Mauldin, SC / Chicago, IL 6' 10" C Ron Mercer, Stephon Marbury
1996 Mike Bibby Shadow Mountain Phoenix, AZ 6' 1" PG Arizona Kobe Bryant, Tim Thomas
1997 Tracy McGrady Auburndale / Mount Zion Auburndale, FL / Durham, NC 6' 7" SF Lamar Odom
1998 Rashard Lewis Elsik Houston, TX 6' 10" F Ronald Curry, JaRon Rush
1999 Jonathan Bender Picayune Picayune, MS 6' 11" F Donnell Harvey
2000 Darius Miles East St. Louis East St. Louis, IL 6' 9" F Zach Randolph, Gerald Wallace
2001 Dajuan Wagner Camden Camden, NJ 6' 2" CG Memphis Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry
2002 LeBron James St. Vincent – St. Mary Akron, OH 6' 8" G Carmelo Anthony
2003 LeBron James St. Vincent – St. Mary Akron, OH 6' 8" G Chris Paul
2004 Sebastian Telfair Lincoln Brooklyn, NY 6' 1" PG Dwight Howard
2005 Monta Ellis Lanier Jackson, MS 6' 3" SG Greg Oden
2006 Greg Oden Lawrence North Indianapolis, IN 7' 1" C Ohio State Kevin Durant
2007 O. J. Mayo Huntington Huntington, WV 6' 5" G USC Kevin Love, Derrick Rose
2008 Brandon Jennings Dominguez / Oak Hill Academy Compton, CA / Mouth of Wilson, VA 6' 1" PG Samardo Samuels
2009 Derrick Favors South Atlanta Atlanta, GA 6' 9" PF Georgia Tech DeMarcus Cousins, Avery Bradley, Jr.
2010 Harrison Barnes Ames Ames, IA 6' 7" SF North Carolina Jared Sullinger
2011 Mike Gilchrist St. Patrick Elizabeth, NJ 6' 7" SF Kentucky Austin Rivers, Bradley Beal
2012 Shabazz Muhammad Bishop Gorman Las Vegas, NV 6' 6" SF UCLA Jabari Parker
2013 Andrew Wiggins Vaughn / Huntington Vaughan, ON / Huntington, WV 6' 8" SF Kansas Jabari Parker
2014 Cliff Alexander Curie Chicago, IL 6' 9" PF Kansas Stanley Johnson
2015 Ben Simmons Box Hill Senior / Montverde Melbourne / Montverde, FL 6' 10" PF LSU Jaylen Brown
2016 Lonzo Ball Chino Hills Chino Hills, CA 6' 6" PG UCLA Josh Jackson
2017 Michael Porter Jr. Father Tolton / Nathan Hale Columbia, MO / Seattle, WA 6' 10" SF Missouri Deandre Ayton
2018 RJ Barrett St. Marcellinus / Montverde Mississauga / Montverde, FL 6' 7" SG Duke Zion Williamson
2019 Isaiah Stewart McQuaid Jesuit / La Lumiere Brighton, NY / La Porte, IN 6' 9" PF Washington Cole Anthony
2020 Cade Cunningham Bowie / Montverde Arlington, TX / Montverde, FL 6' 7" PG Oklahoma State Evan Mobley, Jalen Green
2021 Chet Holmgren Minnehaha Minneapolis, MN 7' 0" C Gonzaga Jabari Smith Jr.
2022 Dariq Whitehead Montverde Montverde, FL 6' 5" SF Duke Keyonte George, Dereck Lively
2023 Cameron Boozer Christopher Columbus High School Westchester, FL 6' 9" PF Isaiah Collier
2024 Cooper Flagg Nokomis Regional / Montverde Newport, ME / Montverde, FL 6' 9" SF Duke Dylan Harper

Source:[3]

See also

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^ a b c Flores, Ronnie (April 16, 2012). "Mr. Basketball USA winners: ESPNHS national player of the year honorees date back to 1955". ESPN HS. Alt URL
  2. ^ a b Flores, Ronnie (January 5, 2012) [November 17, 2011]. "Preseason Mr. Basketball USA Tracker: Shabazz Muhammad is target". ESPN HS. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
  3. ^ Flores, Ronnie (August 27, 2021). "All-Time Mr. Basketball USA Honorees". GrassrootsHoops.net. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
edit