There’s another Kentucky girls’ basketball player of the year, but this one isn’t a senior
Maddie Scherr, the Ryle junior who will probably be the front-runner for Miss Basketball next year, already has a player of the year honor under her belt, after being named Kentucky’s 2018-2019 Gatorade Player of the Year on Friday.
Scherr, a 5-foot-11 guard/forward, helped lead the Raiders to a 29-5 record and back-to-back 9th Region titles and appearances in the state tournament. She’s averaged 15.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 3.2 steals and 1.4 blocks this season and maintained a 3.63 weighted grade-point average, according to the press release.
The award recognizes “not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field,” according to the sports-beverage company. As part of the recognition, Scherr has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national youth sports organization of her choosing and can submit an essay to win one of 12 $10,000 spotlight grants for the organization of choice.
As the Kentucky winner, Scherr is eligible for Gatorade’s national player of the year award to be announced later this month.
On Tuesday, Boyd County senior Savannah Wheeler, a Marshall University signee, was named 2019 Miss Basketball by the Kentucky Lion’s Eye Foundation. Only seniors are eligible for that award. Scherr, a four-star prospect and one of the top class of 2020 recruits in the country, according to ESPN.com, has offers from at least 18 Division I schools, according to reports, including Kentucky, Louisville and Oregon.
Awarded since 1985, past Kentucky Gatorade players of the year have included Seygan Robins (2017-18, Mercer County), Jaelynn Penn (2016-17, Butler), and Erin Boley (2015-16, 2014-15 and 2013-14, Elizabethtown). This is the first Gatorade honor for a basketball player from Ryle. Kirsten Allen won it for softball in 2007.
This story was originally published March 8, 2019 at 1:56 PM.
