Gatorade® National Girls Basketball Player of the Year: Erin Boley

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky., March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In its 31^st year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, today announced Erin Boley of Elizabethtown High School (Elizabethtown, Ky.) as its 2015-16 Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

"Winning the Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year was one of the most memorable moments of my young career," said Maya Moore.  "The award makes you a member of a family of world class athletes and I was honored to surprise Erin with the award." 

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 Boley as the nation's best high school girls basketball player. A national advisory panel comprised of sport-specific experts and sports journalists helped select Boley from nearly 429,000 high school girls basketball players nationwide. Boley is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade Female High School Athlete of the Year award, to be presented at a special ceremony prior to The ESPY Awards in July.

The two-time returning Gatorade Kentucky Girls Basketball Player of the Year led her team to a 30-5 record and the state postseason tournament quarterfinals. Boley averaged 24.2 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 2.7 assists per game. A 2016 McDonald's All-American, Boley was the Associated Press Kentucky Player of the Year as a sophomore and junior and is ranked as the nation's No. 5 recruit in the Class of 2016 by espnW. The 6-foot-2 senior forward and center concluded her prep basketball career with 3,325 points – good for seventh on the state's all-time list – and corralled 1,431 career rebounds.

Boley has maintained a 4.0 GPA in the classroom and ranks No. 1 in her class. The vice president of the Elizabethtown High School senior class and a four-year class officer, she is a member of her school's Spanish Club, Beta Club, Pep Club, Art Club and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Boley is also a devoted member of the St. Ann's Catholic Church community, where she is a member of the youth group and serves as a lector. In addition, Boley has volunteered locally at the Warm Blessings Soup Kitchen. The founder of an after school art program for at-risk students, she has also donated her time to providing after school care at Morningside Elementary School and as a Lady Panther Little League basketball coach and instructor. Among her extracurriculars, Boley also blogs for WiseEYEsports.com.

Boley has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball on scholarship at the University of Notre Dame this fall.

"Erin Boley is the consummate student-athlete," said Dan Olson, director of espnW Hoopgurlz and owner of the Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. "Cementing herself among the great players in the history of Kentucky girls basketball, she's a superb forward with a consistent offensive skill set. She is fundamental, competes on both ends of the floor and is very unselfish. I only see her flourishing as she moves forward in her career at Notre Dame."

"Erin embodies everything we look for in a Gatorade Player of the Year recipient," said Gatorade Chief Marketing Officer Morgan Flatley. "In addition to being one of the best high school girls basketball players in the country, Erin has excelled in the classroom and been a positive influence in her community. She is a role model for younger student-athletes to look up to and we are excited to see all the things she will accomplish in the future."

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, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Former notable Gatorade National Players of the Year include:

• Two-time Super Bowl Champion Peyton Manning
• 2015 NBA first overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns
• Three-time WNBA champion Maya Moore
• Four-time track & field gold medalist Allyson Felix
• Silver Medalist and Pro Beach Volleyball Player April Ross
• Three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw

For more information on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of former winners, and future announcement dates, visit the Gatorade Player of the Year website at http://www.gatorade.com/poy, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GatoradePOY or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Gatorade.

SOURCE The Gatorade Company

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