For the second consecutive season, a future Kansas Jayhawk has been named the Naismith Boys High School Player of the Year. The Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Friday that power forward Cliff Alexander has won the award that Andrew Wiggins won last season.
Here’s the press release from the KU athletic department:
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas men’s basketball signee Cliff Alexander has been named the Naismith Boys High School Player of the Year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Friday.
Currently listed as the No. 4 overall recruit by rivals.com, Alexander, a 6-9, 240-pound power forward from Curie High School in Chicago, was one of three finalists for the Naismith honor, an elite list that included fellow KU signee Kelly Oubre, a guard from Henderson, Nev.
Alexander, who was also named the Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year on Friday, averaged 24 points, 15 rebounds and six blocked shots in 2013-14, according to the Sun-Times.
Alexander is the second-straight Jayhawk to earn the Naismith Boys High School Player of the Year honor as current KU freshman guard Andrew Wiggins was the 2013 recipient. Alexander and Wiggins are the only KU players to earn the accolade since the inception of the award in 1987.
In addition to his Naismith honor, Alexander and Oubre will participate in the McDonald’s All-America Game on April 2 at the United Center in Chicago. The duo was also named to the USA Basketball Junior National Select Team which will take on the World Select Team in the 2014 Nike Hoop Summit on April 12 at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore.
For more information on the Naismith Awards, click here.
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