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SoCal High School & Prep Report

Gatorade "Circle of Champions": Al Harrington
Named Player of the Year--(March 24, 1998)

Well, SoCal's players got slighted again. Not a single one was selected to the the Gatorade "Circle of Champions" High School Boys' Basketball Players of the Year selections.

The winners were announced today, March 24, 1998, and Al Harrington, a senior center from St. Patrick HS in Elizabeth, N.J. Harrington, a three-time All State selection, who will compete in this weekend's Hoops Summit in San Antonio, Texas, was named as the Player of the Year.

Harrington led St. Patrick to a national ranking and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Parochial B title. Harrington averaged 24 points and 14 rebounds for the nationally ranked Celtics, who coincidentally lost to Mater Dei's young squad in the 3rd Annual Nike Extravaganza last month in Orange County.

The national award, which is based on an individual's overall athletic and academic performance throughout their high school career, distinguishes the winners as the best prep basketball players in the nation. There are 50 state winners and one from the District of Columbia. Those groups are then narrowed to eight regional winners and, finally, one national winner.

There were additional "Regional Players of the Year" named to the "Circle of Champions", and surprisingly, no player from the SoCal area was named this year. Only one player from the "Pacific Region" was selected, Ray Young of Alameda St. Joe's, runners-up to Westchester in CIF Division I this year. The other regional recipients were:

Dan Gadzuric, New England Region, Byfield (Mass.) Governor Dummer Academy;
Dane Fife, Midwest Region, Clarkston (Mich.) HS;
JaRon Rush, Central Region, Kansas City (Mo.) Pembroke Hill School;
Rashard Lewis, Southwest Region, Alief (Texas) Elsik HS;
Richard Jefferson, Mountain Region, Phoenix (Ariz.) Moon Valley HS; and
Jason Capel, Southern Region, Frederick (Md.) St. John's at Prospect Hall.

The selections are made by the Gatorade National Advisory Board comprised of 10 national and regional sports writers. The winners were selected from more than 550,000 high school boys' basketball players nationwide.

In addition to honoring 10 national award recipients annually, the Gatorade Circle of Champions program recognizes winners in 50 states and the District of Columbia and eight regional winners in football, boys and girls' soccer, girls' volleyball, girls' and boys' basketball, baseball, softball and girls' and boys' track & field. Nominations can be submitted by coaches, school administrators or fans to any member of the Gatorade National Advisory Board or Scholastic Coach magazine, administrator of the award program. For more information on the Gatorade Circle of Champions visit the Gatorade Cooler site at http://www.gatorade.com.