The McDonald’s All American Games and Morgan Wootten, Hall of Fame coach and Selection Committee Chair, announced Jahlil Okafor and Ariel Atkins as winners of the 2014 Morgan Wootten Player of the Year Award today.
Whitney Young Magnet High School star Jahlil Okafor is now the second straight Chicagoan to win the award after Jabari Parker won it last year. Ariel Atkins from Duncanville High School in Duncanville, Texas is the third Texas girl to win the award which is the most of any state.
Okafor had this say about winning the prestigious award that Dwight Howard and LeBron James have won among others:
“I am truly honored and humbled to win this prestigious award. The Morgan Wooten Award represents integrity, sportsmanship and dedication – all traits that I try to exhibit on and off the court,” said Okafor. “Winning this award shows that when you have a dream, and when you dedicate yourself to accomplishing that dream, anything is possible.”
Atkins now joins Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne as previous winners:
“I am just so thankful to be named Morgan Wootten Player of the Year,” said Atkins. “But I can’t take the full credit, there are so many people who have helped me become the person and player I am today, and on behalf of them I say thank you.”
Both students also do lots of service in their respective communities as well. The game will be played at the United Center on April 2nd with the girls game at 6pm central and the boys game at 8:30pm central.
Congrats to them both.