Gatorade Player of the Year coming to the Rose Garden

The Nike Hoops Summit, the country’s premiere annual basketball game featuring America’s top senior boy high school players going against a World Select Team comprised of the world’s top players 19-years-old or younger, is set to be played at the Rose Garden on April 12. It's a great chance to see a ton of future NCAA and NBA talent.

Jrue Holiday, the 2008 Gatorade National Player of the Year, is one of those players. Holiday averaged 25.4 points, 11.2 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 4.4 steals and 2.4 blocks per game this season, leading Campbell Hall to a second straight California Interscholastic Federation Division IV state title. Here's a little more information about Holiday.

A McDonald's All-American Game and Jordan Brand All-American Team selection, the 6-foot-4, 190-pound senior submitted a dominating performance against San Joaquin Memorial in the Southern California Regional Division IV title game, where he scored 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting, and collected 11 rebounds, nine assists and seven steals in a 76-45 victory. Holiday scored 19 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in the 83-61 state championship victory against Saint Mary's. He led Campbell Hall to an incredible 126-8 record in his four-year varsity career.

Holiday has maintained a B-average in the classroom. A member of the school's Gospel Choir and the percussion section leader in Campbell Hall's orchestra, he also teaches basketball fundamentals to youth players in association with the American Cancer Society's Coaches vs. Cancer charity and raises funds to benefit cancer research through the Concern Foundation. Holiday has also traveled to Japan as a youth ambassador on behalf of the Shepherd of the Hills Christian Church, in addition to donating his time at Campbell Hall as a tour guide on Perspective Student Days and as team manager for the varsity girls’ tennis squad.

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Holiday has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball at UCLA this fall. He joins 2008 Pac-10 Freshman and Player of the Year Kevin Love (2006-07, Lake Oswego High School/Lake Oswego, OR) and two-time NBA All-Star Baron Davis (1996-97, Crossroads High School/Santa Monica, CA) as UCLA recruits to be named Gatorade National Boys Basketball Players of the Year. Recent Gatorade National Boys Basketball Players of the Year include two-time winner Greg Oden (2004-05 & 2005-06, Lawrence North HS/Indianapolis, IN), Dwight Howard (2003-04, Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy/Atlanta, GA) and two-time winner LeBron James (2001-02 & 2002-03, St. Vincent-St. Mary High School/Akron, OH).

Impressive. And check out the list of other past Gatorade POY winners. I count seven NBA All-Stars on that list.

Tickets are already on sale for the Nike Hoops Summit. For more information, check out the Nike Hoops Summit site.