March 13, 2014
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky women’s basketball signee Alexis Jennings of Madison, Ala., has been named the 2013-14 Gatorade Alabama Girls Basketball Player of the Year, it was announced Thursday. Jennings is the second Gatorade Alabama Girls Basketball Player of the Year from Sparkman High School.
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 Jennings as Alabama’s best high school girls basketball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year award announced in March, Jennings joins an elite alumni association of past state girls basketball award-winners, including Candace Parker (2001-02), Diana Taurasi (1998-99 & 1999-00), Maya Moore (2005-06), Rashanda McCants (2004-05), Shyra Ely (1999-00) and Lisa Leslie (1988-89).
Jennings is rated as the ninth-best forward in the 2014 class by ESPN.com. The 6-foot-2 forward averaged 22.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.9 blocks and 3.2 steals while shooting at 81 percent from the free throw line, leading the Senators (34-3) to the Class 6A state title game. A three-time First Team All-State selection and a 2014 WBCA All-American, she was named MVP of the BallN’ Powher Prep Invitational in December, averaging 25.6 points per game in the tournament. As a junior, Jennings was named the Huntsville Times Player of the Year after averaging 22.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.3 blocks and 3.2 steals per game in leading Sparkman to a 33-1 record. She earned Class 6A All-State First Team honors along with being named to the ASWA Super 5 and the AL.com Sweet 16. Jennings was a finalist for the 6A Player of the Year and Miss Basketball award.
Jennings has maintained a 3.29 GPA in the classroom. A member of her school’s Environmental Science Club and the 4-H Youth Development Organization, she has volunteered locally as an usher at her church and as a tutor and mentor for students with special needs.
She chose UK over Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Florida State and Middle Tennessee.
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.
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