STANFORD, Calif. – Jenna Brown and Lexie Hull were named Gatorade State High School Players of the Year for Georgia and Washington on Monday.
The Gatorade State Player of the Year award was established in 1985 to recognize the nation's most outstanding high school student-athletes for their athletic excellence, academic achievement and exemplary character. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, 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.
Brown and Hull, who were both named WBCA High School Coaches' All-America honorable mention earlier this month, are now finalists for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year award announced later in March.
Brown was named to the five-member Naismith High School Girls' All-America first team on March 5 and has also been selected to participate in both the McDonald's All American Game on March 28 in Chicago and the Jordan Brand Classic on April 8 in Brooklyn.
After missing her junior season recovering from a torn ACL, the five-star talent averaged 24.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.4 steals in leading The Lovett School in Atlanta to a 25-5 record, a perfect 14-0 mark in in Region 5-AAA and the quarterfinals of the GHSA Class AAA State Tournament.
As a sophomore in 2015-16 she played in all 30 games and averaged 18.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.7 steals and 1.3 blocks to help her team to an 18-12 record and state tournament appearance. She started 28 games as a freshman with averages of 15.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals. The Lions went 21-9 record and advanced to the semifinals of the state tournament.
A USA Basketball veteran, Brown won bronze alongside current Cardinal Maya Dodson at the 2016 FIBA U17 World Cup in Zaragoza Spain.
A member of Lovett's Teens Against Prejudice Club, Brown has volunteered locally with developmentally challenged adults and she has donated her time to her school's student mentoring program.
Hull, Washington's returning Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year, led Central Valley to its second Class 4A state championship, averaging 20.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.6 steals per game in an undefeated season. She was named the state tournament MVP and had a career 100-6 record in high school.
Another five-star recruit and the No. 16 overall player in the espnW HoopGurlz Top 100, Hull averaged 16.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.2 steals per game as a junior and was named Class 4A State Player of the Year in both 2015-16 and 2016-17.
During the other state championship run in 2015-16, Hull averaged 18.1 points and 8.6 rebounds in 28 games and was also voted state tournament most valuable player. She scored 13.8 points and pulled down 6.3 rebounds as a freshman.
Current Stanford senior Brittany McPhee was a three-time Gatorade Washington Girls Basketball Player of the Year (2013-14, 2012-13 and 2011-12).
A three-time state qualifier in association with DECA, a national student-entrepreneurship organization, Hull has volunteered locally with the Special Olympics and Spokane Stars youth basketball.