After recently moving to Duke's campus, freshman swingman Jayson Tatum already has a prestigious award to add to his dorm room.
The St. Louis native became the second Blue Devil ever named Gatorade National Player of the Year in March—joining Jabari Parker—and made more history Tuesday night. Tatum was named the Gatorade Male High School Athlete of the Year at a ceremony in Hollywood, Calif., ahead of competitors in baseball, track and field, soccer and cross country, becoming the second Duke player ever to earn the honor after former point guard Greg Paulus won the award for his football accomplishments in 2005.
The 6-foot-8 forward joins current NBA stars LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Kevin Love, Andrew Wiggins and Karl Towns as recipients of the award and will attend the 2016 ESPY Awards Wednesday.
Tatum scored at least 40 points six times as a senior, including a 40-point effort in the state championship game to lead his team to victory. The No. 3 recruit in the Class of 2016 according to ESPN averaged 29.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game last season.
Along with classmates Frank Jackson and Marques Bolden, Tatum was a McDonald's All-American and Jordan Brand Classic selection this past year. He has won three gold medals for USA Basketball with the U16, U17 and U19 teams and was named Missouri Gatorade Player of the Year three times.
Tatum was not the only Blue Devil in attendance for Tuesday's ceremony, as women's soccer freshman Ella Stevens was up for the women's award after earning Gatorade National Player of the Year honors in May. Track and field standout Sydney McLaughlin ended up winning the Female High School Athlete of the Year award Tuesday.
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