Gatorade Announces Players of the Year

Friday, March 9th, 2018

CHICAGO (March 8, 2018) — In its 33rd year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, announced on Friday their 2017-2018 Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year recipients in all 50 states. In New England those winners included Loomis Chaffee School junior Jaiden Delaire in Connecticut, Portland High School senior Terion Moss in Maine, Brimmer & May senior A.J. Reeves in Massachusetts, Alvirne High School senior Max Bonney-Liles in New Hampshire, St. Andrew's junior Brycen Goodine in Rhode Island, and Rice Memorial junior Kam Farris in Vermont.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes those players as the best in their respective states and makes them finalists for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year award to be announced in March.

Jaiden Delaire - Connecticut

The 6-foot-9, 210-pound junior guard/forward led the Pelicans to a 17-7 record and the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council Class A tournament. Delaire averaged 21.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. The state’s top recruit in his class according to ESPN, Delaire was a Second-Team All-New England Class A selection as a sophomore.

A Loomis Chaffee tour guide for prospective students, Delaire has also volunteered locally with the Special Olympicsand has entered the school campaign to be voted as a Residential Advisor for the upperclassmen dorm on campus.

“Jaiden has that one intangible that (2002-03 Gatorade Connecticut Player of the Year) Timmy Abromaitis,” said Kevin Kehoe, head coach at Cheshire Academy. “Everything he’s going to do, he’s going to do really well. And he’ll be humble about everything he does.”

Delaire has maintained a 3.47 GPA in the classroom. He will begin his senior year of high school in the fall.

Terion Moss - Maine

The 5-foot-10, 165-pound senior guard led the Bulldogs to a 17-3 record and the Class AA quarterfinals this past season. The state's returning Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year, Moss averaged 19.9 points, 4.6 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.9 steals per game. The North Regional MVP and the Southwestern Maine Activities Association Player of the Year, he is a finalist for Maine's Mr. Basketball award.   

Moss has volunteered locally on behalf of youth basketball programs. "Terion Moss is a phenomenal basketball player," said Mike Adams, head coach at Edward Little High. "He can guard anyone from point guard to center, he plays the right way and more than anyone else he makes his teammates better. He's impossible to prepare for, and when the ball is in his hands, there's nothing you can do to stop him from doing what he wants to do."     

Moss has maintained a B average in the classroom. He remains undecided upon a collegiate destination.

A.J. Reeves - Massachusetts

The 6-foot-5, 170-pound senior forward averaged 27.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game this past season, leading the Gators to a 9-14 record. A First Team All-New England Prep School Athletic Council selection as a junior, Reeves scored more than 30 points in eight games this season. He is ranked as the nation’s No. 44 recruit in the Class of 2018 by 247Sports.com.

Reeves has volunteered locally as a youth basketball coach. “A.J. is one of the most gifted offensive threats in all of New England,” said Mike Mannix, head coach of Wilbraham & Monson School. “His range is deep. He shoots it off the dribble as well as catch-and-shoot situations. He can get his shot off without much space which today is hard to find in a player.”

Reeves has maintained a B average in the classroom. He has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball on scholarship at Providence College this fall.

Max Bonney-Liles - New Hampshire

The 6-foot-4, 160-pound senior guard had led the Broncos to a 12-6 mark and a berth in the Division I tournament at the time of his selection. A second-team All-State honoree a year ago, Bonney-Liles led Division I with 21.3 points per game this winter along with six rebounds, five assists and two steals through 18 games. Bonney-Liles recently surpassed 1,000 career points in propelling Alvirne’s turnaround from a sub-.500 squad in 2016-17 to a tournament team.

In addition to donating his time locally on behalf of the annual New Hampshire Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Ceremony, as well as to the Special Olympics, Bonney-Liles has volunteered as a counselor in summer camps and also assists as an Alvirne junior varsity basketball coach. “Bonney-Liles is a really good player, a consistent 10-plus point a game guy who can jump out of the gym,” said Jeff Holmes, head coach at Exeter High. “He’s carried their team. He’d get my vote for player of year. And also, I know he’s a quality kid.”

Bonney-Liles has maintained a B average in the classroom. He remains undecided upon a collegiate destination.

Brycen Goodine - Rhode Island

The 6-foot-4, 170-pound junior shooting guard averaged 21.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.4 steals this past season, leading the Saints (25-7) to the New England Prep School Athletic Council Class AA Tournament title game. Goodine connected on 52.3 percent of his 3-pointers (134-of-256) and 89.8 percent of his free throws (141-of-157) and concluded his junior year with 1,904 points in his prep basketball career.

A student ambassador at St. Andrew’s, Goodine has volunteered locally as a peer tutor and has also donated his time helping to feed the homeless. “Brycen is a high-level athlete that can do just about everything on the floor,” said James Cormier, head coach of Cushing Academy. “He makes his teammates better, shoots the three and scores at the rim. That’s what makes him most dangerous.”

Goodine has maintained a 3.19 GPA in the classroom. He has made a verbal commitment to play basketball on scholarship at Syracuse University beginning in the fall of 2019.

Kam Farris - Vermont

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound junior guard had led the Green Knights to a 17-2 record and a berth in the Division 1 state tournament at the time of his selection. Farris averaged 22.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists through 19 games. A First Team All-State and All-Metro honoree, he was also named to the Vermont Basketball Coaches Association Dream Dozen each of the past two seasons and was selected to the USA TODAY’s ALL-USA Vermont First Team.

Farris has volunteered locally on behalf of youth basketball camps. “Kam Farris is the best pure basketball player in the state,” said Sol Bayer-Pacht, head coach at South Burlington High. “You have to guard him 28 feet from the hoop and he hits shots that you simply can’t stop. He can get to the rim and finish and he has tremendous touch.”

Farris has maintained a B average in the classroom. He will begin his senior year of high school this fall.