Laramie's Summers is the Gatorade Wyo. Boys Basketball POY 24-25

Laramie senior Neil Summers was chosen as the 2024-25 Gatorade Wyoming Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Summers is the second selection from Laramie High School on Thursday. In its 40th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company announced Summers as the winner via a release to the media.

The 6-9 senior led Laramie to a 19-9 record and a runner-up finish in the Class 4A boys’ basketball state tournament. Summers averaged 16.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game. He led Class 4A in rebounding and was second in field goal percentage at 58 percent. Summers had 25 points and 11 rebounds in the state championship game loss to No. 1 Campbell County. He was named the Class 4A Player of the Year. As a junior, he led Laramie to the program’s first regional championship in 55 years and the first 20-win season in 81 seasons.

Having played a lead role in the University of Wyoming Lab School’s theatrical performance, Summers has volunteered locally on behalf of Vedauwoo National Park and the New Life Church. He has also donated his time as an assistant coach for a girls’ youth basketball team and as a youth referee, in addition to participating in the Laramie Turf Wars, the Battle of the Books, and the Walk for Water. Summers has maintained a 3.90 PGA in the classroom and signed his National Letter of Intent to play basketball at the University of Wyoming last November.

Laramie head coach Drew Evans spoke highly of Summers in the release.

“Neil is the epitome of a student-athlete. Through his commitment on and off the court, Neil has shown excellence both in the gym and in the classroom. Neil’s individual production and resulting team achievements speak for themselves. His presence and skill commands respect and attention from opponents.”

The award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field. It distinguishes Summers as Wyoming’s best high school boys’ basketball player. He is a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year award to be announced later this month.

Summers joins recent Gatorade Wyoming Boys Basketball Players of the Year Joe Sawyer of Cheyenne Central (2023-24), Parker Paxton from Riverton (2022-23), and Deegan Williams of Thunder Basin High School (2021-22), among the state’s list of former award winners.

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As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $5.6 million in grants to winners across more than 2,000 organizations.

Information from a press release from The Gatorade Company was used in this story.