Grace Hays Named Wyoming’s Top Girls Basketball Player in 2026 by Gatorade

Cody junior Grace Hays has been chosen as the Gatorade Wyoming Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the 2025-26 season. In its 41st year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company announced the award via release to the media on Friday. Hays is the second player to be selected from Cody High School, as she joined her sister, Molly, who was a two-time Gatorade Award winner. Grace is expected to become a three-time all-state and all-conference pick in her prep career when the 2026 honors are announced next week.

GATORADE WYOMING GIRLS BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2025-26

The 5-11 junior guard has led the Fillies to a 24-0 record and a berth in the Class 3A girls’ basketball state tournament at the time of her selection. Hays averages 26.5 points per game and shoots 54 percent from the field. She is the second-leading scorer in the state. Hays adds 6.4 rebounds, three assists, and 5.6 assists per game. She also shoots 37 percent from beyond the arc and 75 percent at the free-throw line. Grace ranks in the top 10 in five statistical categories in the state. Those are points, steals, 3-point percentage, field goal percentage, and free throw percentage. Her career-high is a 41-point performance against Buffalo in a 74-38 victory. In her career, Hays has scored over 1,300 points, grabbed more than 475 rebounds, dished out more than 250 assists, and has over 400 steals.

Hays maintains a weighted 4.03 GPA in the classroom. She has volunteered with Unified Sports, which pairs youth athletes with peers with intellectual disabilities in celebration of sport. Grace is also a member of the National Honor Society and serves on the board of Cody High School’s Change Attitudes Now initiative, which focuses on anti-drugs education and preventing abuse and addiction.

Lander head coach Drew Powell commended Hays for her all-around game in a release from The Gatorade Company.

“Grace Hays is one of the most exceptional athletes to come through Wyoming. You will not see fancy and flashy moves when you watch her play, but you will notice that her fundamentals are spot on: her handle, reading defenders, keeping her nose on the ball, and her chest in front on defense. Grace shares the ball unselfishly, communicates on defense, and picks up her teammates on the court. Maybe most importantly, she’s the first one to cheer when she’s sitting on the bench, making her exactly the kind of player any coach wants on their team.”

Read More Girls Basketball News from WyoPreps

WyoPreps Athlete of the Week 2-19-26

WyoPreps Girls Basketball Standings 3-9-26

WyoPreps 3A-4A Girls Regional Basketball Scoreboard 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Final Basketball Poll 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Poll 2-25-26

WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 10 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Poll 2-18-26

WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 9 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-11-26

WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 8 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-4-26

WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 7 Scores 2026

Get our free mobile app

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

Hays joins recent winners Elyn Bowers of Pinedale (2024-25), Molly Hays of Cody (2023-24 and 2022-23), Jordan Jones from Cheyenne East (2021-22), and Allyson Fertig of Douglas High School (2020-21 & 2019-20), among the state’s list of previous winners of this award.

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 $6.4 million in grants to winners across more than 2,200 organizations.

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