Derby’s Addy Brown named Kansas Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year

DERBY, Kan. (Catch it Kansas) - In its 38th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Addy Brown of Derby High School is the 2022-23 Gatorade Kansas Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Brown is the second Gatorade Kansas Girls Basketball Player of the Year to be chosen from Derby High School.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes Brown as Kansas’ best high school girls basketball player. Brown joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports, including Kiki Rice (2021-22, Sidwell Friends School, Washington, D.C.), Paige Bueckers (2019-20, Hopkins High School, Minn.), Nneka Ogwumike (2007-08, CyFair High School, Texas), and Candace Parker (2003-04 & 2002-03, Naperville Central High School, Ill.).

At the time of her selection, the 6-foot-3 senior point guard had led the Panthers to an 19-2 record and a berth in the Class 6A West Region sub-state championship game. Brown averaged 20.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.2 blocks per game through 21 games. A McDonald’s All-American Game selection, she is a two-time Class 6A First Team All-State honoree. Her older sister, Kennedy, was the state’s 2018-19 Gatorade Player of the Year.

An intern in Derby High School’s campus commercial banking office, Brown has volunteered locally as a youth basketball coach. “Addy is truly a coach on the floor,” said Dan Harrison, head coach of Derby High School. “She is a totally unselfish player who makes everyone better around her during practices and games.”

Brown has maintained a weighted 4.43 GPA in the classroom. She has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball on scholarship at Iowa State University this fall.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.

Brown joins recent Gatorade Kansas Girls Basketball Players of the Year Zyanna Walker (2021-22, Wichita Heights High School), Payton Verhulst (2020-21 & 2019-20, Bishop Miege High School), and Kennedy Brown (2018-19, Derby High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.

Being a Gatorade Player of the Year means paying it forward for the next generation. Through Gatorade’s Play it Forward initiative, every Player of the Year receives a grant to give to one of Gatorade’s social impact partners, supporting Gatorade’s ambition to fuel the future of sport. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $3.5 million across more than 1,300 organizations.

For nearly 40 years, Gatorade has honored high school athletes at the top of their game as teammates, supporting their communities and achieving academic success. From CEOs and coaches to star athletes and community leaders, Gatorade Player of the Year winners showcase the power of sport.

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