Woodard II Named USA Today’s Mississippi Boys Basketball Player of the Year

RELEASE via USA Today:

USA TODAY High School Sports is proud to announce the American Family Insurance ALL-USA Mississippi Boys Basketball Team. Players were selected based on their athletic achievements from the 2015-16 season.

COACH OF THE YEAR

Bernard Berryhill, West Tallahatchie (Webb)
Berryhill directed the Choctaws (34-0) to the state’s only perfect record and the first Class 2A championship in school history. West Tallahatchie defeated opponents by an average of 24.1 points and rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to beat Coahoma in the state final, 52-43.

FIRST TEAM

Player of the Year
Robert Woodard, F/G, Columbus , 6-6/220, So.

(Photo Courtesy: USA Basketball)

The talented sophomore led the Falcons to their first Class 6A state championship, averaging 20.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. A member of the Clarion-Ledger Dandy Dozen, Woodard earned a gold medal with the U-16 National Team at the FIBA Americas Championships and is ranked as the No. 25 recruit in the Class of 2018 by ESPN.

Tyson Carter, G, Starkville, 6-4/165, Sr.
The state’s Gatorade Player of the Year averaged 21.3 points and 5.2 assists to lift the Yellowjackets into the Class 6A title game.

Antonio Cowart, G, McComb, 6-3, 180, Sr.
Cowart recorded 18.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game for the Class 4A finalists.

Nick Weatherspoon, G, Velma Jackson (Camden), 6-2/175, Jr.
The heavily recruited junior posted 22.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game for the Class 3A semifinalists.

Ladarius Marshall, F, Forest Hill (Jackson), 6-6/185, So.
The high-flying soph averaged 21 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots per contest.

SECOND TEAM

Jarkel Joiner, G, Oxford, 6-1/170, Jr.

Taze Moore, F, Southaven, 6-5/180, Sr.

Antares Gwyn, F, Corinth, 6-2/185, Sr.

Stacee St. Julian, G, St. Martin (Ocean Springs), 6-1/165, Sr.

Galin Smith, F, Clinton, 6-9/215, Jr.