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PRESS RELEASE
CHICAGO (March 15, 2019) — In its 34th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company today announced Michael Ure of Ririe High School as its 2018-19 Gatorade Idaho Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Ure is the first Gatorade Idaho Boys Basketball Player of the Year to be chosen from Ririe 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 field, distinguishes Ure as Idaho’s best high school boys basketball player.
Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year award to be announced in March, Ure joins an elite alumni association of past state boys basketball award winners, including Karl-Anthony Towns (2012-13 & 2013-14, St. Joseph High School, N.J.), Dwight Howard (2003-04, Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, Ga.), Chris Bosh (2001-02, Lincoln High School, Texas), Paul Pierce (1994-95, Inglewood High School, Calif.), Chauncey Billups (1993-94 & 1994-95, George Washington High School, Colo.) and Jason Kidd (1991-92, St. Joseph Notre Dame High School, Calif.).
The 6-foot-7, 210-pound senior forward led the Bulldogs to a 23-3 record and the Class 2A semifinals this past season. Ure averaged 21.4 points, 11.3 rebounds, 3.3 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. The District 6 Player of the Year in each of the past two seasons, he is a three-time First Team All-State selection.
An active member of the Boy Scouts of America, Ure has volunteered locally assisting the elderly and officiating youth basketball games.
“Ure is a matchup nightmare for everyone,” said David Hadley, head coach at West Jefferson High School. “He’s the rare player who, at 6-foot-7, can step outside to 25 feet and shoot effortlessly, or take you down to the paint and go left or right. He’s a pure shooter, and defensively he’s a great shot-blocker with very good timing. I’ve seen very few players who are as well-rounded as he is.”
Ure has maintained a 3.81 GPA in the classroom. He remains undecided upon a collegiate destination.
Ure dunks during a 2019 Boys Real Dairy Shootout game.
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 work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.
Ure joins Gatorade Idaho Boys Basketball Players of the Year Jake Pfennigs (2017-18, Post Falls High School), Kolby Lee (2016-17, Rocky Mountain High School), Connor Harding (2015-16, Highland High School), and Stefan Gonzalez (2014-15, Highland High School) among the state’s list of former award winners.
As a part of Gatorade’s cause marketing platform “Play it Forward,” Ure also has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national youth sports organization of his choosing. He is also eligible to submit an essay to win one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants for the organization of choice, which will be announced throughout the year.
Since the program’s inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of professional and college championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their communities, becoming coaches, business owners and educators.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student athletes, visit www.Gatorade.com/POY, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GatoradePOY or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Gatorade.
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