Three Georgia basketball players are among the 10 finalists for the Naismith Award for national high school players of the year.
Asia Durr of St. Pius and Te’a Cooper of McEachern are among the five girls finalists. Jaylen Brown of Wheeler made the final five among boys.
Durr and Cooper, both projected as point guards in college, have led their teams to two state titles.
Durr, who has signed with Louisville, finished her career this week when St. Pius was eliminated from the Class AAAA playoffs. She averaged 33.0 points and 6.3 rebounds this season and scored more than 50 points in two games this month.
Cooper’s team remains alive in the AAAAAA semifinals. Cooper, who has signed with Tennessee, is averaging 28 points, nine assists, six steals and four rebounds.
Brown, a 6-foot-6 forward, led Wheeler to the AAAAAA finals last season. This season, Wheeler is ranked No. 1 entering this week’s quarterfinals. Brown’s statistics are not available. He has not made his college choice.
The other girls finalists are wing Napheesa Collier of Incarnate Word Academy in St. Louis and Katie Lou Samuelson of Mater Dei of Huntington Beach, Calif., both signed with Connecticut, and point guard Lashann Higgs of Cedar Ridge in Round Rock, Texas. Higgs has signed with Texas.
The other boys finalists are Dwayne Bacon of Oak Hill Academy in Virginia (signed with Florida State), Malik Newman of Callaway in Jackson, Miss. (uncommitted); forward Ben Simmons of Montverde Academy in Florida (LSU); and Allonzo Trier of Findlay Prep in Washington (Arizona).
The winners will be announced March 12.
