Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
New Jersey has 6 players in mix for Naismith Boys’ Player of the Year, Duke has 5
New Jersey has six players on the 2023 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Boys High School Player of the Year watch list, while Duke has five.
The Jersey Boys are Kentucky commits DJ Wagner and Aaron Bradshaw of Camden, Duke pledge Mackenzie Mgbako of Roselle Catholic, UNC commit Simeon Wilcher of Roselle Catholic and uncommitted 2024 prospects Dylan Harper of Don Bosco and Elliot Cadeau of Link Academy.
Duke leads all schools with five candidates committed to playing for them next season: Mgbako, Caleb Foster, Jared McCain, T.J. Power and Sean Stewart. Sophomores Cooper Flagg and Koa Peat are the only underclassman candidates on this year’s watch list.
Montverde Academy, with four winners in the last seven years, and Sunrise Christian Academy, account for a total of eight players on the watch list. Montverde boasts former winners Ben Simmons (2015), R.J. Barrett (2018), Cade Cunningham (2020) and Dariq Whitehead (2022) and has four candidates this season.
“We are off and running in what should be an exciting and competitive season of high school basketball,” said Eric Oberman, executive director of the Atlanta Tipoff Club. “There are so many talented candidates who could win the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy, and that will play itself out over the next several months.”
“The players on this list represent the future of basketball,” said Jeff Hemschoot, vice president of marketing, Jersey Mike’s. “We look forward to following these young men as they compete throughout the season.”
The five finalists will be announced in February and the 2023 Jersey Mike’s Naismith High School Trophy Boys winner will awarded in March 2023.
The full list is below:
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
