CHICAGO – In its 35th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, selected Dallion Johnson, a member of Penn State's class of 2020, as its 2019-20 Gatorade Massachusetts Boys Basketball Player of the Year. 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 Johnson as Massachusetts' best high school boys basketball player.
Johnson is the first Gatorade Massachusetts Boys Basketball Player of the Year to attend Phillips Academy. With his selection for state accolades, he is a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year award.
The 6-3, 175-lb. senior guard averaged 22.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game this past season for Terrell Ivory, brother of Penn State standout Titus Ivory. Johnson helped lead the Big Blue to the New England Prep School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) Class A Tournament semifinals. A three-time NEPSAC All-Star, he concluded his career as the program's leading scorer with 1,600 points.
An avid sculptor, Johnson is also an NAACP Youth Member, Johnson has volunteered locally as part of multiple fundraising campaigns to benefit cancer research, and he has donated his time as a youth mentor and basketball coach. Johnson also maintained a B average in the classroom.
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.
As a part of Gatorade's cause marketing platform "Play it Forward," Johnson 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.
