Winner will be announced April 1, 2024
Houston, TX – Today, the Guy V. Lewis Award Committee (GVLAC) announced the top 10 boys high school players nominated for the 2024 Guy V. Lewis Award. The winner of the award is the Greater Houston Area Boys Basketball Player of the Year. The Greater Houston Area is defined by Harris County and every Texas County that is immediately adjacent to Harris County.
A player will not be considered for the Award if he has been suspended from school due to disciplinary reasons during the season.
The 10 finalists for the 2024 Guy V Lewis Award are listed below.
| Player | School | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Anthony “AJ” Bates Jr | Seven Lakes | Senior |
| Justin Begg | Episcopal | Senior |
| John Clark | Klein Cain | Junior |
| Michael Collins | Shadow Creek | Junior |
| Shelton Henderson | Bellaire | Junior |
| Chris McDermott | Washington | Senior |
| Robert Miller III | Pasadena Memorial | Senior |
| Divine Ugochukwu | Clements | Senior |
| Montana Wheeler | Houston Christian | Junior |
| Sebastian Williams Adams | St. John's | Junior |
The finalists are invited to attend an award reception at East River 9 on April 1.
Previous winners of the Guy V. Lewis Award include inaugural winner Rasheed Sulaimon of Strake Jesuit (2012); Aaron Harrison, Travis HS (2013); Justise Winslow, St. John’s (2014); Galen Robinson, Westbury Christian (2015); De’Aaron Fox, Seven Lakes (2016); Nigel Hawkins, Cy Falls (2017); Quentin Grimes, College Park (2018); Kharee “KJ” McDaniel, Klein Forest (2019); Tramon Mark, Dickinson (2020); Ramon Walker, Shadow Creek (2021); PJ Haggerty, Crosby (2022); Jaland Lowe, Marshall (2023).
The Award is in honor of College Basketball Hall of Fame Coach Guy V. Lewis (1922-2015), who led the University of Houston program from 1956-1986. An alumnus of the University of Houston, Guy V. Lewis led the Cougars to five Final Fours, won nearly 600 games and was a pioneer for the game. One of Lewis’ finest ideas, the 1968 “Game of the Century” pitted his #2-ranked Houston Cougars, with All American Elvin Hayes, against the top-ranked UCLA Bruins, with Lew Alcindor, in the Astrodome in front of a national television audience and a regular season attendance record of more than 52,000 fans.
“Guy V. Lewis had a keen eye for the local talent in the Houston area and was integral in making Houston a hotbed for recruiting in the country,” said GVLAC Chair Rob Lopez. “Coach Lewis revolutionized the game and the way it was perceived, and he really put the spotlight on Houston.”
The announcement of the Guy V. Lewis Award occurs during Final Four week, a fitting spot for the award, considering that only eight coaches ever took their teams to more Final Fours than Lewis.
The Guy V. Lewis Award Committee is an organization whose mission is the promotion of the game of basketball at all levels in the greater Houston area.
“We are very excited to have the cooperation and input from the Houston Area Basketball Coaches Association and the local media to give our award the credibility it needs,” Lopez added. “The GVLAC always feels like the best high school basketball in the country is right here in the Houston area. And by honoring Coach Lewis every time we give the award, we feel like we are carrying on his vision of recognizing great Houston talent like he did when he coached.”
Inquiries and information for GVLAC can be found at GuyVLewisAward.org.
