CHICAGO (March 9, 2022) — In its 37th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Paris Clark of Long Island Lutheran High School is the 2021-22 Gatorade New York Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

Clark is the third Gatorade New York Girls Basketball Player of the Year to be chosen from Long Island Lutheran 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 court, distinguishes Clark as New York’s best high school girls basketball player.

Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year award to be announced in March, Clark joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports, including Skylar Diggins-Smith (2008-09, Washington High School, Ind.), Nneka Ogwumike (2007-08, CyFair High School, Texas), Maya Moore (2006-07, Collins Hill High School, Ga.), Candace Parker (2002-03 & 2003-04, Naperville Central High School, Ill.), and Lisa Leslie (1989-90, Morningside High School, Calif.).

The 5-foot-9 senior guard had led the Crusaders to a 14-8 record at the time of her selection. Clark averaged 25.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 4.0 steals through 22 games. A McDonald’s All-American, she was the Long Island Player of the Year as a sophomore and is ranked as the nation’s No. 21 prospect in the Class of 2022 by ESPN. Clark has volunteered locally on behalf of the Special Olympics, the Salvation Army and various youth sports programs.

“Paris Clark is a phenomenal basketball player,” said Anwar Gladden, head coach at South Shore High School. “She’s long, she gets to the basket and she can really score. She’s a tough kid too, and she plays against the best competition.” Clark has maintained a B average in the classroom. She has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball on scholarship at the University of Arizona this fall.

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 leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.

Clark joins recent Gatorade New York Girls Basketball Players of the Year Sonia Citron (2020-21 & 2019-20, The Ursuline School), Celeste Taylor (2018-19, Long Island Lutheran High School), and Emily Engstler (2017-18, St. Francis Preparatory School), among the state’s list of former award winners.