CHICAGO — In its 41st year celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade announced Kamari Whyte of Vermont Academy is the 2025-26 Gatorade Vermont Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their excellence in sport, academics and community. The award recognizes Whyte as Vermont’s best high school boys basketball player, and he joins an elite legacy that spans professional athletes, coaches and CEOs, such as Jayson Tatum (2015-16, Chaminade College Preparatory School, MO), Cooper Flagg (2023-24, Montverde Academy, FL) and Cameron Boozer (2022-23 and 2024-25, Christopher Columbus High School, FL).
The 6-foot-3, 180-pound junior guard led the Wildcats to a 21-14 record and a trip to the NEPSAC Class AAA semifinals as well as an appearance at the National Prep Championship tournament this past season. Whyte averaged 21.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 2.2 assists per game on the year. A NEPSAC Class AAA First Team All-Conference selection, he concluded his junior campaign with 1,288 career points to become one of only four players in program history to surpass 1,000. Whyte is also the first Gatorade Player of the Year in school history, according to Vermont Academy head coach John Zall. He’s ranked as the nation’s No. 140 prospect in the Class of 2027 by 247Sports and the No. 5 prospect in New England in his class by PrepHoops.
Whyte, originally from the Bronx borough of New York City, has volunteered locally as a basketball coach with Vermont Local Youth Community Service. He’s also a member of his school’s ecobiology club. Whyte has maintained a 3.22 GPA in the classroom. He will begin his senior year at Vermont Academy in Saxtons River this fall.
“If you need a bucket, Whyte is as good as there is in New England at getting it done,” said Steve Hewitt, editor of the New England Basketball Journal. “He puts constant stress on defenses with his ability to get to the hoop and he’s elite at drawing fouls and getting to the line. He consistently puts up big scoring numbers no matter the competition level, and he’s a force as a perimeter defender. I think he’s still a bit underrated nationally as a prospect and he’s just scratching the surface of his potential.”
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one state winner from each of the 50 states and Washington D.C., in 12 different sports: football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball, boys and girls soccer, and boys and girls track and field. In total, 610 high school athletes are honored each year. From the pool of state winners, one national winner is selected in each of the 12 sports. 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 winners in each sport.
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $6.4 million in grants to winners across more than 2,200 organizations.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com.
