Cheyenne Central’s Joe Sawyer Selected 2023-24 Gatorade Wyoming Boys Basketball Player of the Year

Cheyenne Central High School has a Gatorade Wyoming Boys Basketball Player of the Year for the first time in program history. Senior Joe Sawyer was chosen for the 2023-24 award on Thursday. In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company announced Sawyer as the winner via a release to the media.

JOE SAWYER NAMED GATORADE WYOMING BOYS BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR FOR 2023-24

The 6-3 wing led the Indians to a 25-3 record and the Class 4A boys’ basketball state championship this season. Sawyer averaged 15.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and one steal per game. He shot 55 percent from the field and 78 percent at the free-throw line. Sawyer had 19 points, seven rebounds, and three assists in the title game. A two-time all-state selection, he was named the Class 4A Player of the Year.

A member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Sawyer has volunteered locally as an elementary school mentor and basketball coach. He has also donated his time on behalf of Cheyenne Central Basketball Camps. Sawyer has maintained a 3.87 GPA in the classroom. Currently, he is undecided on his choice of college.

Kelly Walsh's head coach Randy Roden had some high praise for Sawyer in the release.

“Joe Sawyer is a very unassuming player and I think his greatest attribute is to dominate a game without really sticking out. There are games where his stat lines jump off the page, but more often than not, he has a productive but not eye-popping stat line. The thing that sticks out to me when I scout Cheyenne Central is how easy it is to see he’s their best player. The average fan might not agree, but as a coach, I see a kid that does every little thing all the time at both ends of the floor. He is extremely skilled, but he doesn’t demand the ball to show those skills. He’s a player without a weakness who makes his team and teammates better.”

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The award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field. It distinguishes Sawyer as Wyoming’s best high school boys’ basketball player. He is a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year award to be announced later this month.

Sawyer joins recent Gatorade Wyoming Boys Basketball Players of the Year Parker Paxton from Riverton (2022-23), Deegan Williams of Thunder Basin High School (2021-22), and Sam Lecholat from Sheridan High School (2020-21 & 2019-20), among the state’s list of former award winners.

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, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $4.9 million across more than 1,600 organizations.

Information from a press release from The Gatorade Company was used in this story.