Oak Mountain’s Kennedy Davis named Gatorade Player of the Year

Published 3:15 pm Monday, June 12, 2017

From Staff Reports

NORTH SHELBY — In its 32nd year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company announced on Monday, June 12, that Kennedy Davis of Oak Mountain High School was named its 2016-17 Gatorade Alabama Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

Even more impressively, Davis becomes the third Gatorade Alabama Boys Soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from Oak Mountain High School, and it also marks back-to-back years that a player from Oak Mountain has been chosen as a Gatorade Player of the Year as the Eagles’ Julia Pack took home the honor on the girls’ side of things last season.

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 Davis as Alabama’s best high school boys soccer player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year award to be announced in June.

The 5-foot-9, 155-pound senior midfielder led the Eagles to a 20-4-4 record and a third straight Class 7A state championship this past season, which also marked the seventh title in 12 years for Oak Mountain. Davis scored 22 goals and passed for 12 assists.

A two-time First Team All-State selection, he concluded his prep soccer career with 46 goals and 30 assists, but none were any bigger than him punching through the game-winning PK in this year’s state championship game to finish of his senior season with a storybook ending.

Aside from all of his evident soccer and leadership skills on the field, Davis is also an exemplary character off the field having volunteered locally at the Bell Center Youth Alliance with special needs children and as a youth soccer coach and referee.

While he might look like the smartest player on the soccer field, he takes that and proves it in the classroom holding a weighted GPA of 4.05 at the completion of his high school degree. He will now take his talent on both fronts and attend Ivy League school Dartmouth College, where he will play soccer, beginning 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 work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Davis joins Chandler Stroupe, 2012-13, and Chandler Hoffman, both in 2007-08 and 2008-09 as Gatorade Alabama Boys Soccer Players of the Year from Oak Mountain High School.

As a Gatorade Player of the Year, Davis will be able to select a national or local youth sports organization to receive a grant as part of the Gatorade Play It Forward program. Every Gatorade Player of the Year state winner receives a $1,000 grant to donate and will have the opportunity to enter for an additional $10,000 spotlight grant by writing a brief essay explaining why their selected organization deserves additional support. 12 spotlight grants — one for each sport — will be announced throughout the year.

To keep up to date on the latest happenings, become a fan of Gatorade Player of the Year on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of past winners and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit www.gatorade.com/poy