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Arch Manning named Gatorade's Louisiana player of the year, finalist for national player of the year

On3 imageby: Justin Wells01/06/23
On3 image
(Tim Warner/Getty Images)

2023 New Orleans (La.) Isidore Newman quarterback and Five-Star Plus+ prospect Arch Manning was named Gatorade’s player of the year in Louisiana on Friday. He was also named a finalist for Gatorade’s national player of the year honor.

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Manning, the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2023 On3 Consensus, is the second Louisiana player of the year to hail from Newman. He joins his uncle Peyton Manning, who won the honor in 1994.

Three others who donned burnt orange have taken home the national player of the year honor. Garrett Gilbert won the award in 2009, Johnathan Gray took home the trophy in 2012, and Jake Smith did the same in 2019.

Fellow Five-Star Plus+ quarterbacks Malachi Nelson and Jackson Arnold joined Manning as finalists for the national player of the year award.

Manning volunteers locally at a camp for children with special needs and has maintained a 3.50 GPA in the classroom.

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 Manning as Louisiana’s best high school football player. Manning joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports, including Trevor Lawrence (2018-19 & 2016-17, Cartersville High School, Ga.), Matthew Stafford (2005-06, Highland Park High School, Texas) and Emmitt Smith (1986-87, Escambia High School, Fla.).

Manning joins recent Gatorade Louisiana players of the year Landry Lyddy (2021-22, Calvary Baptist Academy), Walker Howard (2020-21, St. Thomas More High School), Christian Westcott (2019-20, Lakeshore High School), and Derek Stingley Jr. (2018-19, The Dunham School), among the state’s list of former award winners.

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.

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