The top high school basketball player in the United States is a Canadian.
This week Andrew Wiggins was awarded the Naismith Trophy and named the Boys’ High School Player of the Year.
Wiggins was born in Vaughan, Ont. and is playing for Huntington Prep School in West Virginia.
Wiggins is 18 years old. His average per game is 23.6 points and 11.7 rebounds.
He hasn’t yet decided where he will go to university; many schools are competing for him.
The Naismith award winner is chosen by basketball journalists in the U.S.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper let Wiggins know he was proud of him by sending him a tweet:
“Just heard the news that the best High School basketball player in the United States is Canadian Andrew Wiggins. Congratulations @22wiggins!”
— Stephen Harper (@pmharper) February 25, 2013
Wiggins tweeted back,
“@22wiggins: @pmharper Thank you sir, I appreciate your support!!”
Wiggins demonstrates “the talent and will to succeed that we’ve come to expect from past award winners,” said Eric Oberman, Executive Director of the organization that gave out the award.
Indeed, he’ll be in good company. Past winners include Kobe Bryant (1996) and LeBron James (2003).
Wiggins will be presented with the award in March at an awards banquet in Atlanta, Georgia.
Below is an excellent video (19 mins) from the website On Point, showing Wiggins playing basketball and being interviewed.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Countries are often associated with certain sports. For example, Canada is known for hockey.
What challenges do you think players could face if they play a sport other than their national sport?
Reading Prompt: Reading Fluently
When we read independently, we often read silently in our heads. When we do this, we don’t often pay attention to our reading fluency. Reading fluency is the pace, phrasing and expression that we add to our reading.
Read this article aloud to yourself or a friend. Make sure to add in phrasing and expression.
Primary
Read appropriate texts at a sufficient rate and with sufficient expression to convey the sense of the text readily to the reader and an audience (OME, Reading: 3.3).
Junior
Read appropriate texts with expression and confidence, adjusting reading strategies and reading rate to match the form and purpose (OME, Reading: 3.3).
Grammar Feature: Semicolon
A semicolon (;) is a punctuation mark that joins two ideas together.
The following sentence includes a semicolon: “He hasn’t yet decided where he will go to university; many schools are competing for him.”
Why do you think journalist chose to use a semicolon instead of a period?
