Teen honored as Gatorade Player of the Year
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
After being named Idaho's Gatorade Player of the Year for the 2008-09 basketball season, Josh Fuller was called out of class at Rexburg's Madison High School three times for media interviews.
His reaction? "Who wouldn't want to be taken out of class to talk basketball?"
A priest in the Hibbard 2nd Ward, Rexburg Idaho Henry's Fork Stake, Josh played on a team that pulled together after some adversity and battled to the state championship game before losing to Lewiston, 56-48.
As a 6-6 junior forward, Josh was also named the state tournament MVP after a three-game average of about 21 points and 10 rebounds.
"We battled, all of us as a team," he said of Madison's state tournament run after two of its tallest players suffered season-ending injuries during the year. "To be able to play for a state title is lots of fun," he said.
Hibbard 2nd Ward Bishop Ron Klingler said Josh is "as solid off the court as he is on the court."
He said that only hours after Josh was informed of the award, he showed up at a priests activity where they studied "Preach My Gospel" for an hour. The next morning, Bishop Klingler called Josh to congratulate him and asked him why he didn't say anything about the award the night before. He said Josh replied, "It just didn't seem to be the appropriate place."
Award sponsor Gatorade states on its Web site: "Gatorade State Players of the Year are selected on the basis of outstanding athletic excellence accompanied by high standards of academic achievement and exemplary personal character demonstrated on and off the [court]."
Among his achievements, Josh has a 4.0 grade point average.
Josh's mother, Amber, said he has a good sense of humor and is very competitive, but that he is also a kind person who "doesn't say anything bad about anybody."
His father, David, said Josh played on a team of good kids, including five seniors who are planning to serve missions soon.
One of the challenges in Josh's life was moving with his family from Pocatello to Rexburg just before entering high school. His father said Josh playing for Madison means he has had to play against good friends in Pocatello.
When he played with the varsity team as a sophomore at Madison, he said he didn't know any of the other players very well. But as the year progressed, he grew together with them and they became good friends. "Off-the-court chemistry contributed to on-the-court chemistry," he said. "I count the guys on the team as my best friends."
He also praised veteran Madison head basketball coach Bill Hawkins for pulling the team together and believing in them.
Josh is in his third year of seminary and says he loves it, especially during the basketball season when it gave him a period out of the day "just to kind of breathe; to stay closer to Heavenly Father."
