We are getting another "special" one, folks!!!

On Tuesday, UConn signee 6'4 F Breanna Stewart (North Syracuse, NY) won the HS girls' 2012 Morgan Wootten Player of the Year award as announced by the McDonald's All-American Games committee. Stewart is the top-rated player in the 2012 class according to the ESPNU 100 list. In 2011, Stewart led her team to its first state championships in school history and is looking to repeat in 2012. Off the court, she routinely volunteers at a local YMCA and youth basketball program and is a member of the honor role. She won the honor over finalists and fellow UConn signees 5'7 G Moriah Jefferson (Glenn Heights, TX) and 6'2 F Morgan Tuck (Bolingbrook, IL) and becomes the 4th UConn player to win the award (Nicole Wolff, 2002; Tina Charles, 2006; and Maya Moore, 2007). The Morgan Wootten Award is given to the best male and female McDonald’s All American players who exemplify outstanding character, exhibit leadership and embody the values of being a student-athlete in the classroom and the community. McDonald’s established the award in Wootten’s honor to pay tribute to his unprecedented achievements as a teacher and coach. The official award presentation will take place at the McDonald’s All American Games awards banquet on March 27 in Chicago, IL.

Today Stewart became the consensus HS Girls' National POTY after being named the 2011-12 Gatorade National Girls' Basketball Player of the Year. She was given the award during a press conference at her Cicero-North Syracuse High School. Indiana Fever forward and two-time United States gold medalist Tamika Catchings provided Stewart with the news during a surprise visit to Cicero-North Syracuse High. Stewart, who has also been named the Naismith, WBCA and McDonald’s Player of the Year, is an `A’ student and volunteers locally on behalf of numerous charities and a youth basketball organization. She becomes the sixth UConn player to receive Gatorade’s top honor, joining Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (2010-11), Maya Moore (2006-07), Tina Charles (2005-06), Ann Strother (2001-02) and Tamika Williams (1997-98).