Little Rock Christian Academy’s Whitley Rogers was recently named the 2024-25 Arkansas girls basketball Gatorade player of the year after a remarkable junior season.
Rogers enters elite company with this award, so let us take a look back at those top-tier players who also won the Arkansas girls basketball Gatorade player of the year award over the past 10 years.
Northwest Arkansas is no stranger to seeing basketball accolades, with Trusty being one of several coming from this region to win this award.
As a senior at Greenwood High School, she averaged 19.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 3.6 steals per game. She led the Bulldogs to their third consecutive 5A championship and a 28-4 record. She finished her high school career with 1,963 points, the most points in a career by a Greenwood girls player.
Trusty held many offers to play at the next level, including from Central Arkansas, Newman, Long Beach State, Abilene Christian, Drury, Southern Nazarene and Texas-Rio Grande Valley. She decided to stay close to home and play for the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.
As a freshman with the UAFS Lions, she started 24 of her 27 games and averaged 14.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game. She shot 45.2% from the field, 38.9% from 3-point range and 87.7% from the free throw line. She was a highly effective scorer for UAFS, notching a career-high 27 points twice, against Northeastern State and Missouri Western.
Trusty was recently named to the all-MIAA third team and the MIAA Freshman of the Year after leading her team to an 18-11 overall record and a 12-7 conference record.
Trusty will be back in Fort Smith next season as she looks to take her team further in the MIAA Tournament.
Clardy from Conway won consecutive Gatorade awards in her junior and senior seasons. In her junior year, Clardy averaged 23 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 3.4 steals per game, leading her team to a 29-1 record.
During her senior season, Clardy put up 24.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.2 steals per game. She led Conway to a 25-5 record, and the Wampus Cats were ranked 19th in the nation according to MaxPreps. She eclipsed the 2,500-point mark in her high school career.
Clardy was considered a 4-star prospect and the 39th-best player in the country according to ESPN HoopGurlz. By the time her senior season rolled around, she was committed to Stanford.
She played in 34 games with Stanford during her freshman season, averaging 2.0 points and 0.9 rebound per game. In her sophomore season, her numbers improved dramatically. She started in 18 games and appeared in 31, and she averaged 10.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Her shooting numbers also improved, jumping up from 34.1% from the field to 43.4%. Clardy made two 3-pointers during her freshman season with the Cardinal, but she shot 36 of 95 (37.9%) in her second year.
Clardy improved in every aspect of the game in her second season of college basketball. The trend with Clardy is that she will continue to improve in big ways as she heads to her junior season with Stanford.
Fort Smith Northside had two boys basketball Gatorade award winners, and now they have a girls player who won it twice.
In Wolfenbarger’s junior season, she averaged 18.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game while leading the Grizzlies to a 25-3 record. She was the 6A state tournament MVP during her sophomore season, so it was no surprise that she would win this award.
In her senior season, Wolfenbarger reportedly grew two inches from 6-4 to 6-6, and her numbers grew as well.
She averaged 19 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.7 blocks per game. Wolfenbarger was an integral part of Northside making it to the championship game in 2020-21, which also made her an obvious selection for the McDonald’s All-American game. She was a Top 10 recruit in the country according to ESPN and a finalist for the Naismith High School Girls Player of the Year.
As a five-star recruit out of high school, she decided to commit to the University of Arkansas, instantly making her one of the top recruits in Razorbacks history.
The Northside alum was highly productive in her freshman season with Arkansas, making the SEC All-Freshman team after averaging 7.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.7 steal and 0.9 block per game. She shot 40.5% from the field and made 17 3-pointers.
Her second season was not as fruitful with the Razorbacks as she averaged 3.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.7 block per game. After that season, Wolfenbarger opted not to return to Arkansas and did not play for anyone during the 2023-24 season. She returned to college basketball this past season after transferring to LSU.
With the Tigers, Wolfenbarger had a slight improvement in her numbers, bumping up to an average of 4.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 0.6 steal and 0.6 block per game. The former Razorback had a different playstyle in Baton Rouge, as she stopped shooting threes and became more of an efficient finisher inside. She shot 63% from the field, all from inside the arc.
Despite the improvements and announcing a return to LSU for her senior season, Wolfenbarger entered the transfer portal, joining three other Tigers in the past portal cycle. At the time this was written, Wolfenbarger had not found a new home, but she is an intriguing transfer forward who could find a large role somewhere.
Goforth was a junior when she won this award. During the 2018-19 season with Fayetteville High School, Goforth averaged 16.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. She led the Bulldogs to a 20-5 record and the 6A semifinals. She was the 6A West MVP, along with being a 3-time all-conference and all-state performer by her junior season. She was an all-conference and all-state performer one more time in her senior season.
After a very successful high school career, which included being a McDonald’s All-American and a Jordan Brand Classic invite, Goforth decided to play for Oregon State University.
In her only season with Oregon State, Goforth played in 20 games during a season when COVID-19 was still a major concern. She posted 11.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.8 steal and just a hair under 1 block per game during her freshman year. She was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team and was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week twice.
Goforth did not stay in Oregon for long as she transferred back to her home state, playing for her hometown team, the Arkansas Razorbacks. She started all 32 games for the Hogs in her sophomore season, averaging 11.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.7 steal and 2.1 blocks per game. Her 66 blocks that season rank fourth in a single season in Arkansas history.
She sat out the 2022-23 season for Arkansas after receiving medical treatment but returned the next year for her redshirt-junior campaign. The guard played in just seven games, averaging 3.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, 0.9 steal and 1.9 blocks per game.
Goforth decided to medically retire instead of playing one final season for the Razorbacks. She was not quite ready to leave The Hill as she joined the coaching staff as a graduate assistant.
Goforth coached under head coach Mike Neighbors, but Neighbors stepped down from his position after the 2024-25 season. Kelsi Musick was brought in to be at the helm for Arkansas, and it is not clear if Goforth was retained on the staff.
Goforth could be a sought-after assistant after helping develop an AP All-American and having a solid high school and college basketball career.
Since Gatorade started handing out this award for girls basketball during the 1985-86 season, only one player has won it three times in Arkansas: Christyn Williams.
Williams was a star at Central Arkansas Christian, averaging 26.8 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game during her senior season. After leading CAC to the 4A state championship game and a 36-1 record, Williams won more than just the award for the best player in Arkansas, but also the best player in the country. She won the National Player of the Year during the 2017-18 season, the only player from Arkansas to win the award.
In her junior season, Williams averaged 26.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.4 steals per game. She led the Mustangs to the 4A quarterfinals and a 29-5 record and was selected as a member of the Team USA U17 National Team.
In her sophomore season, Williams posted an average of 29.2 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game. She led her team to the 4A championship game and a 24-13 record.
After having one of the best high school careers in the history of high school girls basketball, Williams decided to continue her career at the University of Connecticut. She started all but one game during her four-year college career, and she never averaged under 11.7 points per game. The 11.7 points per game average was during her freshman season, and she filled out the stat sheet, averaging 3.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
As a sophomore, she averaged 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game. She had her best scoring season during the 2020-21 campaign, when she averaged 16.3 points per game. As a senior, she made some improvements on the defensive end, improving her 0.9 steal per game number to 1.5. She averaged 14.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
Williams won the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (nation’s best shooting guard) and was the Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player during her senior season. After such an accomplished collegiate career, she declared for the WNBA draft and was selected in the second round with the 14th pick by the Washington Mystics.
During a Mystics practice, Williams was injured and had to undergo surgery for a knee, which ended her 2022 season. She would never appear in a game for Washington, but she did sign a rest-of-season hardship contract with the Phoenix Mercury. She did not appear in the two games for the Mercury that she could have played, and in May of 2024, she was waived.
To that point, Williams had yet to appear in a WNBA game, but she has another shot after signing with the Minnesota Lynx on a training camp deal in February. Between her WNBA opportunities, Williams played in the Athletes Unlimited Basketball league, where she balled out. Not long before signing with Minnesota, she put up 23 points, shooting 10 of 14 from the field and 3 for 3 from beyond the arc in a game.
Williams also has played in the Saudi Basketball Federation.
Williams is one of the greatest basketball players to come out of the Natural State, so it will be interesting to see how her professional career unfolds.
Danberry was one of the best all-around talents in the high school ranks in Arkansas during her time with Conway High School.
She won the award during her senior year in 2014-15 after averaging 14.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.6 steals per game. She led the Wampus Cats to a 24-6 record and an appearance in the state championship game against Fayetteville.
During her junior year, Danberry won the award again after posting 12.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 2.7 steals per game. She was key in leading Conway to the state title game against another 7A West opponent, Fort Smith Northside. Conway achieved a 25-5 record that season.
After high school, Danberry committed to the Arkansas Razorbacks. In her freshman season, she started 11 of the 29 games and averaged 6.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 0.9 steal per game. In her sophomore season in 2016-17, she played in six games, averaging 4.7 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 42.1% from the field.
Danberry decided to transfer out of Fayetteville and go to another SEC team, Mississippi State. She played under 10 minutes per game in her first year in Starkville, but her numbers improved dramatically heading to 2018-19.
She boosted her statistics from 2.8 points, 1.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.7 steal per game to 13.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals. During her second season with the Bulldogs, she started all 36 games and shot 48.3% from the field.
In her final season of college basketball, the Conway native averaged 12.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game while shooting a career-best 51.7% from the field, almost exclusively from inside the arc. During her redshirt-senior season, she was named to the All-SEC second team, SEC All-Defensive team, Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Midseason team and the SEC Community Service team. She was a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist.
She wrapped up her college career with two SEC championships and multiple runs to the Final Four, all with Mississippi State. After graduating with two degrees, Danberry began to play professionally. In 2022, she played for the Mississippi Lady Lakers, a semi-pro team based in Canton, Mississippi. After starring for the Lady Lakers, Danberry signed professionally with a team in Iceland.
In November of 2023, she had one of the best performances in Icelandic professional basketball after posting a quadruple-double of 40 points, 12 rebounds, 13 assists and 17 steals in a 193-31 victory. She averaged 25.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists during the 2023-24 season.
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