HAZEL GREEN, Ala. — In its 37th year of honoring nation's best high school athletes, Gatorade announced Samiya Steele of Hazel Green High School as the 2021-22 Gatorade Alabama Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
Steele is the first player from Hazel Green High School chosen for this honor. The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes Steele as Alabama's best high school girls basketball player. She now advances to the finals for the Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year Award.
The 5'8" guard led the Trojans to a 34-0 record and a berth in the Class 6A state championship game at the time of her selection. Steele averaged 16.8 points, 5.3 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game through 34 games, as Hazel Green saw its fifth straight state title. She is a two-time First Team All-State selection and the MVP of the 2021 state championship game.
The team went on to win the Class 6A State Championship with a 35-0 record.
Steele volunteered locally with Project XYZ a technical solutions company in Huntsville. She also donated her time with the Future Career and Community Leaders of America. "Sam can shoot it from deep and is a freight train going to the basket," said Mike Chase, head coach of Spain Park High School. "She will stand in and take a charge and she guards the opposing team's best player regardless of position."
Steele has maintained a 3.79 GPA in the classroom. She has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball on scholarship at Alabama State University this fall.