Mr. Basketball: Who do coaches say is the top high school basketball player in the state?

Kevin Porter Jr., the standout guard from Rainier Beach High School, earned the prestigious title of “Mr. Basketball” from the state coaches association, it announced on Monday.

Alongside Porter, who signed his letter of intent to play at USC next year, Wilson’s Emmitt Matthews Jr. earned the 3A state player of the year.

The Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association annually releases it’s Mr. Basketball award and its top honors to the best player in each classification. Only seniors are considered for the honors.

Matthews has already signed his letter of intent to play at UConn next season. He was this year’s 3A Pierce County League MVP and he’s averaging 22.3 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 2.4 assists per game for the Rams, which play in the Tacoma Dome in the first round of the 3A state tournament against Prairie at 2 p.m. on Wednesday in a loser-out game.

The winner of that game gets to play Porter and Rainier Beach in the state quarterfinals.

Nathan Hale’s Michael Porter Jr. (now at the University of Missouri) earned Mr. Basketball last season, with Peninsula graduate JaQuori McLaughlin (Oregon State and now UC Santa Barbara) being selected the year before that.

Here are the full WIBCA selections, as released by Chelan coach Joe Harris:

WIBCA ALL-STATE BASKETBALL SELECTIONS

Kevin Porter Jr., Rainier Beach, sr.

4A state player of the year: Riley Sorn, Richland, sr.

3A state player of the year: Emmitt Matthews jr., Wilson, sr.

2A state player of the year: Zac Olmsted, North Kitsap, sr.

1A state player of the year: George Reidy, Cedar Park Christian of Bothell, sr.

2B state player of the year: Matt Poquette, Morton/White Pass, sr.

1B state player of the year: Erwin Weary Jr., Cedar Park Christian of Mountlake Terrace

This story was originally published February 26, 2018 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Mr. Basketball: Who do coaches say is the top high school basketball player in the state?."