Lincolnton’s Sage Surratt makes history, named AP boys basketball player of the year

Lincolnton High’s Sage Surratt had perhaps the best single season any N.C. high school athlete has ever had.

He ends it making history as the N.C. Associated Press player of the year. Surratt, who won the AP N.C. offensive player of the year in January, is the first player to ever win the football and basketball player of the year awards in the same school year. Surratt will play football in college at Wake Forest.

Duke recruit Mikayla Boykin of Clinton High School is the AP girls player of the year. Boykin got 12 of 14 votes to win the girls’ award. Providence Day’s Janelle Bailey, a UNC recruit who was the only McDonald’s All-American from the Carolinas, received one vote towards player of the year.

Surratt earned seven of a possible 14 votes from sports writers statewide to earn the boys award. Wilson Greenfield junior Coby White, a UNC recruit, had three votes. White was named the N.C. Gatorade player of the year last month. Cox Mill sophomore Wendell Moore, named the N.C. Basketball Coaches state player of the year, received two votes.

Boykin, a Duke signee, set North Carolina High School Athletic Association scoring records for both a game and a season, scoring 63 points against Pender County and 1,159 points for the year. Boykin averagd 37.6 points, 13.9 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 5.7 steals.

LINK: Sage Surratt, Mikaya Boykin, Janelle Bailey headline AP all-state boys and girls all-state basketball teams

LINK: Associates Press names boys, girls state high school basketball coaches of the year

It’s been a huge couple of years for the Surratt family. Older brother Chazz Surratt was selected the 2016 offensive player of the year in football, and enrolled at North Carolina to play for coach Larry Fedora.

“It feels really good to be a part of N.C. history like this,” the younger Surratt said. “It’s where I live, where I grew up, where my family lives.”

Younger brother Sage Surratt is a two-time all-state selection in both basketball and football, dating back to his time at East Lincoln, and was voted to both of this year’s teams unanimously. He averaged 34.6 points, 11.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists for Lincolnton, and his 2,951 career points are second in NCHSAA history only to JamesOn Curry, who had 3,307 points from 2000-04. His career scoring average of 27.1 points ranks third in state history.

Surratt was the nation’s No. 6 scorer this season.

“I like to play fast. … We’ve always been big on fast tempo,” Surratt said. “Last year, with Chazz being the point guard, I’d always be running down the court, and this year it was just me taking it coast to coast, really.”

Voting Breakdown

The voting breakdown for the 2016-17 Associated Press prep basketball players of the year for North Carolina, as cast by 14 statewide sports writers.

BOYS

Sage Surratt, Lincolnton (7)

Coby White, Wilson Greenfield (3)

Wendell Moore Jr., Concord Cox Mill (2)

Zach Hobbs, Northside Jacksonville (1)

Jairus Hamilton, Concord Cannon (1)

GIRLS

Mikayla Boykin, Clinton (12)

Elissa Cunane, Northern Guilford (1)

Janelle Bailey, Charlotte Providence Day (1)

This story was originally published April 7, 2017 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Lincolnton’s Sage Surratt makes history, named AP boys basketball player of the year."