Quarterback Matt Barkley of Santa Ana Mater Dei High, foreground, has become the first junior to win Gatorade’s national high school athlete of the year.

The quarterback is the first junior to win the Gatorade award. Barkley, who has committed to USC, was earlier named the nation's top prep football player.

Eric Sondheimer, LA Times (7/17)

Matt Barkley, a guitar-playing, spiral-throwing quar- terback from Santa Ana Mater Dei, was selected Wednesday as the Gatorade male high school athlete of the year during a celebrity-filled ceremony at the Sofitel Hotel in Los Angeles.

Barkley, who has committed to USC and is preparing for his senior year of high school, is the first junior to win the award. Past recipients include LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Greg Oden and Kevin Love.

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