Princeton's Sole Williams named Ohio Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year

Gatorade has named Princeton senior guard Sole Williams the Ohio Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year, according to a press release on Wednesday.

Williams, a 5-foot-8 guard, has led Princeton to a 26-2 record and its first regional championship and berth in the state Final Four since 2014. The Texas A&M signee leads the Greater Miami Conference in scoring at 20.5 points per game while also ranking second in field-goal percentage (53.0), first in steals (3.7) and third in assists (3.2).

A first-team All-Ohio selection last season, Williams is ranked as the No. 31 recruit in the country by Blue Star Basketball for the Class of 2023. She was named the Southwest District's Division I Player of the Year this season.

More:Who made Ohio's Southwest District girls basketball all-star teams?

Williams had 22 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal in Princeton's 65-53 victory over Kings in the Division I regional championship game. She has 1,397 career prep points.

The Ohio Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court.

Williams has volunteered locally as an elementary school aide and as a youth basketball coach.

Oak Hills head girls basketball coach Chris Gramke said of Williams: "Sole is a bona fide superstar. She is one of the best players I've ever seen play or had to prepare for. Nobody is unstoppable, but this young lady is close. She's a game-changer."

Williams joins recent Ohio Gatorade Girls Basketball Players of the Year from Greater Cincinnati, including Winton Woods' Chance Gray (2022) and Mount Notre Dame's K.K. Bransford (2021).

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.

Every Gatorade player of the year receives a grant to give to one of Gatorade's social impact partners through the company's Play it Forward initiative. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners' grants have totaled more than $3.5 million across more than 1,300 organizations, according to the press release.