RELATED: All-Time Mr. Basketball USA Winners | GEICO Nationals Breakdown | Latest FAB 50 National Rankings | GEICO Nationals All-Time Records  | GEICO Nationals Bracket/TV Listings

As the season winds down, the elite performers have separated themselves from the pack in the latest 2018-19 Mr. Basketball USA Tracker powered by www.ebooksnet.com. The race for the prestigious national honor was wide open in the preseason and during the regular season, but with only GEICO Nationals and the national all-star game circuit to complete, the list of legitimate national player of the year candidates has trimmed down and the top candidates are now in focus.

In the last go-around, 22 candidates received recognition from the 10-man Mr. Basketball USA Tracker panel, but in the latest voting results, 17 players made the cut as legitimate candidates. While no candidate appeared on all 10 ballots in the previous tracker, the top two candidates heading down the stretch are on the radar of the entire panel. Fittingly, their seasons are not complete yet and what transpires in the next few weeks could swing the votes in favor of the eventual winner.

Those two players are point guard, Cole Anthony of FAB 50 No. 17 Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) and power forward Isaiah Stewart of No. 1 La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.). Both Anthony and Stewart appeared on 10 ballots (no other player appeared on more than eight) with Anthony leading the way with 84 total points, four points more than the Washington-bound Stewart. Anthony, still undecided for college, garnered four of the 10 first-place votes and two other second-place votes, while Stewart had two first-place and two second place votes among his 80 total points.

Cole Anthony is averaging a triple double this season. 17.8 PPG, 10 RPG, 10 APG ?? Can he lead Oak Hill to #GEICONationals championship next week? @The_ColeAnthony pic.twitter.com/5ARB4Y3e6H

— www.ebooksnet.com (@Ballislife) March 29, 2019

In the previous tracker, Anthony tied with junior center Evan Mobley of FAB 50 No. 39 Rancho Christian (Temecula, Calif.) for first place, but Anthony's performance at the 42nd annual McDonald's All-American Game and the early exit for Mobley's team in the post-season caused changed at the top of the voting results. Mobley appeared on eight ballots and only dropped a single option overall (from 64 to 63), but Anthony and Stewart gained traction and gobbled up many of the points that previously went to fringe candidates to take control of the race.

Mobley might be the top long-term prospect of the entire group, but he's done for the season, while Anthony and Stewart used McDonald's to propel their candidacy. The point guard matchup between the East's Anthony and the West's Nico Mannion of FAB 50 No. 47 Pinnacle (Phoenix, Ariz.) was one of the most highly-anticipated matchups of the prestigious all-star game. Mannion (who was one of five candidates to receive a first-place vote) played well during McDonald's practices, but the East club dominated the scrimmage and when the bright lights came on in the nationally-televised game, Anthony put his stamp on the game from the onset with his explosiveness and pin-point passing and took home the McDonald's Most Valuable Player award. The son of former NBA point guard Greg Anthony finished with 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting, five rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and zero assists.

Stewart, a recruiting gem for Mike Hopkins at Washington, was arguably the most productive and competitive player from start to finish at McDonald's. He had a competitive battle with seven-foot James Wiseman of Memphis East (Memphis, Tenn.), who had one first-place vote and 47 points overall, and was one of the most impressive performers in the game, finishing with 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting and five rebounds in the East's 115-110 victory. Stewart is the ringleader for the nation's No. 1 ranked team, averaging 18.1 ppg, 11.3 rpg and 2.9 bpg and looking to lead the Lakers to a GEICO Nationals championship this week in New York City.

"He's the best low-post player in the country and out played Wiseman at McDonald's," said tracker panelist and McDonald's All-American committee member Frank Burlison of BurlisonOnBasketball.com. "He's certainly a worthy national player of the year candidate and should be an instant 17 ppg guy at Washington. If La Lumiere wins GEICO Nationals and is dominant, it will be hard to pick against him."

The top-seeded Lakers open with FAB 50 No. 25 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) on April 4 (2 pm ET, ESPNU) while fourth seeded Oak Hill Academy takes on No. 5 seed Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah) at 6 pm ET (ESPNU). If Stewart leads La Lumiere to the GEICO Nationals title, will that propel him in front of Anthony in the Mr. Basketball USA race? Or if Anthony has a big opening game and leads Oak Hill to the semifinals or title game, will his performances be enough to hold off Stewart and the other top candidates?

"We have only lost one game when our team was at full strength," Oak Hill Academy coach Steve Smith said. "Cole didn't play in two of our four losses. He's healthy now, and I like our chances in the GEICO Nationals. It's obviously, one game at a time, but he's the best player in the tournament. He facilitates for our team, and when he's on his game, we will be an extremely tough out."

Similar to the race for the No. 1 spot in the FAB 50, it looks like the most prestigious individual honor in the country will be decided by what happens on the court all the way until the very end and that's an exciting development because often times the honoree is quite obvious by this time in the season.

Make sure to tune into the ESPN family of networks April 4-6 to catch GEICO Nationals and stay logged in to www.ebooksnet.com to track the progress of the nation's top individual players and the nation’s Top teams.

Editor's Note: Click on the "+" sign next to each player's number to view how many first, second, third or fourth place votes he got and his overall point total.

About Mr. Basketball USA Tracker Panel
www.ebooksnet.com's panel of 10 experts, which includes six McDonald’s All-American selection committee members, casts its vote for the top national player of the year candidates. Each panelist lists his top seven candidates regardless of class. The votes are then tabulated on a 10-point scoring system with a first-place vote equaling 10 points, a second-place vote earning nine points and down to four points for a seventh-place vote. The number in parenthesis refers to the numbers of ballots on which a player appeared and previous rankings refers to position in last season's final tracker.

The post Cole Anthony, Isaiah Stewart 1-2 In POY Race! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

RELATED: Inside Look At Top Mr. Basketball USA Candidates | 2016-17 Preseason Mr. Basketball USA Tracker | Updated Tracker No. 1  | Updated Tracker No. 2 |  All-Time Mr. Basketball USA Winners

When it came to team rankings this season, there was a spirited debate at the top between undefeated No. 1 Nathan Hale (Seattle, Wash.) and one-loss and No. 2 La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.). As the results of the final Mr. Basketball USA Tracker powered by www.ebooksnet.com indicate, there is no debate at the top of the list when it comes to individual player honors for the 2016-17 season.  

Even after production at major holiday tournaments, showcases and various state playoff tournaments around the country changed positioning among candidates, the front-runner for national player of the year never did as the season wore on. Michael Porter Jr., a highly-skilled 6-foot-9 forward who led Nathan Hale to the FAB 50 national title, was the No. 1 vote-getter on every single ballot in the final voting, just as he consistently was on each ballot throughout the season.

Porter joins 2014-15 Mr. Basketball USA Ben Simmons of Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) as the only two players in the 10-year history of the Mr. Basketball USA Tracker to earn a perfect score of 100 points on any single ballot. Similar to Simmons, Porter went wire-to-wire as the top vote-getter with 100 points in each round of voting results. He finished the season averaging 37.6 ppg, 14.5 rpg and 5.2 apg for a 29-0 club and answered the bell every time the Raiders needed big plays in their big games.

Even though Porter didn't play in the Jordan Brand Classic while nursing a back injury, it didn't matter as the strength of his candidacy was already sealed. He tied Kentucky-bound Jarred Vanderbilt with a team high 19 points for the USA Junior National Select team in its 98-87 victory at the Nike Hoop Summit. He was also named team MVP of the McDonald's All-American Game with 17 points and eight rebounds.

"Let's make no mistake about it, Michael Porter earned the top spot the old fashioned way...he just flat out outplayed the competition head to head," said panel member Van Coleman of TheBasketballChannel.net. "At Nike, Pangos, and national high school events with Nathan Hale this past season he dominated individually and led his Mokan Elite squad to the EYBL title and Nathan Hale to mythical high school national title."

The other candidates to appear on all ten ballots were undecided point guard Trevon Duval of IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) and Arizona-bound center DeAndre Ayton of Hillcrest Academy (Phoenix, Ariz.). Duval was a bit more of a consistent candidate than Ayton during the season, but Ayton closed strong and the 10-man panel rewarded the nation's most highly-acclaimed big man. He gained a point after appearing on nine ballots on the previous tracker and tallied the most second-place votes with five (an increase of two). He also had two third-place votes, while Duval tallied one third-place vote and one fourth-place vote. If not for two panel members who were lukewarm on Ayton's candidacy (he was in seventh place and the final player selected on those two ballots), the gap between Porter and the rest of the candidates wouldn't seem so large.

Although Ayton frustrated the panel at times because of his penchant for floating on the perimeter or because of a perceived lack of aggression, he deserves credit for being one of the very best players in high school basketball for three seasons. Not too many players over the years can legitimately make that claim. Last season, he finished in fourth place with 58 points and other than the two front-runners for the honor (eventually winner Lonzo Ball and runner-up Josh Jackson) Ayton was the only candidate to tally moe than one second-place vote. In the final 2014-15 tracker as a sophomore, Ayton had two second-place votes behind Simmons and appeared on six ballots.

For the 2016-17 season, Alton averaged 26.0 ppg, 15.0 rpg and 3.5 bpg and had eight points and 11 rebounds in the McDonald's All-American Game. He was one of the top performers at the Jordan Brand Classic, with 19 points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes.

The other four candidates to receive second-place votes behind Porter were senior forward Brian Bowen, who averaged 18.8 ppg and 7.7 rpg in three Dick's Nationals games and was named MVP, senior guard Collin Sexton, who averaging 34.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg and 4.1 apg for a 21-8 team, and the two most highly-regarded juniors in the nation, Internet sensation Zion Williamson and talented left-handed big man Marvin Bagley III.

In all, twenty-seven candidates earned recognition as a national player of the year candidate in the final, expanded tracker.

Editor's Note: Click on the "+" sign next to each player's number to view how many first, second, third or fourth place votes he got and his overall point total.

2016-17 Mr. Basketball USA Tracker Panel

Paul Biancardi, ESPN National Director of Basketball Recruiting
Frank Burlison, BurlisonOnBasketball.com Publisher
Van Coleman, TheBasketballChannel.net VP of Content
Ronnie Flores, www.ebooksnet.com National Grassroots Editor
Clark Francis, Hoop Scoop Editor & Publisher
Bob Gibbons, All-Star Sports
Jerry Meyer, 247Sports.com Director of Scouting
Scott Phillips, NBC Sports National College Basketball Writer
Patrick Stanwood, Patrick Stanwood Basketball
Dinos Trigonis, Fullcourt Press Editor & Publisher

About Basketball USA Tracker Panel
www.ebooksnet.com's panel of 10 experts, which includes six McDonald’s All-American selection committee members, casts its vote for the top national player of the year candidates. Each panelist lists his top seven candidates regardless of class. The votes are then tabulated on a 10-point scoring system with a first-place vote equaling 10 points, a second-place vote earning nine points and down to four points for a seventh-place vote. The number in parenthesis refers to the numbers of ballots on which a player appeared and previous rankings refers to position in the previous tracker.

The post FINAL POY Tracker: Michal Porter Leaves No DOUBT! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

The tidal wave known as the Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.) boys basketball team has slowly grown since the start of the season and with potentially two games to go, is about to crest. It started when the Huskies opened the season No. 11 in the preseason FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com, caught the nation's attention when they captured the City of Palms Tournament championship and eventually elevated to No. 1 in the national rankings, and reached a fevered pitch when BIL live-streamed their 71-67 victory over Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.) in late January.

Since then, it has been turn-away, standing room only crowds to catch the nation's No. 1 ranked high school team as it chases a perfect 35-0 season and a mythical national title. The only thing standing in the way of perfection for Chino Hills is a SoCal Open regional final rematch with Bishop Montgomery (currently ranked No. 20 in the FAB 50) and a CIF Open Division state final victory on March 26 against a likely FAB 50 ranked foe from Northern California.

With the team success Chino Hills has enjoyed so far, it's no surprise its best player, 6-foot-6 UCLA-bound senior point guard Lonzo Ball, has seen his individual status among his peers and personal accolades also rise. Ball has already earned Gatorade State Player of the Year, Naismith and McDonald's Morgan Wootten National Player of the Year Accolades, so it's should come with little surprise Ball moved up a spot to take over as the leading national player of the year candidate in the 2015-16 Mr. Basketball USA Tracker powered by www.ebooksnet.com.

Ball tallied 87 points on nine ballots, two more than 6-foot-8 small forward Josh Jackson of Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.), who still is the lone candidate among 19 to appear on every single ballot. Jackson, who has missed seven of Prolific Prep's games, is averaging 26.9 ppg, 13.1 rpg, 6.3 apg, 3.5 steals and 3.9 blocks. Ball, through 30 games, is averaging 24.4 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 12.9 apg, 4.5 blocks and 4.1 steals with 17 double doubles and 14 triple-doubles. That production, combined with the Huskies's success, helped Ball garner seven first place votes and one second place vote.

Jackson tallied one first place vote, as did Duke-bound forward Jayson Tatum of Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.) and junior DeAndre Ayton of Hillcrest Academy (Phoenix, Ariz.). Ayton actually surpassed Tatum in total points from the previous tracker (up to 67 points from 66 while Tatum fell from 68 to 63).

"If his team wins the next two games, then Chino Hills will go down as one of the most dominant state champions ever from the region and state," said panel member Frank Burlison of BurlisonOnBasketball.com. "Ball is the best high school player in the country and, in reality, I'm not sure it's close based on both ends of the floor production and team performance."

Ball started out No. 6 in the preseason voting on four ballots with 30 points, worked his way up to No. 3 in the second voting go-around in early January (67 points on eight ballots), and to No. 2 behind Jackson on the third go-around (79 points on nine ballots).

It's been an amazing season for Chino Hills so far, but after the CIF state championships, Ball will participate in the McDonald's All-American Game, where Jackson, Tatum and others can still make one last impression on the Mr. Basketball USA Tracker panel. For Mr. Basketball USA honors, the whole season is accounted for, as it's not an award basically decided upon before the beginning of state tournaments around the country.

That makes Ball's ascension, and the race, that much more interesting. There are some panelists who don't write think the race is over yet. Will the triple double maestro hold off all challengers until the entire high school season is complete?

"Lonzo Ball has really helped himself this winter and he's the go-to guy on the undefeated, best team in the country, but that's a bit ridiculous (his point total)," said panel member Clark Francis of the Hoop Scoop. "Physically, athletically, and skill-wise, Josh Jackson is most ready to make the jump to a higher level right now."

Editor's Note: Click on the "+" sign next to each player's number to view how many first, second, third or fourth place votes he got and his overall point total.

About Mr. Basketball USA Tracker Panel
www.ebooksnet.com's panel of 10 experts, which includes six McDonald’s All-American selection committee members, casts its vote for the top national player of the year candidates. Each panelist lists his top seven candidates regardless of class. The votes are then tabulated on a 10-point scoring system with a first-place vote equaling 10 points, a second-place vote earning nine points and down to four points for a seventh-place vote. The number in parenthesis refers to the numbers of ballots on which a player appeared and previous rankings refers to position in the previous tracker.

The post POY Tracker: Lonzo Ball is New Front-Runner! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Team success has traditionally been a big factor over the years in the national player of the year process. There is little doubt leading a team to a high FAB 50 ranking or to a state title can propel a talented prospect into a legitimate candidate. Playing for a nationally-ranked team and performing well helped the candidacy of eventual Mr. Basketball USA winners such as Michael Kidd-Gilchrist of St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) in 2011, Rasheed Wallace of Simon Gratz (Philadelphia, Pa.) in 1993 and Reggie Williams of Dunbar (Baltimore, Md.) in 1983.

Lonzo Ball of Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.) started out No. 6 in the preseason voting and his team started No. 11 in the FAB 50. He worked his way up to No. 3 in the second voting go-around in early January as his ascended to the No. 1 spot in the FAB 50. As Chino Hills continues to win games as it eyes its first CIF Southern Section and CIF state title in the Ball era, the 10-man Mr. Basketball USA Tracker has taken notice.

Ball moved up another spot in in the latest 2015-16 Mr. Basketball USA Tracker powered by www.ebooksnet.com voting, and now only trails 6-foot-8 small forward Josh Jackson of Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) as the nation's leading national player of the year candidate. Jackson, who is still uncommitted for college, actually gained in overall points, as he went up from 89 points to 92 points. He remains the only candidate to appear on all ten ballots.

Jackson is truly an elite talent, as he is averaging 27.8 ppg, 12.9 rpg, 6.2 apg, 3.3 spg and 3.3 bpg against a national schedule. Prolific Prep was 16-5 when the balloting went out and that was the exact won-loss record for the team at FAB 50 No. 21 Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.), which of course is led by Duke-bound Jayson Tatum. As Ball's Chino Hills team runs its record to 21-0 heading into its January 30 showdown with FAB 50 No. 7 Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.) that will be streamed live by BIL, it appears that some the points that Tatum and other candidates such as Washington-bound Markelle Fultz of FAB 50 No. 6 DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) and Kentucky-bound Malik Monk of Bentonville (Bentonville, Ark.) previously collected have shifted over to the UCLA-bound point guard.

Tatum once again appeared on eight ballots, but his point total dropped from 70 to 68 points, including two first place votes. Fultz dropped from 37 points to 20, although he remained in sixth place, while Monk went from appearing on five ballots down to two and dropped 19 points down to 12 overall.

Ball, who enters the Bishop Montgomery showdown averaging triple-double numbers of 25.5 ppg, 11.5 rpg, and 10.9 apg, appeared on one extra ballot (from 8 to 9) and his point total went from 67 to 79. While Ball's three first place votes remained the same, he gained one second place vote (1 to 2) and added two additional third place votes (1 to 3). If his team keeps winning, he's likely to gain even more traction among the panel.

"Lonzo is finally showing he can carry a team when needed and if he leads his team to a CIF championship, he may get my top vote," said McDonald’s voter and The Basketball Channel Vice President of Basketball Operations Van Coleman.

"No player on this list has done as much for his team," added McDonald's voter Frank Burlison of BurlisonOnBasketball.com.

Will the voting continue to swing in Ball's direction if Chino Hills continues to win? Or will Jackson and Tatum swing the momentum back their way when all three compete in the same environment in the major national high school all-star games at the end of the season? If Ball leads his team to the mythical FAB 50 national title, how much will the post-season all-star circuit factor in to the voting process?

We'll eventually find out, but for now, if you can't make it to Cerritos College (Calif.) on January 30 for the Chino Hills-Bishop Montgomery game, make sure to watch the BIL Livestream beginning at 5 pm PST.

Editor's Note: Click on the "+" sign next to each player's number to view how many first, second, third or fourth place votes he got and his overall point total.

About Mr. Basketball USA Tracker Panel
www.ebooksnet.com's panel of 10 experts, which includes six McDonald’s All-American selection committee members, casts its vote for the top national player of the year candidates. Each panelist lists his top seven candidates regardless of class. The votes are then tabulated on a 10-point scoring system with a first-place vote equaling 10 points, a second-place vote earning nine points and down to four points for a seventh-place vote. The number in parenthesis refers to the numbers of ballots on which a player appeared and previous rankings refers to position in last season's final tracker.

The post POY Tracker: Lonzo Ball Closing in on Josh Jackson! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.