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Rolling Meadows' Christie picks up Gatorade honor

Max Christie of Rolling Meadows has been selected as the 2020-21 Gatorade Illinois Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Christie is the first Gatorade Illinois Boys Basketball Player of the Year to be chosen from Rolling Meadows High School.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Christie as Illinois' best high school boys basketball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year award to be announced later this month, Christie joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports, including Jayson Tatum (2015-16, Chaminade College Preparatory School, Mo.), Karl-Anthony Towns (2012-13 & 2013-14, St. Joseph High School, N.J.), Jabari Parker (2011-12, Simeon Career Academy, Ill.) and Dwight Howard (2003-04, Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, Ga.).

The 6-foot-7, 190-pound senior guard led the Mustangs to a 15-0 record this past season. Christie averaged 24.0 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.1 steals and 2.0 blocks per game while connecting on 53.3 percent of his shots from the floor. A McDonald's All-American Game selection, Christie was the 2021 Daily Herald All-Area team captain for the Northwest suburbs. A unanimous first team All-State selection, he is ranked as the nation's No. 16 recruit in the Class of 2021 by ESPN.com and concluded his prep basketball career with 2,132 points. Christie has volunteered locally on multiple fundraising campaigns to benefit the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association. He has also donated his time with Feed My Starving Children and as a youth basketball coach. "Max brings outstanding positional size on the wing with a tremendous outside shot," said Paul Biancardi, ESPN National Recruiting Director. "He exudes a strong desire and dedication to improving and winning. He competes with a high basketball IQ and oozes with next-level potential.

Christie has maintained a weighted 4.12 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball on scholarship at Michigan State University this fall.

Through Gatorade's cause marketing platform "Play it Forward," Christie has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national youth sports organization of their choosing. Christie is also eligible to submit a 30-second video explaining why the organization they chose is deserving of one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants, which will be announced throughout the year. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners' grants have totaled more than $2.7 million across 1,117 organizations.

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