Five-star Florida signee DJ Lagway is capping his senior year off with arguably the top honors in high school sports. The quarterback was awarded the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year title, Friday morning.
He was selected from a pool of over one million student-athletes who play high school football nationwide. Athletes are selected based on their athletic ability, academic achievement and personal character.
On Wednesday morning, Lagway earned the Gatorade Texas Football Player of the Year and was named a top-three finalist for the national award.
Former pro football hall of famer Emmitt Smith presented Lagway with his national award in the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
"I want to congratulate DJ on becoming this year's Gatorade National Football Player of the Year," said head coach Billy Napier in a statement. "We all know what a big deal this award is, and we are all aware of DJ's talent, but this award is also a testament to the type of person he is off the field.”
The senior led his high school to an almost perfect 12-1 record and their first trip to the regional semifinals since 1994. Lagway completed 289 of 393 pass attempts over 4,604 yards. He rushed for 957 yards and averaged 9.53 yards per carry.
Lagway is only the fourth Gator to receive the award in program history.
Contact Krisha Sanghavi at ksanghavi@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter at @krishasang.
Krisha Sanghavi is a third-year public relations and economics major. In her free time, she loves cheering on Miami sports teams and spending time with her friends.
