Michigan junior guard
Elliot Cadeau became the fourth player from a Missouri high school to win the NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player award, joining Bob Kurland, Bill Bradley and Ochai Ogbaji. The
Link Academy (Branson, Mo.) alum scored 19 points in Monday's 69-63 championship victory over UConn.
Cadeau was a MaxPreps Junior All-American in 2023 before reclassifying and enrolling early at North Carolina. He spent two seasons with the Tar Heels before transferring to Michigan prior to the 2025-26 season. He averaged 10.5 points per game on the year, helping the Wolverines to their first national title since 1989.
New York lays claim to the most high school products to earn Most Outstanding Player honors with eight, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor), Christian Laettner and Kemba Walker of Rice.
Pennsylvania has seven with Ryan Arcidiacono of Villanova and
Neshaminy (Langhorne) being the most recent in 2016.
Overbrook (Philadelphia, Pa.) has produced three former tournament MOPs, including back-to-back in 1956 and 1957 with Hal Lear of Temple and Wilt Chamberlain of Kansas. Walt Hazzard of UCLA won in 1964.
New Castle (Ind.) is the only other school in the country to have multiple MOPs. They both played for national championship Indiana squads with Marvin Huffman earning the honor in 1940 and Kent Benson in 1976.
1941 – John Kotz, Wisconsin,
Rhinelander (Wis.)1942 – Howie Dallmar, Stanford,
Lowell (San Francisco, Calif.)1943 – Ken Sailors, Wyoming,
Laramie (Wyo.)1944 – Arnie Ferrin, Utah,
Ogden (Utah)1945 – Bob Kurland, Oklahoma A&M,
Jennings (Mo.)1946 – Bob Kurland, Oklahoma A&M
1947 – George Kaftan, Holy Cross,
Xavier (New York, N.Y.)1948 – Alex Groza, Kentucky,
Martins Ferry (Ohio)1949 – Alex Groza, Kentucky
1950 – Irwin Dambrot, City College of New York,
Taft (Bronx, N.Y.)1951 – Bill Spivey, Kentucky,
Warner Robins (Ga.)1952 – Clyde Lovellette, Kansas, Garfield (Terre Haute, Ind.)
1953 – B.H. Born, Kansas,
Medicine Lodge (Kan.)1954 – Tom Gola, La Salle,
La Salle College (Wyndmoor, Pa.)1955 – Bill Russell, San Francisco,
McClymonds (Oakland, Calif.)1956 – Hal Lear, Temple,
Overbrook (Philadelphia, Pa.)1957 – Wilt Chamberlain, Kansas,
Overbrook (Philadelphia, Pa.)1958 – Elgin Baylor, Seattle,
Spingarn (Washington, D.C.)1959 – Jerry West, West Virginia, East Bank (W.Va.)
1960 – Jerry Lucas, Ohio State,
Middletown (Ohio)1961 – Jerry Lucas, Ohio State
1962 – Paul Hogue, Cincinnati,
Austin-East (Knoxville, Tenn.)1963 – Art Heyman, Duke,
Oceanside (N.Y.)1964 – Walt Hazzard, UCLA, Overbrook
1965 – Bill Bradley, Princeton,
Crystal City (Mo.)1966 – Jerry Chambers, Utah,
Eastern (Washington, D.C.)1967 – Lew Alcindor, UCLA, Power Memorial (Manhattan, N.Y.)
1968 – Lew Alcindor, UCLA
1969 – Lew Alcindor, UCLA
1970 – Sidney Wicks, UCLA,
Hamilton (Los Angeles, Calif.)1971 – Howard Porter, Villanova,
Booker (Sarasota, Fla.)1972 – Bill Walton, UCLA,
Helix (La Mesa, Calif.)1973 – Bill Walton, UCLA
1974 – David Thompson, NC State,
Crest (Shelby, N.C.)1975 – Richard Washington, UCLA,
Benson Tech (Portland, Ore.)1976 – Kent Benson, Indiana, New Castle
1977 – Butch Lee, Marquette,
DeWitt Clinton (Bronx, N.Y.)1978 – Jack Givens, Kentucky,
Bryan Station (Lexington, Ky.)1979 – Magic Johnson, Michigan State,
Everett (Lansing, Mich.)1980 – Darrell Griffith, Louisville,
Male (Louisville, Ky.)1981 – Isiah Thomas, Indiana,
St. Joseph (Westchester, Ill.)1982 – James Worthy, North Carolina,
Ashbrook (Gastonia, N.C.)1983 – Akeem Olajuwon, Houston, International
1984 – Patrick Ewing, Georgetown,
Cambridge Rindge & Latin (Cambridge, Mass.)1985 – Ed Pinckney, Villanova,
Stevenson (Bronx, N.Y.)1986 – Pervis Ellison, Louisville,
Savannah (Ga.)1987 – Keith Smart, Indiana,
McKinley (Baton Rouge, La.)1988 – Danny Manning, Kansas,
Lawrence (Kan.)1989 – Glen Rice, Michigan,
Northwestern (Flint, Mich.)1990 – Anderson Hunt, UNLV, Southwestern (Detroit, Mich.)
1991 – Christian Laettner, Duke,
Nichols (Buffalo, N.Y.)1992 – Bobby Hurley, Duke,
St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.)1993 – Donald Williams, North Carolina,
Garner (N.C.)1994 – Corliss Williamson, Arkansas,
Russellville (Ark.)1995 – Ed O'Bannon, UCLA,
Artesia (Lakewood, Calif.)1996 – Tony Delk, Kentucky,
Haywood (Brownsville, Tenn.)1997 – Miles Simon, Arizona,
Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)1998 – Jeff Sheppard, Kentucky,
McIntosh (Peachtree City, Ga.)1999 – Richard Hamilton, UConn,
Coatesville (Pa.)2000 – Mateen Cleaves, Michigan State,
Northern (Flint, Mich.)2001 – Shane Battier, Duke,
Detroit Country Day (Beverly Hills, Mich.)2002 – Juan Dixon, Maryland,
Calvert Hall (Baltimore, Md.)2003 – Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse,
Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.)2004 – Emeka Okafor, UConn,
Bellaire (Texas)2005 – Sean May, North Carolina,
Bloomington North (Bloomington, Ind.)2006 – Joakim Noah, Florida,
Lawrenceville School (Lawrenceville, N.J.)2007 – Corey Brewer, Florida,
Portland (Tenn.)2008 – Mario Chalmers, Kansas,
Bartlett (Anchorage, Alaska)2009 – Wayne Ellington, North Carolina,
Episcopal Academy (Newtown Square, Pa.)2010 – Kyle Singler, Duke,
South Medford (Medford, Ore.)2011 – Kemba Walker, UConn, Rice
(Harlem, N.Y.)
2012 – Anthony Davis, Kentucky,
Perspectives Leadership (Chicago, Ill.)2013 – Luke Hancock, Louisville,
Hidden Valley (Roanoke, Va.)2014 – Shabazz Napier, UConn,
Lawrence Academy (Groton, Mass.)2015 – Tyus Jones, Duke,
Apple Valley (Minn.)2016 – Ryan Arcidiacono, Villanova,
Neshaminy (Langhorne, Pa.)2017 – Joel Berry II, North Carolina,
Lake Highland Prep (Orlando, Fla.)2018 – Donte DiVincenzo, Villanova,
Salesianum (Wilmington, Del.)2019 – Kyle Guy, Virginia,
Lawrence Central (Indianapolis, Ind.)2020 – No tournament
2021 – Jared Butler, Baylor,
Riverside Academy (Reserve, La.)2022 – Ochai Agbaji, Kansas,
Oak Park (Kansas City, Mo.)2023 – Adama Sanogo, UConn,
Patrick School (Hillside, N.J.)2024 – Tristen Newton, UConn,
Burges (El Paso, Texas)2025 – Walter Clayton Jr., Florida,
Bartow (Fla.)2026 – Elliot Cadeau, Michigan,
Link Academy (Branson, Mo.)
