Nicole Bauman Named Gatorade Wisconsin Girls Basketball Player of the Year

CHICAGO (March 8, 2012) — In its 27th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPNHS, today announced Nicole Bauman of Eisenhower (New Berlin, Wis.) as its 2011-12 Gatorade Wisconsin Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Bauman is the first Gatorade Wisconsin Girls Basketball Player of the Year to be chosen from Eisenhower 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 court, distinguishes Bauman as Wisconsin's best high school girls basketball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year award announced in March, Bauman joins an elite alumni association of past state girls basketball award-winners, including Candace Parker (2003-04, 2002-03, & 2001-02, Naperville Central HS, Ill.), Diana Taurasi (1998-99 & 1999-00, Don Antonio Lugo HS, Calif.), Maya Moore (2005-06 Collins Hill HS, Ga.), Rashanda McCants (2004-05, Asheville HS, N.C.), Shyra Ely (1999-00, Ben Davis HS, Ind.) and Lisa Leslie (1988-89, Morningside HS, Calif.).

The 5-foot-10 senior guard led the Lions to a 22-0 record and a berth in the Division 2 regional semifinals, scheduled for March 9. Bauman averaged 17.0 points, 5.2 assists, 5.2 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 1.1 blocks through 22 games. A returning Division 2 First Team All-State selection as named by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association, Bauman shot 50.8 percent from the field, 43.6 percent from 3-point range and 80.0 percent from the free throw line this season. She captured the 2011 Division 2 state championship as a junior, earning state tournament Most Valuable Player honors in the process.

Bauman has maintained a 3.50 GPA in the classroom. In addition to donating her time as a youth basketball instructor, she has volunteered as part of a food drive to benefit the area homeless.

"Obviously her skills, athleticism and statistics speak for themselves, but from an opposing coach's viewpoint she has many intangibles," said Tracy Stolte, head coach at South Milwaukee High. "She is one of the most unselfish players I have seen. I think the highest compliment you can give to a player is that she makes all of the players on her team better. She is a fierce competitor, and I have noted that she even warms up with a tenacity and a precision that you do not even see from some players in a game."

Bauman has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball on an athletic scholarship at the University of Wisconsin this fall.

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 ESPNHS and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Bauman joins recent Gatorade Wisconsin Girls Basketball Players of the Year Samantha Logic (2010-11, Case High School), Nicole Griffin (2009-10 & 2008-09, Milwaukee Vincent), Rachael Hencke (2007-08, Grafton), Lin Zastrow (2006 – 07, Jefferson), Danielle Ward (2003-04, Rufus King), and Helen Johnson (2002-03, Milwaukee - Washington) among the state's list of former award winners.

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