Eudora senior Mitchell Ballock drives to the baseline against Truman sophomore Donald Edmondson during the first quarter of the Cardinals' 74-64 victory Monday at EHS. Ballock scored 29 points.

Eudora High basketball standout Mitchell Ballock was named the Gatorade Kansas boys basketball player of the year, announced Monday.

Ballock averaged 25.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.8 blocks per game, helping the the Cardinals to a 19-3 record when he was the team’s only returning starter.

The 6-foot-5, 195-pound Ballock, signed to play at Creighton, led Eudora to a state championship in 2014 as a freshman when he averaged 20 points per game.

“There’s nobody in Kansas or the United States that works harder than him,” Eudora boys basketball coach Kyle Deterding said. “It rubs off on people. The underclassmen got to see he’s not just God-given talent. He has that, but holy cow, he works at it.”

Off of the court, Ballock has maintained a 3.76 grade-point average while volunteering as a youth basketball coach and multiple community service projects through Eudora’s National Honor Society.

As Gatorade’s Kansas player of the year, Ballock will select a youth sports organization to receive a $1,000 grant.

Ballock is a finalist for Gatorade’s national player of the year award, which will be announced later this month.

“He’s a great leader, great teammate and great competitor,” Deterding said. “I was really blessed to be able to watch him and those other seniors the last four years.”