CHICAGO (January 3, 2023) — In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Rico Scott of Bishop McDevitt High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade Pennsylvania Football Player of the Year. Scott is the fourth Gatorade Pennsylvania Football Player of the Year to be chosen from Bishop McDevitt High School.
The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom, and in the community, distinguishes Scott as Pennsylvania’s best high school football player. From CEOs and coaches to star athletes, Gatorade Player of the Year winners showcases the power of sport, touting an all-star group of alumni that includes Emmitt Smith (1986-87, Escambia High School, Fla.), Peyton Manning (1993-94, Isidore Newman School, La.) and Jackson Arnold (2022-23, John H. Guyer High School, Texas).
The 6-foot, 190-pound senior wide receiver caught 86 passes for 1,353 yards and 23 touchdowns this past season, leading the Crusaders (13-1) to the Class 4A state semifinals. A 2022 Class 4A First Team All-State honoree, Scott also rushed for a score and returned a kickoff for a TD. He recorded multiple touchdowns in nine of his 13 games.
Scott has volunteered locally as a student ambassador at Bishop McDevitt. He has also donated his time as a youth football coach. “Rico has made big plays for them all year,” said Shane Breon, head coach of Mifflin County High. “He made the plays when they desperately needed them. Rico was their go-to guy.”
Scott has maintained a B average in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to play football on scholarship at the University of Alabama 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 the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media, and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.
Scott joins recent Gatorade Pennsylvania Football Players of the Year Stone Saunders (2022-23, Bishop McDevitt High School), Nick Singleton (2021-22, Governor Mifflin High School), Kyle McCord (2020-21, St. Joseph’s Preparatory School), and Julian Fleming (2019-20, Southern Columbia Area High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sports, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $4.9 million across more than 1,600 organizations.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners, or nominate student-athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY, Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade and Twitter at twitter.com/Gatorade.
