Minnesota 2024 quarterback signee Drake Lindsey has been named the Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year for his performance as a senior for Fayeteville High School.
In his senior season, Lindsey led the Bulldogs to a 13-0 record and a 7A state championship in Arkansas while completing 69.9% of his passes for 3,745 yards and 52 touchdowns.
GET THE INSIDE SCOOP EVERY DAY WITH YOUR PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION!
MORE: TRANSFER PORTAL TRACKER | TRANSFER PORTAL THREAD | INSIDE GOPHERS NATION MESSAGE BOARD
PRESS RELEASE
CHICAGO (January 3, 2024) — In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Drake Lindsey of Fayetteville High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade Arkansas Football Player of the Year. Lindsey is the fourth Gatorade Arkansas Football Player of the Year to be chosen from Fayetteville 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 Lindsey as Arkansas’s best high school football player. From CEOs and coaches to star athletes, Gatorade Player of the Year winners showcase 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-5, 225-pound senior quarterback passed for 3,745 yards and 52 touchdowns with just two interceptions, a school and 7A state-record, leading the Bulldogs to a 13-0 record and the 7A state championship. Lindsey completed 69.9 percent of his passes while averaging 10.26 yards per attempt and 288 yards per contest. He was named MVP of the 7A state championship game after completing 26 of 38 attempts for 355 yards and a touchdown. Lindsey also was the unanimous choice as 7A First Team All-State quarterback and named Northwest Arkansas Player of the Year.
Lindsey has volunteered locally with Special Olympics Arkansas, which is hosted at Fayetteville High School and includes 10-15 neighboring schools. He has also donated his time to multiple community service initiatives through his church youth group. “Drake is a leader that makes great decisions and is like an extra coach on the field,” said Brett Hobbs, head coach at Springdale High School. “His calmness and decision-making, along with an incredible arm plus great accuracy, make him a phenomenal football player. He does a great job of staying in the pocket and keeping his eyes downfield, but also has the capability to run.”
Lindsey has maintained a 3.02 GPA in the classroom. Taking advantage of NCAA early signing rules, Lindsey inked a financial-aid agreement that paved the way for him to enroll at the University of Minnesota, where he will play football next fall. He graduated from high school in December and will attend classes in the spring semester.
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. Lindsey joins recent Gatorade Arkansas Football Players of the Year Eli Wisdom (2022-23, Shiloh Christian School), Joe Himon (2021-22, Pulaski Academy), Austin Ledbetter (2020-21, Bryant High School), and Jacolby Criswell (2019- 20, Morrilton High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, 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 to nominate studentathletes, 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.
============================
- Talk about it INSIDE GOPHER NATION.
- SUBSCRIBE TO LOGoldenGophers
- Follow us on Twitter: @MinnesotaRivals, @AlexCarlsonTGR, @SeanW_Rivals, @DylanCC_FB, @GopherKaneRob, @LOGoldenGophers, @drew_toennies
- SUBSCRIBE to The Gopher Report.
