Jabari Parker, a junior at Simeon High School in Chicago, was announced as the 2011 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year.

“It means a lot to get this award,” Parker said. “I’m honored and grateful for the selection. It shows that at an early age I had a good summer. I’m thankful all of the hard work paid off.”

Parker helped lead the USA to a perfect 5-0 record and the gold medal at the 2011 FIBA Americas U16 Championship.

Starting in all five games for the USA during the June 21-25 tournament in Cancun, Mexico, Parker averaged 15.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.0 steals in 21.4 minutes per game, while shooting 51.8 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from 3-point.

“Jabari was not only a great athlete, along with the other players on our U16 team, but also an extremely focused athlete that was coachable and wanted to improve,” said Don Showalter, USA U16 and Mid-Prairie High School (Iowa) and head coach. “His size and quickness were great assets that he used to his advantage. The main thing I appreciated about Jabari is that he understood the level he needed to play at every second on the court during practice and games.”