Brandon Miller, Lashae Dwyer named Tennessee Gatorade basketball players of the year

Cane Ridge basketball star Brandon Miller and the Webb School's Lashae Dwyer have been named Gatorade Tennessee's boys and girls basketball players of the year.

Miller is now a finalist for the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year that will be announced this month. 

North Carolina's Saniya Rivers, a South Carolina signee, was named the girls national player of the year. 

Miller, a 6-foot-8, 185-pound junior, is a five-star college prospect and the No. 2 player in the state for the Class of 2022 according to the 247Sports Composite and the nation's No. 7 recruit by ESPN.com.

"Whenever you have a kid on your team that can go get buckets, that's a strength," Cane Ridge coach Marlin Simms said. "We ran our offense through Brandon. He was the primary scorer and our main facilitator, but the great thing about our team is his teammates trusted and bought in. It's easy when you have a kid that plays with no ego."

Simms said Miller plans to take a few official recruiting visits this month and is scheduled to visit Tennessee next week.

"That's the only school I know of right now," Simms said. "I know he's going to line up some more visits but I'm not sure what the other schools are yet."

Miller led Cane Ridge to the Class AAA state championship game while earning All State honors by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association and is a nominee for The Tennessean's boys player of the year. He averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.6 blocks and led the Ravens to their first state tournament.

TSWA GIRLS ALL STATE TEAM:The high school girls All State teams for 2021

TSWA BOYS ALL STATE TEAM:The high school boys All State teams for 2021

The Ravens played only six regular season games but won nine straight in the postseason for a 15-1 record, losing to state champion Houston in the Class AAA title game. 

"I’m glad they didn’t hold the COVID-19 situation against him," Simms said. "They looked at what he accomplished, his attributes, his play and made the decision based off that and off the kind of person Brandon is, the character he has."

Dwyer, a 5-7 point guard led the Lady Feet to a 28-2 record and the Division II-A state championship in March. The senior averaged 22.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 3.6 steals per game. Her 23-point, 12-rebound, six-assist performance in the state title game pushed the Lady Feet to a 54-38 win over Providence Christian School.

A native of Toronto, Dwyer transferred to Webb from Hamilton Heights Christian Academy and helped Webb go from a four-win program in 2019-20 to 28 this past season. She signed with Miami (Fla).

Reach sports writer George Robinson at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle.com or (931) 245-0747 and on Twitter @Cville_Sports.