CHICAGO (June 3, 2025) — In its 40th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Landon Hood of Canyon View High School is the 2024-25 Gatorade Arizona Baseball Player of the Year.

Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their success on the field, in the classroom and in the community. The award distinguishes Hood as Arizona's best high school baseball player, and he joins an impressive group of alumni that spans CEOs, coaches and star athletes such as Gary Sheffield (1985-86, Hillsborough High School, Florida), Clayton Kershaw (2005-06, Highland Park High School, Texas) and Konnor Griffin (2023-24, Jackson Preparatory School, Mississippi).

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior right-handed pitcher, first baseman and third baseman compiled a 12-2 record on the mound with a 0.80 ERA and 138 strikeouts against just 10 walks in 88 innings, leading the Jaguars (30-5) to the Class 5A state championship game this past season. The state’s Class 5A Player of the Year, Hood held opponents to a .160 batting average. He also hit .409 with a .480 on-base percentage.

A member of his school’s student government for the past two years, Hood has volunteered locally on behalf of the Special Olympics, supporting over 300 athletes with special needs from across the West Valley. “Landon Hood is a true leader in our program, respected not just for his talent on the field but for the person he is off it,” said Canyon View head coach Nick Swanson. “His teammates look up to him for his integrity, work ethic and the way he carries himself every day. He’s a high achiever in the classroom and on the field, setting the standard for what it means to be a student-athlete.”

Hood has maintained a 4.12 weighted GPA in the classroom. He has signed a written letter of athletic aid to play baseball on scholarship at Gonzaga University this fall.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states across 12 different high school sports – 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.

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, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $5.6 million in grants to winners across more than 2,000 organizations.

To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student - athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade, Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY and X (Twitter) at x.com/Gatorade.