AURORA | A day after her Regis Jesuit girls basketball team fell in the Class 5A state semifinals, Fran Belibi received a consolation prize of sorts.
The 6-foot-1, Stanford-bound Raiders star was selected as Colorado’s Gatorade Player of the Year for the 2018-19, the organization announced Friday.
In just three-plus seasons playing the game, Belibi averaged 21.8 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.4 steals and 2.7 blocked shots per game.
“Fran is a generational player,” Regis Jesuit coach Carl Mattei said in Gatorade’s statement. “She’s transforming the way girls and women play basketball. She uses the dunk shot in practice every day and in every game. If not tackled, grabbed or intentionally taken down, Fran would play above the rim.”
Belibi has already been selected to the McDonald’s All-American Game.
Off the court, Belibi looks forward to a future in medicine. She carries a 3.99 weighted Grade Point Average, while she also spends time at an integrated learning center program at an elementary school and as a peer youth math tutor according to the organization.
The Gatorade Player of the Year award has become a staple around Aurora to several years, as Belibi follows Grandview’s three-time award winner Michaela Onyenwere (2016-17, 2015-16 and 2014-15) as the most recent local winners.
Belibi becomes the third Regis Jesuit player to win the honor, joining Justine Hall (2013-14) and Diani Akigbogun (2012-13). Akigbogun came on board the Regis Jesuit coaching staff as an assistant this season.
Gatorade has been honoring state players of the year in girls basketball since the 1985-86 season.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Sentinel Prep Sports