Chattanooga native Airious “Ace” Bailey, a senior at McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Georgia, is one of three finalists for the Gatorade national player of the year honor in boys' basketball.
The announcement of Bailey as a finalist for the national award came Thursday, the same day he was revealed as the Gatorade selection as his state's player of the year in that sport.
Earlier this month, Bailey wrapped up his prep career by leading McEachern to the GHSA Class AAAAAAA state championship game in Macon, where the Indians lost 51-41 to Grayson and junior Jacob Wilkins, the son of Atlanta Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins.
Bailey was a rising star in the Chattanooga area growing up and played at Boyd Buchanan before transferring midway through his sophomore year.
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Staff photo by Patrick MacCoon / McEachern High School senior Ace Bailey poses after receiving his McDonald's All-American jersey at the GHSA Region 7-AAAAAAA championship game against visiting Hillgrove on Feb. 16 in Powder Springs, Ga.Now a 6-foot-8 wing, he is listed as the No. 2 prospect in the country for the class of 2024 and signed last fall with Rutgers, a Big Ten program in Piscataway, New Jersey. He averaged 32.5 points, 15.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.4 blocks per game this past season for McEachern, with the Metro Atlanta program from Cobb County facing a schedule that included nine nationally ranked opponents.
“Atlanta basketball, everybody’s focused, everybody’s got a goal, nobody is playing around,” Bailey said in a recent interview with the Times Free Press. “If you want it, you’re going to do it, and I like that. It’s hard work, it’s training, everybody’s putting in the time, making sacrifices for you to get better, for your child to get better.”
The other finalists for the national award are fellow seniors Cooper Flagg of Florida's Montverde Academy, a 6-9 forward who has signed with Duke University and is the country's top prospect, and V.J. Edgecombe of New York's Long Island Lutheran, a 6-4 guard who has committed to Baylor University and is the No. 4 prospect.
Gatorade's release announcing Bailey as the Georgia award winner noted he has also "volunteered locally as part of an elementary education literacy outreach program and on behalf of the McEachern Beta Club’s student-supported shopping trip with district elementary schools. He has also donated his time at the Powder Springs Food Bank and as a youth basketball camp counselor."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.