Myles Craddock Named 2023-2024 R.I. Football Gatorade Player of the Year

CHICAGO (January 3, 2024) — In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade
today announced Myles Craddock of Moses Brown School is the 2023-24 Gatorade Rhode Island Football Player
of the Year. Craddock is the first Gatorade Rhode Island Football Player of the Year to be chosen from Moses
Brown School.
The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and
in the community, distinguishes Craddock as Rhode Island’s best high school football player. From CEOs and
coaches to star athletes, Gatorade Player of the Year winners showcase the power of sport, touting an all-star
group of alumni that includes Emmitt Smith (1986-87, Escambia High School, Fla.), Peyton Manning (1993-94,
Isidore Newman School, La.) and Jackson Arnold (2022-23, John H. Guyer High School, Texas).
The 5-foot-10, 187-pound senior running back rushed for 1,504 yards and 21 touchdowns this past season,
averaging 10.1 per carry and leading the Quakers (7-4) to a berth in the Division III quarterfinals. In his final three
regular-season games, which Moses Brown needed to win to reach the postseason, Craddock rushed for 553 yards
and scored 10 total touchdowns. Defensively, he recorded 38 tackles and an interception, forced fumble and
blocked punt.
The student senate co-president, Craddock has volunteered locally at the Camp Street Food Pantry, and on behalf of
Play 60, an NFL youth flag football program. He also has donated his time as a peer leader for ninth-graders at
Moses Brown. “Myles is different from most running backs because he is also a great receiver out of the backfield,
and as a slot guy,” said Pilgrim High School head coach Blake Simpson. “Myles has great ball protection and I
believe what makes him different from most backs is he’s usually at top speed as soon as he touches the football.”
Craddock has maintained a 3.48 GPA in the classroom. He remains undecided upon a collegiate destination.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of
the 50 states that sanction high school 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.
Craddock joins recent Gatorade Rhode Island Football Players of the Year Moses Meus (2022-23, Saint Raphael
Academy), Marquis Buchanan (2021-22, Classical High School), Sam Baddoo (2020-21, Classical High School), and
James Osmanski (2019-20, North Kingstown High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.
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, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than
$4.9 million across more than 1,600 organizations.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate studentathletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Facebook at
facebook.com/GatoradePOY, Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade and Twitter at twitter.com/Gatorade.