Karl Towns Jr., Brianna Turner receive top Gatorade awards

Basketball players Karl Towns Jr. from St. Joseph High in Metuchen, N.J., and Brianna Turner from Manvel, Tx., were named the Gatorade male and female high school athletes of the year during a banquet in Hollywood on Tuesday night.

The 7-foot Towns, bound for Kentucky, gave one of the most eloquent acceptance speeches in the history of the award, coming to tears when thanking his mother and father for their contributions to his success.

Here’s the YouTube link to his speech. Watch and weep.

Softball standout Taylor McQuillin from Mission Viejo and soccer standout Abu Danladi from Los Olivos Dunn were finalists for the award that has been won in the past by such top athletes as LeBron James and Dwight Howard.

Twitter:@LATSondheimer