Nobody Covers High School Sports Like The Oklahoman.
Join The Oklahoman as we celebrate and honor the accomplishments of Oklahoma City metro student-athletes at the third-annual Best of OKC Metro All-City Preps Awards. This awards banquet is The Oklahoman’s way of saying thank you to the thousands of outstanding high school athletes, coaches and fans who allow us to share their stories, performances and passions. The event honors the top performers from Oklahoma, Lincoln, Grady, McClain, Cleveland, Canadian, Logan, Pottawatomie, Payne and Kingfisher counties in 12 different sports.
Twenty awards will be presented, including Male and Female Athlete of the Year, INTEGRIS Coach of the Year, BancFirst Courage Award, and OG&E Team of the Year. OKC Metro All-City Preps athletes are invited to attend for free, and the event is open to family, friends and the general public.
We are proud to welcome Oklahoma City native Blake Griffin of the NBA’s Detroit Pistons as our featured special guest. Blake will be at the event for a question and answer session about lessons he’s learned and memories he’s made during his career.
Doors open at 6 p.m. with a 6:30 p.m. start time. A general admission ticket is $50 and includes dinner, the awards ceremony and the Q&A with Griffin. General admission seating is limited on a first-come, first-served basis and the event is likely to sell out. Best of OKC Metro All-City Preps athletes will receive an invitation with instructions for claiming their free ticket.
Best of OKC Metro All-City Preps is presented by The Oklahoman with help from title sponsors BancFirst, INTEGRIS and OG&E. Thank you sponsors for allowing us to bring this event to our community.
A Once-In-A-Lifetime Experience
Monday, June 3, 2019 | Dinner 6:30 PM | Cox Convention Center | 1 Myriad Gardens, Oklahoma City, OK 73102
We’re recognizing 564 athletes from over 100 high schools for their on-field success, academic achievement and community involvement. Athletes, family members, coaches and community sponsors will enjoy a Q&A session with keynote speaker Blake Griffin of the NBA’s Detroit Pistons.
Best of OKC Metro All-City Preps Awards is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for outstanding high school athletes to be acknowledged for their achievements.
564
Athletes
100+
High Schools
12
Sports
1
Oklahoma Native and
Six-Time NBA All-Star
How Athletes Are Selected
The same formula has been used for over 35 years in selecting the Best of OKC Metro Preps award winners. This process begins with the nomination forms we send to each coach in the Oklahoma City metro area. Also included with those forms is a page where coaches can nominate players from other teams that they believe are worthy of All-City consideration. We collect them and begin to weigh the achievements of the nominated players.
In many cases, we call coaches to further discuss the merits of their players and players they coached against to give us more information about everyone we’re considering for our All-City teams. From there, we do our best to make the most informed decisions possible to select the players for the All-City teams.
There is no additional nomination process for All-City athletes. Athletes selected for The Oklahoman’s All-City teams will automatically be eligible to attend the event. There will be a nomination form sent to schools for our Scholar-Athlete award.
Featuring Keynote Speaker
Blake Griffin
Oklahoma Native and Six-Time NBA All-Star
If anyone knows Oklahoma basketball, it’s Blake Griffin.
Griffin, the most decorated basketball player in Oklahoma high school history, dominated the state for six years at two levels — four during an illustrious high school run at Oklahoma Christian School and two at the University of Oklahoma. His journey from right up the road in Edmond through the prep ranks to six-time NBA all-star is inspiration and proof that any dream is possible.
Playing under the direction of his father, Tommy, and alongside his brother, Taylor, Griffin helped lead OCS to four consecutive state championships, paving the way to a spot on the Oklahoman’s All-City team for three straight years. He went on to achieve McDonald’s All-American status and won the Gatorade Player of the Year award.
Griffin, despite being courted by many top programs, chose to say home for college and play for OU. Viewed as a potential lottery pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Griffin returned to school in search of a championship. He came close, leading the Sooners to the Elite Eight and the school’s first 30-plus win season since 2002.
A 10-year NBA veteran, Griffin is coming off a career-high 24.5 points per game with the Detroit Pistons. He’s spent the past two years in Detroit after an eight-year run with the Los Angeles Clippers, which selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. He guided the Clippers to six playoff appearances and won the 2011 NBA Rookie of the Year.
Blake Griffin will join us in honoring OKC Metro’s premier high school athletes at The Oklahoman’s Best of OKC Metro All-City Preps Awards.
Blake Griffin Links:
Blake’s jersey retiring ceremony at OU 
Blake’s jersey retiring ceremony at OU
Blake’s high school days at Oklahoma Christian School 
Blake’s high school days at Oklahoma Christian School 
Blake’s college days at OU 
Blake’s college days at OU 
Blake’s college days at OU 
Blake’s college days at OU