VYPE Magazine Announces the Shelter Insurance Mr. & Miss Basketball Oklahoma Award Winners: Jalen Montonati from Owasso and Caya Smith from Putnam City West
Tulsa, OK (April 10th, 2024) – VYPE Magazine and Shelter Insurance are proud to announce the 2023-24 Mr. and Miss Basketball Oklahoma Award winners are Jalen Montonati from Owasso High School and Caya Smith from Putnam City West High School.
The Shelter Insurance Mr. and Miss Basketball award recognizes the outstanding efforts Montonati, and Smith gave this season as they both led their teams to a state championship. Montonati and Smith join a distinguished list of players named to the top honor in the state of Oklahoma.
During the 2023-24 season, Montonati averaged 25 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game and shot 86 percent from the free throw line. Montonati helped the Rams to a 57-53 win over Edmond North in the state finals. Montonati is nationally ranked in the top 10 for the class of 2026. Montonati is the second player from Owasso High School to win the award.
The five finalists for the 2023-24 Shelter Insurance Mr. Basketball Oklahoma award were Jalen Montonati – Owasso, Dylan Warlick – Edmond North, Dayton Forsythe – Dale, Luke Gray – OCS, and Zac Brown – Collinsville.
“Oklahoma is home to a deep pool of talented basketball players, and several of those players have gone on to win Mr. Basketball and later play in the NBA. Jalen Montonati is cut from that same cloth, and we get to watch him for two more seasons!” VYPE Publisher Austin Chadwick.
Previous Shelter Insurance Mr. and Miss Basketball Oklahoma winners include;
Boys – Stevie Clark – Douglass (2012-13), Chauncey Collins – OKC Storm (2013-14), Shake Milton – Owasso (2014-15), Trae Young – Norman North (2015-16), Trae Young – Norman North (2016-17), Kalib Boone – Tulsa Memorial (2017-18), Jett Sternberger – Kingfisher (2018-19), Bryce Thompson – Booker T. Washington (2019-20), Bijan Cortes – Kingfisher (2020-21), Jai’Von “JV” Seat – Edmond Memorial (2021-22), and Dayton Forsythe – Dale (2022-23).
************************************************
This season Smith was instrumental in helping PC West to a Class 6A state title with a 41-40 win over Edmond North in the finals. Smith averaged 12.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 2.8 assists per game with 13 total blocks. Smith is committed to the University of Oklahoma. Smith is the first player from Putnam City West High School to win the award.
The five finalists for the 2023-24 Shelter Insurance Miss Basketball Oklahoma award were Caya Smith – Putnam City West, Zya Vann – Bethany, Maddi Stewart – Lincoln Christian, Tyla Heard – Sapulpa, and Braci Nyberg – Seiling.
“With so many great players in Oklahoma, it’s tough to stand out in the crowd, but Caya Smith does that every time she steps on the court. A leader for PC West, Smith showed why she is the top player in the state and why the Sooners are eager to get her on campus. Smith is a great representative for the Shelter Insurance Miss Basketball Oklahoma award,” said VYPE Magazine’s Brad Heath.
Girls – Lakota Beatty – Anadarko (2012-13), Toree Thompson – Broken Arrow (2013-14), Rylie Torrey – Locust Grove (2014-15), Ana Llanusa – Choctaw (2015-16), Jaden Hobbs – Alva (2016-17), Jessi Murcer – Westmoore (2017-18), Jalei Oglesby – Howe (2018-19), Aaliyah Moore – Moore (2019-20), Kelbie Washington – Norman (2020-21), Darianna Littlepage-Buggs – Classen SAS (2021-22), and Stailee Heard – Sapulpa (2022-23).
