Boys
LeBron James (St. Vincent-St. Mary, Akron, Ohio) Basketball
This honor could have gone to the 6-foot-8 superstar in past weeks, but we decided to wait until he had such a performance that was even mind-boggling based on his high level of play. That came last weekend at the Prime Time Shootout in Trenton, N.J., when the Irish -- unbeaten on the court and ranked No. 1 in the FAB 50 -- dismantled another Top 10-ranked team, Westchester of Los Angeles (Calif.), 78-52. James scored a personal high 52 points -- to match the team total of Westchester -- before exiting with 2:30 left to play. He scored his team's final 18 points of the first quarter and had 31 at halftime and 47 after three quarters. Six of his 21 field goals were 3-pointers. For good measure, James added eight rebounds, six steals and a Magic Johnson-like no-look assist. That was more than enough for this honor, and it pretty much put to rest any doubt that he'd be national player of the year once again. The only way that wouldn't have happened is if LeBron had missed the rest of the season with his ineligibility and his team had lost a game or two.
Girls
Charde Houston (San Diego High, San Diego, Calif.) Basketball
California's leading girls basketball scorer the last two years enjoyed one of her most productive weeks to rate this honor. The 6-foot-3 junior led her high-scoring 22-3 record team to two wins over city rivals last week by totaling 95 points and boosting her game scoring average to 35.9 points. She scored 48 in a 112-38 romp of Morse and 47 in a 115-58 rout of Patrick Henry. As a sophomore, she averaged a state-best 34 points a game.