Quinn Pelletier

Maine 8th grader voted Sports Illustrated’s high school boys athlete of the week

by Matt Junker- Sports Editor of The Bangor Daily News

Jan Vose Photography

Quinn Pelletier has netted more recognition for his performance in the Maine high school basketball tournament, this time at the national level.

Pelletier isn’t even in high school yet, but he has won the vote as High School on SI’s national boys athlete of the week for Feb. 17-23.

An eighth grader from Madawaska, Pelletier won the recognition with “an overwhelming 64.25 percent of the vote,” according to High School on SI, which is the high school sports arm of Sports Illustrated magazine.

Pelletier scored 43 points in Madawaska’s Class C North regional final loss to Mattanawcook Academy on Feb. 22. He shares the recognition with girls national athlete of the week Maddy Shirley, a junior basketball player who scored 46 points for Evansville Central in Indiana.

Around 15,000 votes were cast in the boys poll. Sports Illustrated does not allow automated voting for these athletes of the week features, though people are not limited to one vote. Nearly 50,000 votes were cast in the girls poll.

Pelletier’s 43 points in the regional final helped him earn the first BDN all-tournament team class MVP in memory for an eighth grader. It capped off an impressive tournament run for Pelletier, who scored a total of 71 points in three games, and for the Madawaska Owls team that went further in the playoffs than any previous team from the Aroostook County town.

Pelletier said Tuesday that he is “thankful for everyone who supported me and voted for me.”

After his 43-point performance, Pelletier was unaware and not particularly interested in how many points he scored, emphasizing that, “It’s not a one-man sport.”

His focus in an interview late last week was not on the history he made as an eighth grade MVP, but on bringing a future championship home to Madawaska.

Pelletier, who is 14, does some individual training with Matt MacKenzie, the longtime player development coach for Cooper and Ace Flagg. Pelletier also plays on a club basketball team that MacKenzie directs.

MacKenzie told the Bangor Daily News last week that Pelletier, a 6-foot-4 forward, is “going to be really special for years to come” if he can continue to develop his perimeter game. MacKenzie sees Pelletier’s skillset improving as he gets more comfortable with the ball in his hands and playing away from the basket.

“His success is really built on the fact that he has such a high motor, and he’s incredibly competitive in terms of how hard he plays every game,” MacKenzie said.