The Illinois Media released their boys basketball all-state teams on Monday evening.
Metamora senior Matthew Zobrist was named the inaugural Class 3A Steve Tappa player of the year. The Bradley signee was the top vote-getter among Class 3A players, helping lead the Redbirds to a Sweet Sixteen appearance. The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 19.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists for the Redbirds, who won the Mid-Illini Conference.
Peoria High senior Leshawn Stowers (Class 3A) and Manual senior Dietrich Richardson (Class 2A) were also named first-team all-state. Stowers guided the Lions to the Elite Eight, while averaging 18.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.5 steals.
Richardson, the 2025 Journal Star player of the year, led the Rams to a Class 2A fourth-place finish. The Bradley signee averaged 17.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists.
Other local players named all-state include Wes Gudeman (Morton, Class 3A, second team), Micah Meiss (El Paso-Gridley, Class 2A, second team) and Malachi Persinger (Peoria Christian, Class 1A, second team).
Among those Peoria-area players receiving honorable mention are Quinton Kitt (East Peoria, Class 3A), Noah LaPorte (Princeton, Class 2A) and Devon White (Illini Bluffs, Class 1A).
The three other Tappa POYs were Tyjuan Hunter (Chicago Hope, Class 1A), Docker Tedeschi (Benton, Class 3A) and Davion Thompson (Bolingbrook, Class 4A). Tappa was a beloved award-winning sports reporter that died unexpectedly last June.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria-area boys basketball players named all-state by Illinois media
