Photo by The Times-Picayune.
Matt Derenbecker, the dominant basketball star for Metairie Park Country Day High School, was selected as the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Greater New Orleans Male Amateur Athlete of the Year for 2009-10. The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, selects annual award winners in a variety of categories; it also selects Amateur Athletes of the Month and each year’s Hall of Fame class.
By averaging 25.8 points, 10.2 rebounds and six assists per game, Derenbecker established himself as the premier prep basketball player in the New Orleans area for 2009-10. He was recognized as the Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year for the second year in a row and also collected all-state honors for the third straight season. He was also the Metro Player of the Year among small schools while earning all-district recognition for the fourth time. He completed his illustrious career with 3,334 points as well as earning a state title with the Cajuns as a junior.
The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee began in 1957 when Collins spearheaded a group of sports journalists to form a sports awards committee to immortalize local sports history. For 13 years, the committee honored local athletes each month. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the committee, leading to the creation of the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 1971, honoring 10 legends from the Crescent City in its first induction class. While adding the responsibility of selecting Hall of Famers, the committee has continued to recognize the top amateur athlete in the Greater New Orleans area each month – the honors enter their 65th year in 2021. To be eligible, an athlete must be a native of the greater New Orleans area or must compete for a team in the metropolitan region.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 102 Hall of Fame players, 52 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 89-year history. The 90th Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will double as a College Football Playoff Semifinal, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2024. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting nearly $2.4 billion into the local economy in the last decade.
