Iowa Class 1A Boys Basketball Player of the Year: How Voting Works & How to Win

Iowa Class 1A Boys Basketball Player of the Year: What the Award Covers

Iowa's IHSAA Class 1A is the smallest of the state's four boys basketball classifications, covering schools with the lowest enrolment figures and — in many cases — consolidated programmes that merge students from multiple small communities. High School on SI (Sports Illustrated / formerly SBLive Sports) awards a dedicated Class 1A Boys Basketball Player of the Year each season through a fan-vote process at si.com/high-school/iowa.

The award is class-exclusive: only players from IHSAA Class 1A programmes are eligible, and the ballot runs separately from the 2A, 3A, and 4A class polls. This distinction matters — it means a Class 1A standout does not have to out-vote the much larger fan bases of mid-size or large-school programmes to earn recognition.

The Iowa state tournament for all classes — including 1A — is held at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines each March, governed by the IHSAA (Iowa High School Athletic Association). High School on SI's editorial award announcement follows the tournament's conclusion.

Vote Results: Confirmed Winners and Preseason Standings

Two confirmed cycles are available in the documented record for this award. The table below covers every named result from the facts on file.

Hanson's 61% preseason share is one of the most decisive in any confirmed Iowa class ballot on record. His programme, GTRA, is a consolidated school in the Garwin area — a community that clearly mobilised well beyond its immediate geography to deliver that margin. Hunter Horn's 2025-26 win from St. Edmond (Fort Dodge area) represents a different programme geography — north-central Iowa — confirming that this award draws from across the state, not just one region.

Poll Mechanics at a Glance

Understanding the rules before you launch a campaign saves wasted effort. This Quick Facts table summarises the confirmed mechanics of the High School on SI Class 1A ballot.

Seasonal Voting Calendar for Iowa Class 1A Basketball

The award's voting windows slot neatly into Iowa's winter prep basketball schedule. Knowing which phase is active — and planning accordingly — determines how much lead time you have for community outreach.

The preseason and finalist ballots are separate articles — a voter returning to a November bookmark in February will find a closed or replaced poll. Always navigate to si.com/high-school/iowa to locate the current active article for the relevant phase.

The Small-School Identity Behind Class 1A Basketball Engagement

Why 1A Polls Generate Outsized Engagement

Iowa Class 1A basketball communities are small enough that sport is central to community identity in a way that larger-school towns rarely experience. When a local player earns a nomination for a statewide award, the community response can be disproportionate to the town's population — as Teagan Hanson's GTRA result (61% of a 12,000-vote preseason pool) illustrates clearly.

This dynamic also creates competitive pressure between communities. A 61% preseason margin tells the Baxter and Wapsie Valley communities exactly what vote total they need to overcome in a future cycle, driving even higher engagement from rival fanbases.

Confirmed 1A Programmes in Recent Cycles

The following schools have confirmed presence in recent Class 1A Boys Basketball POY ballots at si.com/high-school/iowa. This is not an exhaustive list of all eligible 1A schools — the IHSAA Class 1A field covers dozens of programmes statewide.

• GTRA (Garwin area) — preseason frontrunner in 2024-25
• Baxter (Baxter) — second in 2024-25 preseason
• Wapsie Valley (Fairbank) — third in 2024-25 preseason
• St. Edmond (Fort Dodge area) — 2025-26 award winner

For broader Iowa prep sports context, the Iowa high school sports hub covers multiple sports and award types statewide. The national USA contests directory lists similar fan-vote programmes across all 50 states.

Building a Vote Campaign for a Class 1A Candidate

What the GTRA Example Teaches Campaign Organisers

GTRA's 2024-25 preseason result is the clearest data point in the confirmed record for this award. A consolidated programme from the Garwin area — not a large urban school — delivered roughly 7,300 votes (61% of 12,000+) for a single candidate. That volume from a small-enrolment school indicates highly organised community turnout: every parent, alumni member, booster, and extended-network contact was activated.

The mechanics of running that kind of campaign in a Class 1A community typically involve:

• A direct text or message to every family associated with the athletic programme
• Posts in local community Facebook groups and NextDoor equivalents
• Announcements at games and school events with the poll URL included
• Coordination with local businesses willing to display QR codes linking to the ballot

When organic community networks have been fully deployed, supplemental sports fan poll vote packages can provide additional volume. For unlimited-vote polls on si.com, bulk vote delivery is a practical option that campaigns use to secure a margin against organised rival communities. Full strategy guidance is available at our how-to voting guide.

Contextualising Class 1A Within Iowa's Basketball Award Landscape

Iowa's prep basketball recognition ecosystem includes several parallel tracks. High School on SI's fan-vote awards — of which this is one — sit alongside editorial all-state selections by the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association, the Gatorade Iowa Player of the Year (an independently adjudicated honour), and IHSAA-administered all-tournament teams. This award is a fan-driven supplement, not an IHSAA-administered title.

Within the High School on SI framework, Class 1A boys basketball is one of eight separate Iowa basketball awards (four boys classes, four girls classes in IGHSAU structure). Each runs a standalone ballot, meaning a vote in the 1A poll carries no weight in the 2A, 3A, or 4A tallies — and vice versa.

The Iowa Girls Basketball Player of the Year awards are governed by the IGHSAU (Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union) rather than the IHSAA, and use five classes (1A–5A) instead of four. The girls' awards run through the same High School on SI platform but are entirely separate polls from the boys' class awards.