StarNews Boys Basketball Preseason Player of the Year: How Voting Works & How to Win

What the StarNews boys preseason ballot is and who runs it

StarNews of Wilmington, North Carolina, publishes this preseason ballot on Crowdsignal. The poll asks readers to choose the preseason standout among boys high school basketball players in the Wilmington market, and the ballot lives at https://poll.fm/16288101.

StarNews is the organizer, and the city is Wilmington in North Carolina. Nominees appear with the school they play for, which is how the listing ties each candidate to a local program. The closed ballot reports every nominee's percentage and total, and it is the only tally the page publishes.

This program is listed as a public-vote contest. No jury, panel or editorial committee is named as deciding the placings, so the reader ballot is the mechanic to expect when the window opens.

How the dated editions line up for this poll

The program has editions confirmed for 2024 and 2025, and both ballots are tied to November. The most recent ballot is the 2025 preseason poll, which now carries a Poll Closed label on the page. The listing points to a 2026 edition as the next one, so the November pattern is the one to plan around.

Two editions is enough to call the poll annual, and it is not described as a first run. The 2024 ballot is recognised by year and November timing, while the 2025 ballot offers the fuller detail, including the nominee list and closed percentages.

The 2025 ballot is the richest source for this program, because it lists the full group of boys nominees by name and school and shows the closed percentages next to them. Readers who want to understand how the nominee field is built should start there, then compare the 2024 edition, which is confirmed by year and by November timing only.

Exact opening and closing days do not appear in the program listing, so the window for each season is only as precise as its month. Readers should expect the live ballot to show the final dates when it opens.

How does a reader cast a choice in the StarNews poll?

Readers who return after the window closes can use the same Crowdsignal page to see the finished standings. The Poll Closed label marks the end of voting, and the percentages it keeps are the nearest thing to a final standing this program publishes.

A reader goes to the Crowdsignal ballot, reviews the boys listed as nominees, and selects one. The choice is a single pick from a public list, and each nominee is shown with the school they represent, so readers can match a player to a local team before deciding.

The listing gives no vote cap and no daily limit for the program. Anyone who wants to submit more than one choice should read the ballot's own instructions before doing so, because the closed results only show totals and do not explain repeat-vote rules.

Once the window ends, the ballot shows each nominee's share of the total. That closing tally is the public result StarNews reports, and it is the figure a reader can compare across the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

How does this poll compare with the other Wilmington and Charlotte programs?

North Carolina has several public polls, but this one is a preseason player of the year ballot for boys basketball. Most of the state's sibling programs are weekly series, and the Charlotte Observer runs separate athlete-of-the-week ballots for boys and girls.

The Charlotte Observer boys ballot matches this one in sport and gender, but it runs weekly in a different market. Greensboro and the Tatum and Atkinson scholar series also run on weekly cadences, so neither lines up with a single preseason vote.

The Fans' Choice 910Preps Boys Athlete of the Year is the other boys-focused program in the state list, and it names a yearly winner rather than a preseason one. Readers who follow several ballots should keep the timing and market of each program separate.

How can supporters get more attention for a nominee?

A nominee's supporters usually start with the school community, sharing the ballot link with teammates, families and local followers. On a public ballot, the most useful step is making sure more readers see the nominee list before the window closes.

The program listing does not set out a rule on outside help, so supporters should read the live instructions before they promote a choice. The guide to getting more votes online explains how public ballots tend to work in general terms.

Paid support is a different question and sits outside the ballot itself. The buying votes online page covers that route, and nothing about this program makes a paid result more likely.