ESPN RISE

In its third decade of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, Gatorade joined with RISE Magazine to name senior forward CHRIS AGORSOR of MCDONOUGH HIGH in Owings Mills as its 2007-08 Maryland Boys' Soccer Player of the Year.

The 5-foot-9, 145-pound senior forward scored 24 goals and added eight assists this past fall, leading the Eagles (19-1-4) to the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference Championship. The National Player of the Year as named by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, Agorsor concluded his career with 50 goals and 19 assists. He is a member of the player pool for the United States Soccer Federation Under-18 and Under-20 National teams.

Agorsor has maintained a B average in the classroom. A member of McDonogh's Gospel Choir and a volunteer assistant to the school's athletic trainer, he donates his time mentoring younger players in his soccer club, the Casa Mia Bays in Baltimore. He also helps organize and operate training sessions at Clarence "Du" Burns Arena, a nearby indoor/outdoor sports complex.

"Chris is blazing fast, and he's got skills to go along with it," said Dave Greene, head coach of rival Walt Whitman High. "You've got to put two or three guys on him to stop him. And you can't stop him."

Agorsor has verbally committed to a soccer scholarship at the University of Virginia this fall, but he is actively considering multiple elite professional league offers.