This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
West Jordan • Stockton Malone Shorts generated national attention for his name. He wore No. 12 for Copper Hills and was named after two Hall of Fame Utah Jazz players.
But make no mistake: The Salt Lake Tribune named Shorts the 2016-17 boys' basketball Player of the Year because of his game — not his name.
"It's a huge honor. Ever since my freshman year, that's what my goal has been, to be one the best players in the state of Utah," Shorts said. "I've worked hard to accomplish that goal, so it means a lot."
Shorts was shocked by the publicity for his name, so too was his father, Rylan. Both of them recognized Stockton's talents on the court, and that's what they would have preferred the attention be about.
"We had no idea when we named him that it would turn into this. We just did it because we wanted to," Rylan said. "I get uncomfortable with all the name stuff. I don't really like it or care for it too much."
Shorts led Copper Hills to the Class 5A semifinals and an overall record of 21-5 and 11-1 in Region 3. He averaged 24.2 points per game — 46 percent of the Grizzlies' offensive production — while grabbing 6.3 rebounds, dishing out 2.2 assists and swiping 1.9 steals each game.
"He did everything for our team," Copper Hills coach Andrew Blanchard said. "Scoring, rebounding, defending the best offensive players. He could do it all. That's what makes him such a dynamic player in our state, is he was, at both ends of the floor, a dominate player."
Despite fending off double-teams and defenses specifically designed to stop one player, Shorts shot 55 percent from the field. More importantly, Shorts was an integral part in building Copper Hills — not known for its basketball success — into one of the premier basketball programs in the state during his four years on campus.
"Each summer you have to put more and more time to become better because everyone around you is doing the exact same thing," Shorts said. "Every summer I would [focus] on something I wanted to get better at. After my freshman year, I wanted to be a better shooter. Then I needed to work on my ball-handling, my pull-up jump shots and my finishing. I focused in on getting better at certain aspects of my game."
Shorts was involved in 72 wins in his career with the Grizzlies, including six playoff wins, and each year he improved dramatically. Blanchard knew Shorts would be good this season, but even he was surprised at how prolific Shorts became on the court.
"I think he worked so hard in the offseason to get in shape and to be able to play 32 minutes in a game. That really helped him with his ability to shoot and get to the rim by just being in better shape," Blanchard said. "He was a gamer. He was a guy that just came up big in clutch situations. We've seen that a little bit, but we really hadn't put him in that role until this year. He came up big in those moments."
Shorts hardly has been recruited at the next level, but he anticipates garnering more attention this summer when he has an opportunity to showcase his abilities. Similar to playing for Copper Hills, he was somewhat overshadowed and used in a different capacity in complementing his talented, older teammates. The same thing has happened on his competitive AAU basketball team, but he expects that to change.
"I'm going to play summer ball and hopefully get a better DI offer. We'll see what happens," Shorts said. "Because of how good my travel team was in the summer, it was hard to get lots of looks because of how many good guys we had. I think when I have a chance, I showed I can create and score."
Twitter: @trevorphibbs —
About Stockton Shorts
School • Copper Hills
Class • Senior
Position • Guard
Height • 6 foot 4
Weight • 205 pounds
Past winners
The Tribune began naming one Player of the Year in 2014. Here are the previous winners:
2016 • Frank Jackson, Lone Peak
2015 • Jesse Wade, Davis
2014 • TJ Haws, Lone Peak