Saniyah Hall named Cleveland Sports Female High School Athlete of the Year

Saniyah Hall continues to gain more recognition for her stellar play. The No. 1 girls basketball player from the Class of 2026 earned a McDonald’s All-American selection, putting her among the top 24 players in the nation. Now, she has won the Cleveland Sports Female High School Athlete of the Year award from the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission.

Hall received the accolade due mainly to her contributions to Team USA in the 2025 FIBA Under-19 Women’s Basketball World Cup. In addition to leading the squad to an undefeated 7-0 run to win the gold medal, the five-star combo guard was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. She was the third-best scorer, averaging 19.9 points per game in 23 minutes of play, while adding 6.4 rebounds and two assists per game.

Congratulations to Saniyah Hall for winning High School Athlete of the Year, presented by @UHhospitals Drusinsky Sports Medicine! This basketball star had an incredible senior season and will go on to play for the University of Southern California. Hall has starred for TEAM USA… pic.twitter.com/UHytc6CrpJ

— Greater Cleveland Sports Commission (@CLESports) February 6, 2026

Saniyah Hall received the nomination for this award last November at SPIRE Academy’s basketball gymnasium. Matt Sajna and Reiley Hass of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission broke the good news to her.

Hall said in a related video, “Definitely unexpected. I thought that it was just going to be a little walkthrough and sat down with all of my teammates, and I just got an award. I’m super excited for that.”

Meanwhile, her mother admitted to nearly spoiling the surprise when her daughter briefly saw Coach Michael Dooley’s message about the award. Luckily, she quickly swiped the message and pretended that it was nothing.

Dooley, who is also SPIRE Academy’s director for girls’ basketball, also said during the nomination, “It’s incredibly exciting for Saniyah to be honored with that. She’s an incredible person. We get to honor her today for signing day, and I always tell her that she’s the number one player in the country in her age group. She’s one of the best basketball players in the world.”

With Saniyah Hall leading the way, SPIRE remains undefeated through 15 games this season. They will face Western Reserve Academy on February 18.