UCLA signees Jaylen Hands and Kris Wilkes have been announced as two of the 25 senior high school basketball players selected for the midseason team in contention for the 2017 Naismith High School Boys' Player of the Year Award.
 
The announcement came on Wednesday from the Atlanta Tipoff Club, which will announce a list of 10 semifinalists on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
 
Hands and Wilkes signed National Letters of Intent during the early signing period last November to attend UCLA as freshmen in 2017-18. Hands, a 6-foot-3 guard at Foothills Christian High School (El Cajon, Calif.), has been ranked as high as the No. 26 player in the nation by Rivals.com.
 
Wilkes, a 6-foot-8 guard from Indianapolis, Ind., has been ranked as high as No. 14, nationally, in his high school class by ESPN.com. A standout at North Central High School (Indianapolis), Wilkes was listed as one of six IndyStar Indiana Junior All-Stars in March 2016, as selected through votes by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association.
 
UCLA, Duke and Kentucky are the only college programs in the nation with at least two of its incoming players for 2017-18 to be named to the 25-person list for this season's Naismith High School Boys' Player of the Year Award.
 
In addition, all five of UCLA's signees for next season have been nominated for the 2017 McDonald's All-American Game. Hands and Wilkes, along with Li'Angelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley, were selected as player nominees on Monday.
 
The 40th McDonald's All-American Game will be played on March 29, 2017, at the United Center in Chicago. The game rosters will be cut to a total of 24 senior players for the McDonald's All-American Game.