State Grid-Hoop Player of Year Caden Pinnick throws pass and takes shot during games from 2023-24 school year. Photos: Hudl.com & Frank Salerno / Gold Country Media.
To continue our end-of-school year content of honoring the best multi-sport and overall athletes of the year (boys and girls), we take a deep look at the state’s 15 best football-basketball combo athletes on our 38th annual Cal-Hi Sports Grid-Hoop All-State team. Leading the 15-man group is player of the year Caden Pinnick from Del Oro of Loomis. We have even many more listed as Grid-Hoop athletes of distinction in a separate post and some of these players are sure to be on our upcoming 2023-24 boys state athlete of the year lists.
FOR EXPANDED GOLD CLUB LIST OF NEARLY 60 MORE OF THE STATE’S TOP GRID-HOOP ATHLETES, CLICK HERE.
Note: We hope you enjoy this free post on Cal-Hi Sports. We will be posting plenty more content throughout the summer for football and basketball, however, that will be exclusive to Cal-Hi Sports and will be for Gold Club members only, including all-area, all-section, all-county preseason football teams. You can sign up for as low as $3.99 for one month. If you’re not a member, the rates are rising on August 15 so sign up now before that happens. To join our team CLICK HERE.
To go straight to our Gold Club archive of all previous 15-member Grid-Hoop All-State Teams, CLICK HERE.
To view our all-time Grid-Hoop State Player of the Year list going back to 1979-80, CLICK HERE.
The 2023-24 school year marked a new era and heightened expectations for the state’s top football and basketball players, while at the same time putting the COVID-19 pandemic in the rear view mirror. The heightened expectations come from the realization that Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) reform is making college recruiting more serious business than exciting times.
For many recruits, there is money to be made in choosing and excelling at the right college and with the House vs. NCAA settlement looming, schools directly paying college athletes will begin happening by 2025-26. That means choosing a college is serious business and deciding to play a high school sport that won’t be in the play for pay at the next level is a much more serious and critical decision. Excelling in college, hitting the transfer portal, and portaling up, is a potentially lucrative move for college athletes. If playing a secondary sport hinders that in any way, there is a great chance elite athletes won’t do it anymore.
For over two decades, many top football recruits have enrolled early in college and that has more meaning now. Players are even transferring schools before even playing a game, as recruits no longer feel beholden to a particular program. If a college coach can chase a more lucrative contract, players are going to do what’s best for them individually as well.
That brings us to choosing our 38th annual Cal-Hi Sports Grid-Hoop All-State Team for the 2023-24 school year. Canvassing the state for the top football-basketball combo athletes revealed an upward trend of good multi-sport athletes for the second consecutive year. We did not name a team in 2020-21 because of the pandemic, our 2021-22 team was admittedly light, but the 2023-23 team saw more depth and this year’s Grid-Hoopers continue the upward trend despite losing a handful to early college enrollment.
We love the fact that CIF Central Section and CIF Sac Joaquin Section athletes continue to lead the way on our annual 15-player team. There are many small school studs from the Valley, while the San Joaquin Valley had its fair share of standouts from traditionally large schools. With that in mind, it only makes sense when we narrowed down our player of the year choice, a couple of large school standouts from the Sacramento circulation area were strongly considered. In the end, we went with the player that dominated against the best large school competition in both sports and who would be the best bet to contribute in both sports at the next level.
That athlete is Caden Pinnick, and today the Del Oro of Loomis quarterback-guard has been selected as the 2023-24 Grid-Hoop State Player of the Year . Pinnick was on the 15-man squad last school year and the returning first teamer had an even more dominant senior campaign in both sports. Kaleb Edwards (Oak Ridge, El Dorado Hills) was also a candidate, as were Logan Kilbert (Sierra, Tollhouse) and Charles Williams (Marin Catholic, Kentfield).
Pinnick, who also played baseball during his years at Del Oro, will play football next at UC Davis. Photo: X.com.
Williams was the only overall all-state first team selection in football who excelled at basketball, but he attended what we consider a medium school and didn’t quite have the overall hardwood impact that Pinnick did. Kilbert was a sensational basketball player who joined Pinnick as a Cal-Hi Sports Hot 100 recruit in hoops, but he played 8-man football and didn’t face the daily competition Pinnick did all fall and winter.
As a quarterback, Pinnick was named Sierra Foothill League (SFL) Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight season, completing 205 of 296 passes (70 percent) for 2,946 yards, to go along with 30 touchdown passes against only six interceptions. Pinnick was also a threat with his feet, adding 500 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on the ground while accumulating 3,435 all-purpose yards for a team that advanced to the Sac-Joaquin Section D1 semifinals.
Caden’s football honors were too hard to ignore in light of how good he played hoops, as Pinnick earned first team All-Metro honors by the Sacramento Bee. He was also named Large Schools Player of the Year by the region’s newspaper and was a third team All-State choice as a multi-purpose threat. The Bee’s Joe Davidson called Pinnick the “most exciting” quarterback at Del Oro since Randy Fasani in the mid 1990s. Trust us when we tell you, as an underclassman, Fasani had NFL written all over him before injury curtailed that development. That’s how impressive Pinnick was on the gridiron in 2023.
Pinnick is going to play football at UC-Davis this fall and it’s ironic he’s also going to play baseball. He’s that good an athlete because at times this season he was one of NorCal’s best guards, football or not. Pinnick was the Sierra Foothill League Co-MVP in hoops, averaging 21.4 ppg for a 26-9 club. More than his numbers, it’s the way he impacted winning for a competitive team that made him stand out and earn All-Metro honors in a second sport, scoring over 1,000 points for his career and tying a school record with a 41-point outing.
Pinnick led the Golden Eagles to the Sac-Joaquin Section D2 title game, where they fell to Vanden of Travis AFB despite Pinnick’s 19 points. Along the way, Pinnick had 17 points in the semifinal victory over Jesuit of Carmichael to put Del Oro in the title game for the first time since 2008-09. Del Oro rebounded to win in the NorCal D2 playoffs and advanced to the regional semifinals by defeating Menlo-Atherton in the quarterfinals with its Grid-Hoop star netting 34 points. Pinnick was then chosen first team all-state D2 in hoops alongside a group of players who will play D1 college basketball and didn’t play a second sport.
Pinnick is the first Cal-Hi Sports Grid-Hoop State Player of the Year choice from the Sac Joaquin Section since Justice Shelton-Mosley of Sacramento Capital Christian and Alex Van Dyke of Elk Grove Cosumnes Oaks earned top honors in back to back school years in 2014-15 and 2013-14. (To view our all-time Grid-Hoop State POY list, CLICK HERE.)
This year’s 15-man team doesn’t include two selections from last year (see Pinnick blurb), and of course, there are a few athletes who didn’t play football in 2023, such as Justin Stroud (Central Valley Christian, Visalia) and Rowen Wimmer (Scripps Ranch, San Diego). Of course, there are some who enrolled in college early such as Treyvon Tolmaire (Mission Viejo), but were glad some college recruits such as Pinnick were able to compete in winter and spring sports. We’re proud the following 15 athletes headline the 2023-24 Grid-Hoop All-State team.
All of these players love hoops, but the reality is the majority of them will make an impact at the next level in football. Down the line, a few from this year’s 15-man team and the other athletes of distinction will eventually play in the NFL and we might even see someone break into MLB. Could Pinnick be the one?
Below is the complete Cal-Hi Sports Grid-Hoop All-State Team for the 2023-24 school year:
FIRST TEAM
Isaiah Dillon (Pacifica, Oxnard) 5-11 Jr. WR/G
Already committed to Fresno State for football, Dillon is one of those rare athletes who can make a smooth transition from the gridiron to the hardwood without needing games to get acclimated. Dillon had a 30-point game right away after helping the Tritons to the No. 1 ranking by Cal-Hi Sports among Medium Schools with a 10-0 regular season mark until an upset loss in the CIFSS D3 playoffs. Dillon went on to average 21.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 4.0 apg and 2.7 steals while earning All-County honors from the Ventura County Star. He was even better last fall, as he tied a school record with 18 touchdown receptions and finished with 52 catches for 1,094 yards. He was named first team All-County, Channel League End of the Year and was third team all-state among juniors.
Logan Kilbert from Sierra of Tollhouse has already had his number retired at his school, mostly for basketball but he also was a standout in football. Photo: YourCentralValley.com.
Kaleb Edwards
(Oak Ridge, El Dorado Hills) 6-6 Jr. TE/DL/F
Last year we mentioned this sophomore could be big-time, but he actually exceeded our expectations and pushed himself into the POY convo. He was All-Metro by the Sacramento Bee in both sports and was so impressive in the football games we saw we had to put a tight end on first team all-state underclass. Edwards finished the season with 44 receptions for 828 yards and seven touchdowns, while also recording 6.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss and one interception for a score. For the second straight year, he was also the leading scorer (13.0 ppg) and leading rebounder (9.2 rpg) for a team that qualified for the competitive San Joaquin Section D1 playoffs. For his efforts, Edwards was named All-Metro third team by the Bee. There’s a good chance he won’t play hoops next season because he’s already committed to Alabama and may want to concentrate on his gridiron future after next football season.
Logan Kilbert (Sierra, Tollhouse) 6-4 Sr. WR/G
He moves up from the second team after leading the Chieftains to the 2023 NorCal D5 title in hoops as a junior. Kilbert was a 8-man terror at wideout, catching 61 passes for 843 yards and 10 TDs, while adding 22 conversion points. He also does baseball and track, but hoops is where he excels the most and Kilbert will join the program at Weber State next year as a preferred walk-on. He’s already a small town legend and has his No. 34 jersey retired after becoming the CIF Central Section’s all-time leading scorer. In fact, he shattered the old mark set by Tre’Von Willis from Washington of Easton (2,843 points) by scoring 3,334 points, the No. 4 mark on the all-time state list. The 3-time Northwest Sequoia League MVP had a 71-point game and averaged 29.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 4.0 apg and 2.5 spg for a section D3 runner-up club.
Caden Pinnick (Del Oro, Loomis) 6-0 Sr. QB/G
This year’s Grid-Hoop POY is the only repeat first team selection. Among third teamers from last season that returned to school, we already knew Peyton Waters (Birmingham, Van Nuys) was not going to play basketball because the 2023 L.A. City Section Player of the Year in football enrolled in college in January. It was surprising for us to see Marshel Sanders not play basketball for state-ranked Clovis West, but many new candidates emerged, including some large school standouts from Pinnick’s region and more small school dual-sport guys from the Central Section. Pinnick is the only Grid-Hoop Top 5 selection to appear on the final Hot 100 for boys basketball players from the Class of 2024 who played 11-man football. There are not many Hot 100 basketball players who dabble with football anymore, but Pinnick was good enough to garner some attention during NCAA live period basketball events.
Charles Williams (Marin Catholic, Kentfield) 6-2 Sr. RB/DB/G
Being elevated to first team overall all-state on the gridiron also elevates Williams to first team from the third team for Grid-Hoop. He wasn’t that far off from serious POY contention, after jumping right on to the hardwood following Marin Catholic’s victory in the CIF D3-A championship football game over Mayfair of Lakewood. Williams even had a few 30-point games to push the Wildcats to the post-season. Make no mistake, however, it’s football where Williams will be remembered, as he was named Bay Area Player of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle after starring on both sides of the ball for the state champs with 1,361 yards rushing and 23 touchdowns. He also caught 19 passes for 418 yards and two more TDs and on defense came up with 11 interceptions, while also offering terrific run support. After winning two state football titles and three consecutive North Section Section titles, Williams is headed to Wyoming where he’ll likely concentrate on defense.
SECOND TEAM
Jayden Barnes (Garfield, Los Angeles) 6-1 Sr. DB/WR/G
After leading the Bulldogs to their first-ever L.A. City Section title in hoops as a junior (D3), Barnes had a fantastic senior campaign in both sports. He helped the Bulldogs advance to the city section open football final (where it fell to power Birmingham) by catching 39 passes for 853 yards with 14 touchdown receptions, while adding 40 solo tackles as a defensive back. Barnes, a first team All-City open choice at wideout, has some next-level ability in hoops and was an all-city D2 choice and also made the all-state D5 team.
Trevor Ladd was called the best tight end in the San Diego Section in the fall and helped basketball team get to the CIF SoCal regional playoffs in the winter. Photo: @sdfootball / X.com.
Jeremiah Bernard
(Modesto Christian) 6-1 Sr. WR/G
He was a first team All-State Small Schools choice for the second consecutive season after hauling in 79 catches for 1,479 yards and a whopping 20 TDs, despite being the focal point of defenses on a 2-8 team. He signed with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo after finishing his career with 188 catches for 3,012 yards and 34 TDs. In hoops, Bernard was arguably the third or fourth best player on a team that qualified for the NorCal open playoffs for a record ninth time. Bernard averaged 7.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.3 apg and 1.8 spg for a NorCal power that won a game in the regional playoffs after winning its third consecutive San Joaquin Section D1 title.
D.J. Horton (Weed) Sr. 6-3 Sr. QB/DB/F
Easily the top choice from the CIF Northern Section, Horton is a terrific all-around athlete who excels on both sides of the ball and on both ends of the court. He was all-state in both sports and the section player of the year in basketball after averaging 15.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 6.8 apg, 2.7 spg and 1.1 bpg. A all-state D4 pick in hoops, he was a second team all-state Small Schools selection at defensive back and a second team all-section choice at quarterback. He rushed for over 1,600 yards and nine TDs, handled kick and punt returns, while intercepting three passes, causing two fumbles and recovering two as well. Horton also punts and plays baseball, too.
Charlie Hutchinson (Mission Bay, San Diego) 6-7 Sr. QB/F
It’s not often you see a group of basketball starters go out for football for the first time and make the impact Hutchinson and five of his teammates did (see athletes of distinction below). The group didn’t just do it to be around the fellas or as some kind of gimmick; they made a tremendous impact on a team that earned the top seed in the CIF San Diego Section D3 playoffs. Hutchinson was arguably the most impactful, accounting for over 2,000 yards of offense as a mobile QB and 31 touchdowns for a section semifinalist. There is no doubt he’s the most highly-honored hoops player of the group and that is why he gets elevated to the second team. Hutchinson earned all-San Diego Section honors for the second consecutive season after leading the Bucs to the section D1 crown with 19 points and 10 rebounds in the title game win over Scripps Ranch. The first year signal caller hit right near his season averages in the title game and was named first team all-state D2. He’ll play hoops at Pomona-Pitzer.
Trevor Ladd (La Costa Canyon, Carlsbad) 6-3 Sr. TE/F
Good in the classroom, he’s going to a college where academics matter and where he’ll get the big-time college atmosphere (Virginia). Trevor was All-San Diego Section in football after hauling in 35 catches for 605 yards and eight touchdowns for a 5-6 club. It’s Ladd’s hoops accomplishments that land him on this team, as he was named All-Coastal League for the second consecutive season. Ladd averaged a double-double as the Mavericks’ lone returning starter and led them to the SoCal D2 playoffs. For his efforts, the future college tight end was named second team all-state D2.
THIRD TEAM
Kavon Collins (Monterey) 6-2 Jr. WR/KR/G
He really turned heads at the CIF basketball state championships at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento with his speed, explosiveness and ability to get in the key. He scored 18 first half points and finished with 22 to lead the Dores to a 74-66 win over Chatsworth to win a first ever state hoops title in D4. For the season, Collins averaged over 14 ppg while finishing second in assists and guarding the opposition’s toughest guard. He’s even better on the gridiron and that’s where he’ll play in college as a wideout. He was the Monterey Herald’s co-Offensive Player of the Year after catching 69 passes for 1,023 yards and 16 touchdowns. The explosive Collins added another touchdown on a game-winning, 91-yard kickoff return in a game in which he scored five touchdowns vs. Aptos.
Jackson Lloyd of Carmel has been named the Monterey County Athlete of the Year. He still has his senior football season to play for the Padres. Photo: thesandpiper.org.
C.J. Jones (Sunnyside, Fresno) 6-3 Jr.. WR/F
One of the best overall athletes in the CIF Central Section, C.J. has seven D1 offers and should head off to college as one of the state’s top all-time career receiving leaders. Junior teammates Malachi Barnes and Tanner Wilson were also considered for third team, but Jones is the biggest, strongest and more dynamic athlete who is more highly regarded on the gridiron (according to number of offers). Jones was named third team all-state underclass as a wideout after helping Sunnyside to the North Yosemite League title with 71 receptions for 1,060 yards and 15 TDs. In hoops, Jones averaged 14.6 ppg for a 24-6 club that came in second in the NYL and advanced to the section semis.
Jackson Lloyd (Carmel) 6-7 Jr. OL/C
Small school Carmel had several grid-hoopers considered for these state honors, but Jackson had to be the one highest among them and also solidly in the top 15. He wasn’t a player with offensive stats in football, but he helped all of the others by being one of the top junior offensive linemen in California. How good? Lloyd had numerous D1 offers from major colleges everywhere and he has committed to Alabama. The 300-pounder then went out to the basketball court and displayed that footwork and strength to average 15.0 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks for a team that finished 26-4. The Monterey County Herald recently named Jackson its Male Athlete of the Year (ahead of any seniors).
Jared Martin (Central, El Centro) 6-3 Jr. DE/LB/F
He missed some time on the gridiron due to injury last season, but still came up with 33 tackles, seven sacks and four pass deflections. That was still good enough to earn third team all-state underclass and Martin was even better in hoops. He averaged 20.3 ppg and 5.0 rpg and has arguably been the best player in the Imperial Valley League the past two years along with Imperial’s David Scariano. Jared has committed to TCU for football.
Damian Rickett (Bella Vista, Fair Oaks) 6-4 Sr. WR/DB/F
This terrific athlete in both sports and on both sides of the ball is not too far behind POY Caden Pinnick and the San Joaquin Section’s other top Grid-Hoopers. He earned Sac Bee All-Metro honors at tight end, with 40 receptions for 598 yards and five TDs. Rickett was just as good on the defensive side of the ball, recording 64 tackles and two interceptions for a 4-7 grid team. He then improved his production enough in hoops to earn All-Metro honors on the hardwood, averaging 19.4 ppg, 9.4 rpg, and 1.3 spg for a team that would have been in dire straits without him. He was the team MVP in both sports.
Ronnie Flores is the managing editor of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at ronlocc1977@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores
