BILLINGS — The Midland Roundtable Athlete of the Year finalists are selected mostly on their achievement in sports, and don’t get it wrong, Lucas Gibb has had plenty in his four years at Billings West. But that’s not what he’ll be known for.
Gibb may be the smartest finalist in the history of the award. He has a GPA over 4.6, a 35 ACT score, and is the only male valedictorian for the Bears this year.
Sure, he was also the Class AA defensive MVP on West’s state championship football team and could have continued his career at a number of places, but Gibb instead will go to Duke to study mechanical and aerospace engineering.
What clinched it? Maybe who he ran into on the visit.
“I actually went to Duke in the summer for a STEM camp, and as I was walking to the cafeteria I saw Zion (Williamson),” Gibb said. “The campus is pretty small, so you see people like that on a regular night. So I gave him a heads up and he gave one back to me. The campus and the atmosphere there is just really tight knit.”
Gibb will get to put the pads on a couple more times this summer, as he’ll play in the Knights of Columbus Badlands Bowl and the Montana East-West Shrine Game before heading east to college.
The Midland Roundtable will announce one male and one female winner from Billings during its Athlete of the Year banquet on Wednesday, May 15 at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center.
