Damaryon Fishburn has overcome COVID-19, a partially torn ACL, and an ankle injury to become the best Division 4 high school basketball player in Michigan.

“I gained weight and got out of shape,” Fishburn said about contracting COVID after his sophomore season. “It took some time to come back. It was tough.” Since he did, he’s been better than ever. This season, Fishburn led Taylor Trillium Academy to a 21-4 record plus league, district and regional championships.

The 6-foot-3 senior guard averaged 23 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 steals a game on a team that was ranked as high as No. 1. “He’s a humble young man,” said Terrell George, who has been Fishburn’s coach for four years and has known him since he was in the second grade. “On the court, he is such a leader. He picks up the other kids and takes them to practice. He’s just a great kid.” Fishburn is named the 2022-23 Division 4 player of the year by a statewide panel of sports writers.

He is joined on the All-State squad by Brandon Summer from Adrian Lenawee Christian; Dylan Barnowski from Lake Leelanau St. Mary; Trenton Boike from Genesee Christian; Kane Nebel from Munising; Levi Frahm from Jefferson; Asher Garrison from Watersmeet; Trenton Taratuta from Hillman and the only sophomore on the team, Bradley Richards from Fruitport Calvery Christian. Fishburn has played for four seasons at Trillium. His freshman and sophomore years, he played behind his brother, Elijuan. “The last two years I have had the ball in my hands a lot more,” he said. “I’ve had a bigger role on the team.” He averaged about 19 points a game his junior year but was even better this year by making his teammates better. “He was on another level this year,” George said. “I could see his growth in practice. He just took off this year.” In a win over Detroit Osborn, Fishburn had 36 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and four steals and made 7 of 9 3-pointers. In the regional final against Detroit Public Safety Academy, Fishburn made a half-court shot to close the third quarter to put Trillium up by eight points.

“He took over a lot of games like that this year,” George said. Fishburn said the regional championship was his best game. “I had games where I scored more points, but that game I was kind of the focus, just trying to do whatever my team needed me to.” Fishburn is still deciding his basketball future. He’s a 4.0 student and figures on going to a junior college to fine-tune his game before transferring to a larger school. “I just want to find a college that can help me get better,” he said. Ty McGregor from Mio AuSable is the Coach of the Year. McGregor was a two-time all-state player at Mio, leading them to a state title in 1988. This season he led the school to its first league title in 10 years and a 19-2 season record. Two years ago, Mio didn’t field a basketball team when most of the players opted for travel basketball while waiting for the MHSAA to decide on whether it would have a season due to COVID-19.