Kentucky Mr. Basketball

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The Kentucky Mr. Basketball honor recognizes the top high school senior basketball player in the state of Kentucky. The first Kentucky Mr. Basketball was "King" Kelly Coleman of Wayland High School in 1956. The winner of the Mr. Basketball award wears #1 on his jersey in the summer all-star series against the Indiana High School All-Stars. 1940 was the first year for the Kentucky/Indiana High School All-Star Series, that year, the Indiana All-Stars defeated the Kentucky All-Stars 31–29. The Kentucky Mr. Basketball award is the third oldest such award in the nation; only Indiana Mr. Basketball and California Mr. Basketball, which were first awarded in 1939 and 1950, respectively, predate it. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

The award is presented annually by the Kentucky Lions Eye Foundation. [4]

Award winners

NBA teams listed are teams known, or teams that drafted the player.

YearPlayerHigh SchoolCollegeNBA Draft
1954 Vernon Hatton Lafayette Kentucky 1958 NBA draft: 2nd round, 10th overall by the Cincinnati Royals
1955 Kenny Kuhn Male
1956 Kelly Coleman Wayland [5] Kentucky Wesleyan 1960 NBA draft: 2nd round, 11th overall by the New York Knicks
1957Billy Ray Lickert Lafayette Kentucky 1961 NBA draft: 5th round, 45th overall by the L.A. Lakers
1958 (tie)Ralph RichardsonRussell County Eastern Kentucky
1958 (tie)Harry ToddEarlington [6] Western Kentucky
1959Pat DoyleNorth Marshall [7] Kentucky
1960 Jeff Mullins Lafayette Duke 1964 NBA draft: 1st round, 5th overall by the St. Louis Hawks
1961Randy Embry Owensboro Kentucky
1962 Mike Silliman St. Xavier Army 1966 NBA draft: 8th round, 69th overall by the New York Knicks
1963Mike R. Redd Seneca Kentucky Wesleyan
1964 Wes Unseld Seneca Louisville 1968 NBA draft: 1st round, 2nd overall by the Baltimore Bullets
1965 Butch Beard Breckinridge County Louisville 1969 NBA draft: 1st round, 10th overall by the Atlanta Hawks
1966 Mike Casey Shelby County Kentucky
1967 Jim McDaniels Allen County [8] Western Kentucky 1971 NBA draft: 2nd round, 23rd overall by the Seattle SuperSonics
1968Terry Davis Shelby County Western Kentucky
1969 Ron King Central Florida State
1970Robert Brooks Madison [9] Eastern Kentucky
1971 Jimmy Dan Conner Anderson County Kentucky 1975 NBA draft: 2nd round, 36th overall by the Phoenix Suns
1972Jerry Thruston Owensboro Mercer
1973 Wesley Cox Male Louisville 1977 NBA draft: 1st round, 18th overall by the Golden State Warriors
1974 Jack Givens Bryan Station Kentucky 1978 NBA draft: 1st round, 16th overall by the Atlanta Hawks
1975Dom Fucci Tates Creek Auburn
1976 Darrell Griffith Male Louisville 1980 NBA draft: 1st round, 2nd overall by the Utah Jazz
1977 Jeff Lamp Ballard [10] Virginia 1981 NBA draft: 1st round, 15th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers
1978Doug Schloemer Holmes Cincinnati
1979 Dirk Minniefield Lafayette Kentucky 1983 NBA draft: 2nd round, 33rd overall by the Dallas Mavericks
1980Ervin Stepp Phelps Eastern Kentucky
Alice Lloyd College
1981Phil CoxCawood [11] Vanderbilt
1982Todd MayVirgie [12] Kentucky
Pikeville 		1987 NBA draft: 4th round, 73rd overall by the San Antonio Spurs
1983 Winston Bennett Male Kentucky 1988 NBA draft: 3rd round, 64th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers
1984Steve Miller Henry Clay Western Kentucky
1985Tony Kimbro Seneca Louisville
1986 Rex Chapman Apollo Kentucky 1988 NBA draft: 1st round, 8th overall by the Charlotte Hornets
1987 John Pelphrey Paintsville Kentucky
1988 Richie Farmer Clay County Kentucky
1989 Allan Houston Ballard [10] Tennessee 1993 NBA draft: 1st round, 11th overall by the Detroit Pistons
1990 Dwayne Morton Louisville Central Louisville 1994 NBA draft: 2nd round, 45th overall by the Golden State Warriors
1991Jermaine Brown Fairdale Georgetown (KY)
1992Tick RogersHart County Louisville
1993Jason Osborne Male Louisville
1994Elton Scott Marion County West Virginia
1995Charles ThomasHarlan [13] Eastern Kentucky
1996 Daymeon Fishback Greenwood Auburn
1997Brandon Davenport Owensboro Lindsey Wilson College
1998J. R. VanHoose Paintsville Marshall
1999Rick Jones Scott County Vanderbilt
Murray State
2000Scott Hundley Scott County Vanderbilt
2001Josh CarrierBowling Green Kentucky
2002Brandon Stockton Glasgow Kentucky
2003Ross Neltner Highlands LSU
Vanderbilt
2004 Chris Lofton Mason County Tennessee
2005Domonic Tilford Jeffersontown South Alabama
2006Walt AllenSouth Laurel Presbyterian
2007 Steffphon Pettigrew Elizabethtown Western Kentucky
2008 Darius Miller Mason County Kentucky 2012 NBA draft: 2nd round, 46th overall by the New Orleans Hornets
2009Jon HoodMadisonville North Hopkins Kentucky
2010Elisha Justice Shelby Valley Louisville
Pikeville
2011 Anthony Hickey Christian County LSU
Oklahoma State
2012Nathan Dieudonne Trinity Boston University
2013Dominique Hawkins Madison Central Kentucky
2014 Quentin Snider Ballard Louisville
2015Camron Justice Knott County Central Vanderbilt
IUPUI
Western Kentucky
2016Carson WilliamsOwen County Northern Kentucky
Western Kentucky
2017 Taveion Hollingsworth Dunbar Western Kentucky
2018Trevon Faulkner Mercer County Northern Kentucky
2019Dontaie AllenPendleton County Kentucky Western KY
2020Dayvion McKnight Martha Layne Collins Western Kentucky
2021Ben Johnson Lexington Catholic Bellarmine
2022Turner Buttry [14] Bowling Green Eastern Kentucky
2023 Reed Sheppard [15] North Laurel Kentucky 2024 NBA draft: 1st round, 3rd overall by the Houston Rockets
2024 Travis Perry Lyon County Kentucky
2025Malachi Moreno [16] Great Crossing Kentucky

Schools with multiple winners

SchoolNumber of AwardsYears
Male 51955, 1973, 1976, 1983, 1993
Lafayette 41954, 1957, 1960, 1979
Ballard 31977, 1989, 2014
Owensboro 31961, 1972, 1997
Seneca 31963, 1964, 1985
Shelby Valley 21982, 2010
Mason County22004, 2008
Bowling Green 22001, 2022
Scott County 21999, 2000
Paintsville 21987, 1998
Shelby County 21966, 1968
1. ^ Reflects awards won by schools that have since been consolidated.

Colleges with multiple winners

CollegeNumber of AwardsYears
Kentucky 221954, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1966, 1971,
1974, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1987,
1988, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2013,
2019, 2023, 2024, 2025
Louisville 101964, 1965, 1973, 1976, 1985, 1990,
1992, 1993, 2010, 2014
Western Kentucky 91958, 1967, 1968, 1984, 2007, 2015,
2016, 2017, 2020
Vanderbilt 51981, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2015
Eastern Kentucky 51958, 1970, 1980, 1995, 2022
Northern Kentucky 22016, 2018
LSU 22003, 2011
Pikeville 21982, 2010
Tennessee 21989, 2004
Auburn 21975, 1996
Kentucky Wesleyan 21956, 1963

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mr. Basketball
  2. ↑ California Mr. Basketball
  3. ↑ Indiana Mr. Basketball
  4. ↑ "Hood Named Mr. Basketball - KENTUCKY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE". www.ukathletics.com. Archived from the original on April 10, 2009.
  5. ↑ School now defunct; consolidated into today's Allen Central High School.
  6. ↑ Consolidated into South Hopkins and West Hopkins High Schools, which in turn were consolidated into today's Hopkins County Central High School.
  7. ↑ Consolidated into Marshall County High School in 1974.
  8. ↑ Consolidated into today's Allen County Scottsville High School.
  9. ↑ This school, located in Richmond, closed in 1989; its former attendance zone is now served by Madison Central High School.
  10. 1 2 This is the school in Louisville—not to be confused with Ballard Memorial High School, which serves Ballard County in the far-west Purchase.
  11. ↑ This school was closed in 2008 and consolidated into Harlan County High School.
  12. ↑ Consolidated into today's Shelby Valley High School.
  13. ↑ Although this school, like Cawood High, is in Harlan County, it did not close in 2008. It is operated by the Harlan city school district, while Cawood was operated by the county's district.
  14. ↑ Frakes, Jason (March 21, 2022). "Check out the winners of the 2022 Kentucky Mr. and Miss Basketball awards" . Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Reed Sheppard named Mr. Basketball; Haven Ford named Miss Basketball". Lexington Herald Leader . March 19, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  16. ↑ Wilson, Peter (March 17, 2025). "Malachi Moreno named Kentucky Mr. Basketball". News-Graphic. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
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