Kentucky Mr. Basketball

Honor awarded to high school basketball players

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]

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

## Award winners

[edit]

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

Year  | Player  | High School  | College  | NBA 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
1957  | Billy Ray Lickert  | Lafayette | Kentucky | 1961 NBA draft: 5th round, 45th overall by the L.A. Lakers
1958 (tie)  | Ralph Richardson  | Russell County  | Eastern Kentucky |
1958 (tie)  | Harry Todd  | Earlington[6] | Western Kentucky |
1959  | Pat Doyle  | North Marshall[7] | Kentucky |
1960  | Jeff Mullins | Lafayette | Duke | 1964 NBA draft: 1st round, 5th overall by the St. Louis Hawks
1961  | Randy Embry  | Owensboro | Kentucky |
1962  | Mike Silliman | St. Xavier | Army | 1966 NBA draft: 8th round, 69th overall by the New York Knicks
1963  | Mike 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
1968  | Terry Davis  | Shelby County | Western Kentucky |
1969  | Ron King | Central | Florida State |
1970  | Robert Brooks  | Madison[9] | Eastern Kentucky |
1971  | Jimmy Dan Conner | Anderson County | Kentucky | 1975 NBA draft: 2nd round, 36th overall by the Phoenix Suns
1972  | Jerry 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
1975  | Dom 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
1978  | Doug Schloemer  | Holmes | Cincinnati |
1979  | Dirk Minniefield | Lafayette | Kentucky | 1983 NBA draft: 2nd round, 33rd overall by the Dallas Mavericks
1980  | Ervin Stepp  | Phelps | Eastern Kentucky
Alice Lloyd College |
1981  | Phil Cox  | Cawood[11] | Vanderbilt |
1982  | Todd May  | Virgie[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
1984  | Steve Miller  | Henry Clay | Western Kentucky |
1985  | Tony 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
1991  | Jermaine Brown  | Fairdale | Georgetown (KY) |
1992  | Tick Rogers  | Hart County  | Louisville |
1993  | Jason Osborne  | Male | Louisville |
1994  | Elton Scott  | Marion County | West Virginia |
1995  | Charles Thomas  | Harlan[13] | Eastern Kentucky |
1996  | Daymeon Fishback | Greenwood | Auburn |
1997  | Brandon Davenport  | Owensboro | Lindsey Wilson College |
1998  | J. R. VanHoose  | Paintsville | Marshall |
1999  | Rick Jones  | Scott County | Vanderbilt
Murray State |
2000  | Scott Hundley  | Scott County | Vanderbilt |
2001  | Josh Carrier  | Bowling Green  | Kentucky |
2002  | Brandon Stockton  | Glasgow | Kentucky |
2003  | Ross Neltner  | Highlands | LSU
Vanderbilt |
2004  | Chris Lofton | Mason County  | Tennessee |
2005  | Domonic Tilford  | Jeffersontown | South Alabama |
2006  | Walt Allen  | South 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
2009  | Jon Hood  | Madisonville North Hopkins  | Kentucky |
2010  | Elisha Justice  | Shelby Valley | Louisville
Pikeville |
2011  | Anthony Hickey | Christian County  | LSU
Oklahoma State |
2012  | Nathan Dieudonne  | Trinity | Boston University |
2013  | Dominique Hawkins  | Madison Central | Kentucky |
2014  | Quentin Snider | Ballard | Louisville |
2015  | Camron Justice  | Knott County Central | Vanderbilt
IUPUI
Western Kentucky |
2016  | Carson Williams  | Owen County  | Northern Kentucky
Western Kentucky |
2017  | Taveion Hollingsworth | Dunbar | Western Kentucky |
2018  | Trevon Faulkner  | Mercer County | Northern Kentucky |
2019  | Dontaie Allen  | Pendleton County  | Kentucky Western KY  |
2020  | Dayvion McKnight  | Martha Layne Collins | Western Kentucky |
2021  | Ben Johnson  | Lexington Catholic | Bellarmine
2022  | Turner 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

### Schools with multiple winners

[edit]

School  | Number of Awards  | Years

|
|

Male | 5  | 1955, 1973, 1976, 1983, 1993
Lafayette | 4  | 1954, 1957, 1960, 1979
Ballard | 3  | 1977, 1989, 2014
Owensboro | 3  | 1961, 1972, 1997
Seneca | 3  | 1963, 1964, 1985
Shelby Valley[1] | 2  | 1982, 2010
Mason County  | 2  | 2004, 2008
Bowling Green | 2  | 2001, 2022
Scott County | 2  | 1999, 2000
Paintsville | 2  | 1987, 1998
Shelby County | 2  | 1966, 1968

1.^ Reflects awards won by schools that have since been consolidated.

### Colleges with multiple winners

[edit]

College  | Number of Awards  | Years

|
|

Kentucky | 21  | 1954, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1966, 1971,
1974, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1987,
1988, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2013,
2019, 2023, 2024
Louisville | 10  | 1964, 1965, 1973, 1976, 1985, 1990,
1992, 1993, 2010, 2014
Western Kentucky | 9  | 1958, 1967, 1968, 1984, 2007, 2015,
2016, 2017, 2020
Vanderbilt | 5  | 1981, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2015
Eastern Kentucky | 5  | 1958, 1970, 1980, 1995, 2022
Northern Kentucky | 2  | 2016, 2018
LSU | 2  | 2003, 2011
Pikeville | 2  | 1982, 2010
Tennessee | 2  | 1989, 2004
Auburn | 2  | 1975, 1996
Kentucky Wesleyan | 2  | 1956, 1963

## See also

[edit]

* Kentucky Miss Basketball
* Mr. Football Award (Kentucky)

## References

[edit]

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 2009-04-10.
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. ^ a b 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.

* v
* t
* e

High school Mr. Basketball awards by state

* Alabama
* Arkansas
* California
* Colorado
* Florida
* Georgia
* Illinois
* Indiana
* Iowa
* Kansas
* Kentucky
* Louisiana
* Maine
* Michigan
* Minnesota
* Mississippi
* Missouri
* New Hampshire
* New York
* North Carolina
* North Dakota
* Ohio
* Oklahoma
* Pennsylvania
* South Carolina
* Tennessee
* Texas
* Utah
* Vermont
* Virginia
* Washington
* West Virginia
* Wisconsin

See also
Category
Mr. Basketball USA
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