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 award is presented annually by the Kentucky Lions Eye Foundation.[1]
Professional teams listed are teams known, or teams that drafted the player.
| Year | Player | High School | College | Professional |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Kelly Coleman | Wayland[2] | Kentucky Kentucky Wesleyan |
New York Knicks, Baltimore (Eastern Industrial League, 1960), Chicago Majors (American Basketball League, 1961) |
| 1957 | Billy Ray Lickert | Lafayette | Kentucky | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 1958 co-winners | Ralph Richardson / Harry Todd | Russell County / Earlington[3] | Eastern Kentucky Western Kentucky |
Richardson - unknown/Todd - Pittsburgh Rens (ABL), Heidelberg Celtics (Germany) |
| 1959 | Pat Doyle | North Marshall[4] | Kentucky | |
| 1960 | Jeff Mullins | Lafayette | Duke | St. Louis Hawks, San Francisco/Golden State Warriors |
| 1961 | Randy Embry | Owensboro | Kentucky | |
| 1962 | Mike Silliman | St. Xavier | Army | New York Knicks, 1968 United States Olympic Team |
| 1963 | Mike R. Redd | Seneca | Kentucky Wesleyan United States Marine Corps |
Boston Celtics |
| 1964 | Wes Unseld | Seneca | Louisville | Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets |
| 1965 | Butch Beard | Breckinridge County | Louisville | Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Seattle SuperSonics, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks |
| 1966 | Mike Casey | Shelby County | Kentucky | Chicago Bulls |
| 1967 | Jim McDaniels | Allen County[5] | Western Kentucky | Carolina Cougars, Seattle SuperSonics, Los Angeles Lakers, Kentucky Colonels, Buffalo Braves |
| 1968 | Terry Davis | Shelby County | Western Kentucky | |
| 1969 | Ron King | Central | Florida State | Golden State Warriors, Kentucky Colonels |
| 1970 | Robert Brooks | Madison[6] | Eastern Kentucky | |
| 1971 | Jimmy Dan Conner | Anderson County | Kentucky | Phoenix Suns, Virginia Squires, Kentucky Colonels |
| 1972 | Jerry Thruston | Owensboro | Kansas State Mercer |
Golden State Warriors |
| 1973 | Wesley Cox | Male | Louisville | Golden State Warriors |
| 1974 | Jack Givens | Bryan Station | Kentucky | Atlanta Hawks |
| 1975 | Dom Fucci | Tates Creek | Kentucky (baseball scholarship) | Chicago White Sox |
| 1976 | Darrell Griffith | Male | Louisville | Utah Jazz |
| 1977 | Jeff Lamp | Ballard[7] | Virginia | Portland Trail Blazers, Milwaukee Bucks, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, Hamby Rimini (Italian Serie A, 1986), Hitachi/Reyer Venezia (Italian Serie A2, 1989–90) |
| 1978 | Doug Schloemer | Holmes | Cincinnati | |
| 1979 | Dirk Minniefield | Lafayette | Kentucky | Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics |
| 1980 | Ervin Stepp | Phelps | Eastern Kentucky Alice Lloyd |
|
| 1981 | Phil Cox | Cawood[8] | Vanderbilt | |
| 1982 | Todd May | Virgie[9] | Kentucky Wake Forest Pikeville |
San Antonio Spurs |
| 1983 | Winston Bennett | Male | Kentucky | Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat |
| 1984 | Steve Miller | Henry Clay | Western Kentucky | |
| 1985 | Tony Kimbro | Seneca | Louisville | |
| 1986 | Rex Chapman | Apollo | Kentucky | Charlotte Hornets, Washington Bullets, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns |
| 1987 | John Pelphrey | Paintsville | Kentucky | |
| 1988 | Richie Farmer | Clay County | Kentucky | |
| 1989 | Allan Houston | Ballard[7] | Tennessee | Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, 2000 United States Olympic Team |
| 1990 | Dwayne Morton | Central | Louisville | Golden State Warriors, Hapoel Eliat (Ligat Ha'al (Israeli Super League), 1996), Florida Beachdogs (Continental Basketball Association, 1996), Newcastle (British Basketball League, 1997), Bayer Giants Leverkusen (German Basketball Bundesliga, 1998), London (British Basketball League, 1999), Hitachi Honson (JBL Super League, 2000), Hitachi Sunrockers (JBL Super League, 2001), Indiana Legends (American Basketball Association, 2002), CSKA Sofia (Bulgarian First A1 League, 2003), Los Mina (Dominican Republic District National League, 2003), JA Vichy Auvergne (Ligue Nationale de Basketball ProA, 2004), Anjo Basket Club Angers (Ligue Nationale de Basketball ProB, 2005), Constituyentes de San Cristobal (Dominican Republic LIDOBA, 2005), Levski Sofia (Bulgarian First A1 League, 2006), Balkan (Bulgarian First A1 League, 2007) |
| 1991 | Jermaine Brown | Fairdale | Tennessee Georgetown (KY) |
Milton Keynes (British Basketball League, 2002) |
| 1992 | Tick Rogers | Hart County | Louisville | Ironi Ramat-Gan (Ligat Ha'al (Israeli Super League), 2005), Maccabi Hadera (Israel National League, 2006), Hapoel Beer-Sheva (Israel National League, 2007) |
| 1993 | Jason Osborne | Male | Louisville | Oklahoma City Cavalry (Continental Basketball Association, 1996), Louisville Eagles (United Professional Basketball League, 2003), Club Sportivo Ben Hur (Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, 2005), Peñarol Mar del Plata (Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, 2007) |
| 1994 | Elton Scott | Marion County | West Virginia | Kentucky Coyotes (United Professional Basketball League, 2003) |
| 1995 | Charles Thomas | Harlan[10] | Minnesota/Eastern Kentucky | |
| 1996 | Daymeon Fishback | Greenwood | Auburn | Columbus Riverdragons (NBA Development League, 2001) |
| 1997 | Brandon Davenport | Owensboro | Morehead State/Gardner-Webb/Lindsey Wilson | |
| 1998 | J. R. VanHoose | Paintsville | Marshall | North Charleston Lowgators (NBA Development League, 2002), West Virginia Miners (United Professional Basketball League, 2002), West Virginia Wild (International Basketball League, 2006), West Virginia Wild (American Basketball Association, 2008), East Kentucky Energy (American Basketball Association, 2010-11) |
| 1999 | Rick Jones | Scott County | Vanderbilt Murray State |
Houston Blaze (Texas Professional Basketball League, 2005) |
| 2000 | Scott Hundley | Scott County | Vanderbilt | |
| 2001 | Josh Carrier | Bowling Green | Kentucky | |
| 2002 | Brandon Stockton | Glasgow | Kentucky | Louisville Gamblers/Estill Express (Kentucky Basketball Developmental League, 2007) |
| 2003 | Ross Neltner | Ft. Thomas Highlands | LSU Vanderbilt |
|
| 2004 | Chris Lofton | Mason County | Tennessee | Caja Laboral (Spain) |
| 2005 | Domonic Tilford | Jeffersontown | Cincinnati South Alabama |
|
| 2006 | Walt Allen | South Laurel | Presbyterian College Asbury |
|
| 2007 | Steffphon Pettigrew[11] | Elizabethtown | Western Kentucky | |
| 2008 | Darius Miller | Mason County | Kentucky | |
| 2009 | Jon Hood | Madisonville-North Hopkins | Kentucky | |
| 2010 | Elisha Justice | Shelby Valley | Louisville | |
| 2011 | Anthony Hickey | Christian County | LSU |
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