Kentucky Mr. Basketball

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

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

Year Player High School College College Notes NBA Draft
1954 Vernon Hatton Lafayette Kentucky
1955 Kenny Kuhn Louisville Male High School MLB Player for 3 seasons for Cleveland Indians
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 Ralph Richardson
Harry Todd
Russell County
Earlington[6]
Eastern Kentucky
Western Kentucky
1959 Pat Doyle North Marshall[7] Kentucky
1960 Jeff Mullins Lafayette Duke 1964 ACC Player of the Year
1964 All-American
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 1967-1968 All-American 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 1970-1971 Ohio Valley Player of the Year
1971 All-American
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 National Champion
1978 M.O.P.
1978 NBA Draft: 1st round, 16th overall by the Atlanta Hawks
1975 Dom Fucci Tates Creek Auburn Chicago White Sox (MLB)
1976 Darrell Griffith Male Louisville 1980 National Champion
1980 M.O.P.
1980 Metro Conference Player of the Year
1980 All-American
1980 NBA Draft: 1st round, 2nd overall by the Utah Jazz
1977 Jeff Lamp Ballard[10] Virginia 1981 All-American 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 Alice Lloyd
1981 Phil Cox Cawood[11] Vanderbilt
1982 Todd May Virgie[12] Kentucky, Pikeville NBA Draft 4th round 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 National Champion
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 1992 All-American 1993 NBA Draft: 1st round, 11th overall by the Detroit Pistons
1990 Dwayne Morton 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
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 Ft. Thomas Highlands LSU, Vanderbilt
2004 Chris Lofton Mason County Tennessee 2007 SEC Player of the Year
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 National Champion 2012 NBA Draft: 2nd round, 46th overall by the New Orleans Hornets
2009 Jon Hood Madisonville-North Hopkins Kentucky 2012 National Champion
2010 Elisha Justice Shelby Valley Louisville, Pikeville
2011 Anthony Hickey Christian County LSU, Oklahoma State
2012 Nathan Dieudonne Trinity Boston U.
2013 Dominique Hawkins Madison Central Kentucky
2014 Quentin Snider Louisville Ballard Louisville
2015 Camron Justice Knott Central Vanderbilt

See also

References

  1. Mr. Basketball
  2. California Mr. Basketball
  3. Indiana Mr. Basketball
  4. http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/040109aaa.html
  5. School now defunct; consolidated into today's Allen Central High School.
  6. Consolidated into South Hopkins & 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. 10.0 10.1 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.