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
- Kentucky "Miss Basketball"
- Mr. Football Award (Kentucky)
References
- ↑ Mr. Basketball
- ↑ California Mr. Basketball
- ↑ Indiana Mr. Basketball
- ↑ http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/040109aaa.html
- ↑ School now defunct; consolidated into today's Allen Central High School.
- ↑ Consolidated into South Hopkins & West Hopkins High Schools, which in turn were consolidated into today's Hopkins County Central High School.
- ↑ Consolidated into Marshall County High School in 1974.
- ↑ Consolidated into today's Allen County-Scottsville High School.
- ↑ This school, located in Richmond, closed in 1989; its former attendance zone is now served by Madison Central High School.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ This school was closed in 2008 and consolidated into Harlan County High School.
- ↑ Consolidated into today's Shelby Valley High School.
- ↑ 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.
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