I think it is voted on before the Sweet 16 now. Ruthsatz would have been an acceptable choice last season if voting was done after the Sweet 16.

 

Wasn't aware of that. Definitely changes things. Will be hard to beat Spalding if I'm guessing. Lots of years, there are a few kids in the Louisville area who split the vote pretty heavily. Not sure if that's there this year, not because Perry hasn't had that kind of year, but just because he didn't have a ton of momentum coming into the year like some of the others did.

Wasn't aware of that. Definitely changes things. Will be hard to beat Spalding if I'm guessing. Lots of years, there are a few kids in the Louisville area who split the vote pretty heavily. Not sure if that's there this year, not because Perry hasn't had that kind of year, but just because he didn't have a ton of momentum coming into the year like some of the others did.

 

True but Perry created a ton of momentum during the year while Spalding is just now creating momentum. Then Winter Storm 2015 stalls that momentum some. I think Perry and Spalding hurt each other in that area and that Justice is able to defeat Simmons for the award.

 

 

If I had a vote I'd probably give mine to Simmons out of those four players.

Cam justice

I have a hard time seeing anyone but Spalding unless one of the others on this list or someone like Ballard's Jalen Perry gets to Rupp and just blows up once there. If we've learned anything over the years, it's that a State Championship run can seal the deal for a player's Mr. Basketball candidacy.

 

If it works like an MVP vote you have to think Perry has already blown up. Ballard was supposed to be the fourth best team to come out of the 7th Region this year. They lost last years Mr. Kentucky basketball and the second runner-up in the voting. (Not to mention having two impact players who transferred). All Perry has done is lead them in scoring, become the teams second leading rebounder and lead the state in highlight dunks! Ballard is currently on an unbelievable winning streak... What else does this guy gotta do?

If it works like an MVP vote you have to think Perry has already blown up. Ballard was supposed to be the fourth best team to come out of the 7th Region this year. They lost last years Mr. Kentucky basketball and the second runner-up in the voting. (Not to mention having two impact players who transferred). All Perry has done is lead them in scoring, become the teams second leading rebounder and lead the state in highlight dunks! Ballard is currently on an unbelievable winning streak... What else does this guy gotta do?

 

I know what you're saying, but what else he has to do is to have had hype coming into the season. I agree that he's a worthy candidate, but I just think people will overlook him because all the hype coming into the year was that it was a three way race between Spalding, Bolden, and Justice.

David Simmons - Henderson, Ky

If it works like an MVP vote you have to think Perry has already blown up. Ballard was supposed to be the fourth best team to come out of the 7th Region this year. They lost last years Mr. Kentucky basketball and the second runner-up in the voting. (Not to mention having two impact players who transferred). All Perry has done is lead them in scoring, become the teams second leading rebounder and lead the state in highlight dunks! Ballard is currently on an unbelievable winning streak... What else does this guy gotta do?

You make a strong case, no doubt.

What about Matt Rose from LCA? I saw him on a video feed early in the year and have loosely followed him since then. It seems he's been the model of consistency. Is he averaging over 20 ppg against good schedule?

What about Matt Rose from LCA? I saw him on a video feed early in the year and have loosely followed him since then. It seems he's been the model of consistency. Is he averaging over 20 ppg against good schedule?

 

Yep. 22 PPG average actually.

 

Kid is deceptively athletic too. That's the one thing I don't think people realize about his game. They see a skinny white kid with long hair and are surprised when he goes up and flushes some two handed jams, but I've seen more than a few games where he's had multiple dunks.

 

I think the toughest thing for him is that people are just now starting to notice LCA and that he didn't have a ton, ton of momentum coming into the season or a ton of notice on his career body of work.

 

He and Jeremiah Tisdale both played really well in the JR/SR All-Star Practices last summer, and I think he's a guy who gets on the All-Star team this season and has a good showing against Indiana, especially when he's in a setting where he isn't really asked to handle a ton of the load scoring or else.

 

 

Here's some clips of Rose dunking. This was one game in the All A where he had 4 total.

 

What about Matt Rose from LCA? I saw him on a video feed early in the year and have loosely followed him since then. It seems he's been the model of consistency. Is he averaging over 20 ppg against good schedule?

 

I don't understand either why Matt Rose is not at least "in the conversation" more often as a potential Mr. Basketball candidate in the posts I read on BluegrassPreps. Is it because not many people from across the state have seen him play (his team, LCA, has never played in the Sweet 16 in Rupp Arena)? Is it because he has no one really aggressively publicly pushing his reputation and ability? Is it because he doesn't play for a traditional basketball "power" school? Is it because he is young for his grade and coming on strong later in high school? I don't know. What I do know is that he should at least be in the discussion for Mr. Basketball in 2015.

 

What is the criterion for selecting Mr. Basketball anyway? Is it purely based on stats? Is it how valuable the player is for his high school team's success? Is it who projects as having the most talent at the next level (whether it is realized yet or not)? Is it something else?

 

The Stats

 

Here are Matt Rose's stats compiled by the KHSAA compared to some of the other players that seem to be mentioned most often as a Mr. Basketball candidate for 2015:

 

Camron Justice 24.3 ppg 3.9 rpg

Dwayne Sutton 23.9 ppg 11.5 rpg

Matt Rose 22.8 ppg 8.2 rpg

Jalen Perry 21.7 ppg 6.4 rpg

Beetle Bolden 20.2 ppg 4.8 rpg

David Simmons 18.0 ppg 5.1 rpg

Aric Holman 16.3 ppg 10.3 rpg

Ray Spalding 13.3 ppg 8.7 rpg

 

Matt Rose is also currently #11 in the state in scoring and #7 in the state in free throw percentage.

 

I know stats aren't everything as they can often be inflated by playing weak competition. However, Lexington Christian played a difficult schedule this year. In addition to being in the 43rd District and playing Lexington Catholic, Lafayette, Dunbar and Tates Creek twice each, they also played several really good teams from Louisville and Northern Kentucky. Rose's stats were not put up against weak competition at all. Teams fall in and out of the rankings from time to time, but here is his production in the eight games LCA played this year against teams ranked in the BluegrassPreps Top 20 at the time the game was played:

 

#1 Louisville Trinity (25 & 7)

#6 Louisville Doss (23 & 10)

#8 Newport Central Catholic (14 & 10)

#8 Lexington Catholic (11 & 16)

#9 DuPont Manual (21 & 8)

#11 Lexington Catholic (19 & 7)

#15 Lincoln County (34 & 9)

#18 Scott County (33 & 11)

 

Value to LCA

 

How good would LCA be without Matt Rose? The answer can only be opinion, but I think he is certainly as much or more valuable to his team than the other Mr. Basketball candidates are to theirs. In addition to leading his team in scoring and rebounding, Rose is also leading Lexington Christian to some "firsts" this year as well. As a school, LCA has only been in existence for 25 years. LCA has never been higher than a #4 seed in the 5-team 43rd District Tournament and LCA has never in its history even made it to the 11th Region Tournament. This is the best team LCA has ever had and Rose is the most valuable part of that team. This year LCA has been ranked in the Top 25 for most of the season. For the first time, LCA won the tough 43rd District outright during the regular season and earned its first #1 seed in the 43rd District Tournament where they will have to beat #4 seed Lafayette to advance to the region. By the way, for those who don't know, the five teams in the 43rd District are #9 Lexington Catholic, #17 Dunbar and #18 Lafayette (according to the BluegrassPreps ranking) and outright district winner but unranked LCA and unranked Tates Creek.

 

The Next Level

 

Rose had 7 Division I scholarship offers before he ended his recruitment early by committing to Scott Padgett and Samford University last September. (Rose has a sister that attends Samford). As this was well before the start of his senior year of high school, I think it is safe to say that there would have been plenty of other offers come in based on his play this season. Rose has a big upside as he will be starting college at Samford while still 17 years old. Rose was also recently announced as the KABC 11th Region Player of the Year. As tough as the 11th Region is year in and year out, that honor alone in any year should put the recipient "in the conversation" for Mr. Basketball.

 

On a personal level, I know Matt and his family and I can say that you will not find a nicer young man of the highest character who excels both in the classroom and on the court.

 

A lot of posters on BluegrassPreps give opinions (which is exactly what the site is for) often without backing them up with facts. For those who wish to call me a "homer", I will accept that label (as pretty much everyone on BluegrassPreps is a homer for some team or some player), but I do ask that you consider that most of this post was based on fact and not solely opinion.

My top 3 would be Perry, Justice, Spalding in that order. I think Justice will win the award, my stance hasn't changed on that front. I like a lot of other players including Simmons, McDonald, Rose, and others. Problem with Simmons is he may not even get Region 2 player of the year, Matlock may win that. He has better stats, but Simmons team is better, so I'm not sure.

Off topic but I am really disappointed that the last two games of Knott County Central have been canceled. Cam has lost two scoring opportunities to possibly be able to move up to number 2 on the all time Kentucky scoring list. He has worked so hard for four years so I wanted him to get a shot.

David Simmons has my vote.

Camron justice has my vote.

When does the voting take place---and who are the voters?