I've seen them all play and I think Josh has had the best year and deserves the award. It would have been a lock if he could have signed at KY.

First of all, I am a fan of the All 'A' Classic but you can't count that as a state title. It's a nice tournament win for Justice and his team.

 

But I would say that would rank behind winning the King of the Bluegrass, the Lexington Catholic Tournament or the LIT.

 

I'd say Justice has had a sensational career but I'm not sure how you can argue against the statement that Sewell has been the best senior in the state this season. He's played against one of the toughest schedules and has his team as one of the best in the state with a long winning streak.

 

IMO, case is closed. But again, the best player doesn't always win the award!

1. As others have said, winning the All "A" state tournament doesn't make you state champions. This why it's funded from outside parties and not the KHSAA. All those tournaments proved is that you're the best "small school" in the state. And honestly, the All A field this year wasn't anything to write home about.

 

2. Who has Elisha Justice & co beat to make it to the sweet 16 the two years they went? The one year there was a legit team in the 15th (Paintsville), SV didn't make it out of the region.

 

3. This is a senior season based award...not career. Who cares how many sweet 16 wins a player has? Jon Hood was hands down the best senior and player in the state last year. Did he not deserve the award either because he had no sweet 16 wins in his career?

 

4. State records don't make you the best player in the state. Justice has set the steals record while playing against horrible competition. BTW, Ferguson from Elliott Co didn't get Mr. Basketball last year and he had better numbers than Justice, while also winning MORE sweet 16 games, region titles, and is among the state's all time leading scorers.

 

5. Lastly, if you want to get in to what a player has done over a career, no senior has done anything on a personal level compared to what Aaron Watts of McCreary Central has accomplished. Kid has scored over 3,000 points in his career.

 

If we're going to use the above criteria that you provided for why a player should win Mr. Basketball, no player being named has a more impressive resume than Elijah Pittman and Ricardo Johnson of Holmes:

 

KHSAA State Championships: 1

KHSAA State Championship APPEARANCES: 2

KHSAA Final Four Appearances: 2

KHSAA Sweet 16 wins: 7 (Overall record of 7-1)

KHSAA Sweet 16 MVP Awards: 1

KHSAA Sweet 16 All tournament team selections: 2 (soph and jr years)

Region Championships: 2

 

With all of the above being said, Josh Sewell has proved THIS YEAR that he is the best senior in the state and he deserves the award. While there are many other worthy candidates, Sewell continues to step up against the best competition in the state while also being a model STUDENT/athlete.

 

:thumb: :thumb:

First of all, I am a fan of the All 'A' Classic but you can't count that as a state title. It's a nice tournament win for Justice and his team.

 

But I would say that would rank behind winning the King of the Bluegrass, the Lexington Catholic Tournament or the LIT.

 

I'd say Justice has had a sensational career but I'm not sure how you can argue against the statement that Sewell has been the best senior in the state this season. He's played against one of the toughest schedules and has his team as one of the best in the state with a long winning streak.

 

IMO, case is closed. But again, the best player doesn't always win the award!

Aaron Watts has played against some of the toughest competition in the state this year and has shined on each occasion. McCreary is one of the top 20 in the state this year. Watts would be just as deserving as Sewell or Justice. IMO, I would not take either of the other two for Watts when you compare their all around games. They are both excellent and deserving if they win the award, but to say that if someone besides Sewell wins Mr. Basketball that they are not deserving to win this title is wrong.

First of all, I am a fan of the All 'A' Classic but you can't count that as a state title. It's a nice tournament win for Justice and his team.

 

But I would say that would rank behind winning the King of the Bluegrass, the Lexington Catholic Tournament or the LIT.

 

I'd say Justice has had a sensational career but I'm not sure how you can argue against the statement that Sewell has been the best senior in the state this season. He's played against one of the toughest schedules and has his team as one of the best in the state with a long winning streak.

 

IMO, case is closed. But again, the best player doesn't always win the award!

 

It should rank well behind the tournaments you mentioned. The All A Classic seldom has more than 2 top 10 teams in the state while KOB, LCT, & LIT all normaly have several. The level of competition at the All A is average on good years and below average on most years IMO.