Rez

If you want to look at the top 10 players from Kentucky, based on pro careers you could also have an interesting list/discussion.

1. Wes Unseld (Seneca 1964)

2. Dave Cowens (Newport Catholic 1966)

3. Rajon Rondo (Eastern 2003)*

4. Cliff Hagan (Owensboro 1949)

5. Jeff Mullins (Lafayette 1960)

6. Allan Houston (Ballard 1989)

7. Darrell Griffith (Male 1976)

8. Frank Ramsey (Madisonville 1949)

9. Clem Haskins (Taylor Co 1963)

10. Rex Chapman (Apollo 1986)

*Rondo went to Oak Hill for his senior season in 2004.

Well then. That certainly changes things in the 5th Region.

I'd guess this puts them in the top 2 in the region?

I did not say non-existent, I said limited. I only know what I know through guys that played then, and I did know that Thacker had, in fact, played in a state tournament (I did not know they won back to back regions), but the KHSAA only integrated in 1957 (and Grant won the 9th the following two years). I don't know what the schedules were like in 1958 and 1959; did integration mean that instantly Grant had a schedule of white 9th region opponents like Holmes, CovCath, NewCath, Highlands, Newport, Bellevue, Dayton, Ludlow, etc.? I honestly don't know. My comment was based partly on the lore of guys who played in the early and mid 50s who only played Grant in unofficial, unsanctioned games, and the fact that integration only took place while Thacker was in high school.

 

Thacker is a guy whose post high school career could put him in the discussion. If he was like Cowens, and bloomed after high school, then fine, don't include him in the discussion.

 

Sorry if the comment hit a nerve, and I wasn't there in the late 50s, but I assumed teams and leagues didn't go from totally segregated to totally integrated instantaneously, and that Thacker's high school accomplishments may have been marginalized as a result. I don't even know if he was a multiple year all-state, all-region performer, I don't know what his high school averages were, and I don't know if he was, or should have been, a candidate for Mr. Basketball. His post high school career indicates that perhaps he was, and my comment that his opportunities were "limited" is probably accurate.

Thacker was second team All-State as a junior and first team as a senior. He was 2 votes behind Pat Doyle for the honorary "Captain" spot on the Courier Journal First Team in 1959. In 3 years he was a 2,000 point scorer for Grant.

I would be interested to know if there were any pre-integration KHSAL players that also would have been in consideration as some of the state's best.

Based on the success of their high school career, with an attempt to balance individual accomplishments and impact on their team.

Wallace “Wah Wah” Jones – Harlan 1945

Lead Harlan to 1 State Title, 1 State Runner-Up, 1 State 3rd Place Finish, and 4 region championships.

Captain on the Courier Journal All-State First Team as a Junior and Senior.

Ranks 4th All-Time in State Tournament Points Scored and 1st All-Time in State Tournament games won.

At the time of graduation held the national record for points scored in a high school career.

Ralph Beard – Male 1945

Lead Male to the 1945 State Championship.

Runner-Up to Jones in Courier Journal All-State voting as a junior and senior.

Considered by some the finest guard in basketball.

Linville Puckett – Clark Co 1952

Lead Clark Co to 1 State Title, 1 State Runner-Up, 1 State 3rd Place Finish

Captain on the Courier Journal All-State First Team as a Junior and Senior. 3-Time first Team-All State

6th All-Time in state tournament points scored.

“King” Kelly Coleman – Wayland 1956

1956 Mr. Basketball, 1956 Captain of Courier Journal All-State First team.

Holds KHSAA State Records for points in a career, points in a season, points in a state tournament, and points in a state tournament game.

Led the Wasps to a 1956 State Tournament 3rd Place finish. Apparently two of the team’s starters had never played basketball before that season.

Westley Unseld – Seneca 1964

Lead Seneca to back-to-back 1963 and 1964 State Championships.

1964 Mr. Basketball. 2-time first team All-State.

1st All-Time rebounds in a state tournament, and is considered one of the greatest rebounders in the history of basketball.

Darrell Griffith – Male 1975

Led Male to the 1975 State Championship as a Junior and 1974 State Runner-Up as a Sophomore.

3-Time First Team All-State, 2-time Courier Journal Player of the Year and 1976 Mr. Basketball

Possibly the greatest jumper and one of the greatest athletes in KHSAA history.

Manuel Forrest – Moore 1981

Led Moore to 2 state tournaments and the 1981 Final Four as a senior.

Louisville’s All-Time leading scorer, 12th All-Time in the state with over 3,200 points (only player from Louisville or Lexington with over 3,000 points).

3-Time First Team All-State, and Courier Journal player of the year in 1981.

Was voted the 1981 Mr. Basketball, but declined to play in the Kentucky-Indiana All-Star game due to playing in the McDonald’s All-American game. The honor was then bestowed on Phil Cox.

Richie Farmer – Clay Co 1988

Led Clay Co to the 1987 State Championship, and 1985 and 1988 State Runners-Up.

1st All-Time in State tournament points, tournaments played, points in a championship games. 2nd All-Time in points in a state tournament and points in a state tournament game.

2-time State tournament MVP.

1988 Mr. Basketball, Courier-Journal Player of the Year, and Gatorade Player of the Year.

Allan Houston – Ballard 1989

Led Ballard to 1988 State Championship and 1987 State Runner-Up

Graduated as the second highest scorer in Jefferson Co History.

8th All-Time in state tournament points.

1989 Mr. Basketball, Courier-Journal Player of the Year, and Gatorade Player of the Year.

JR VanHoose – Paintsville 1998

Led Paintsville to a State Championship, State Runner-Up, 1 State Semifinal, and 4 region championships

1st All-Time in State tournament rebounds, 2nd All-Time in state tournament points.

Over 3,000 career points, 2,000 career rebounds, and 500 career blocks. Top 5 all-time in rebounds and blocks.

1997 and 1998 Gatorade Player of the Year and Courier-Journal Player of the Year, 1998 Mr. Basketball.

Has there ever been a High School player from Kentucky ranked in the Top 10 of their class nationally? That is not a smarty pants question. I am interested to know how many times a HS kid with KY ties has made this type list. (For that matter also MADE a USA Basketball squad, not tried out).

In the 70s and 80s it was not uncommon for Kentucky to have a top 5 player.

In the first 17 McDonald's All-American games from 1977-1993, there were 11 Kentuckians that played.

Tony Kimbro, Rex Chapman, and Allan Houston were all on the 5-man USA Today All-American First Team.

As was mentioned, Darrell Griffith was considered by many the top player in the country. Wes Unseld was also highly regarded.

Ralph Carlisle is the ONLY coach to have won at least three state championships. He would be number 1 in my book.

According to the KHSAA website Neil Arnston also won 3 titles (1923,25,31) at Manual.

Outside of those 2, only Billy Hicks (Scott Co) and Robert Graves (Central) have won multiple titles that weren't in back to back years.

I really hope he stays. He's a special kid and will be fun to follow if he stays in the Bluegrass.

Why wait? A ceremony in front of your classmates...very cool.

Agree. Celebrate the kid when it can most be appreciated.

Coach High is a real good guy and a winner. Probably made a mistake coming back to Montgomery.

Why do you think it was a mistake? He had a chance to spend two years helping a group of girls.

Heard tonight at the Regional Tennis tournament that they had decided to do districts and alternating regional hosting with tennis like they do with basketball, baseball, soccer, etc..Maybe that was something Tackett had to be apart of?

That is correct. The 39th hosted this season, and the 40th will be hosting next season. There hadn't really been a formal procedure before this year, so I think this will be a good plan.

I'm assuming he is re-retiring.

Meeting tomorrow at Harrison County. There will also be a meeting with all the athletic directors in the region.

Does the Region AD meeting have to do with this issue, or is it just a standard AD meeting?

Does the AP still put out an All-State team? I haven't seen one this year, and I don't remember seeing one last year either.

How much of his ranking is based on the fact that he missed a lot of time this season?

If this is saying he is only the 8th best player, that is obviously foolish. If they're saying he had the 8th best conference season, or something like that, it might not be really unreasonable since he missed a good chunk of time.

I don't know about this process as a whole or if they've been really dumb on other issues, but based only on what you've posted (I have no idea what the rest of the list looks like) that ranking could be justified.

Looks Like Bob Hall won the 39th at both Maysville and Fleming Co.

82.2%?!?!?!?

That is crazy good! Are they on pace to set the state record? How many times has a team ever been over 80%?

I have been to multiple gyms in 5 different regions this season and they have always honored my pass. I finally qualified for my lifetime plastic coaches card this season. lol

Anderson Co. even honored it in the district tournament last season.

How many years does that take?

I have been able to get into all regular season events I've been to this year. I've been to mostly 10th and 11th region gyms. Holiday tournaments typically don't accept the pass. I used to be able to get a guest into most games, but it seems like less are allowing that this season.

West Carter in the 16th. Would the the first regional championship in school history.

Always fun when a school makes their first trip. Their cheering section is typically electric.

I would prefer to see the following teams at the Sweet 16 based on who I think would be the most fun to watch and make it the most entertaining tournament taking into account things like the quality of team, star power, style of play, etc:

1-Paducah Tilghman

2-Hopkinsville

3-Apollo

4-Bowling Green

5-Adair Co

6-Fern Creek

7-Ballard

8-South Oldham

9-Cooper

10-Paris

11-Dunbar

12-Southwestern

13-Corbin

14-Perry Co Central

15-Johnson Central

16-Elliott Co

I tried to pick teams that have a legitimate chance to win the region. About half are probably the favorite, and the other half would fall in the 2-3 range in their region.

Are their any teams or players you think would make for a more fun state tournament?

Special congrats to Rez, as I don't think I've ever seen someone go from a goose egg to a perfect score in consecutive weeks!

Not sure if I should be proud of that or not, but I'll take it!

25 and 10 for Davis. He had a huge 2nd quarter to give the Indians a lead they wouldn't relinquish, scoring the Indians first 10 points of the period.

Final from Mt Sterling.

Big game from Pharoah Davis

5 North Hardin

3 Lexington Catholic

3 Southwestern

1 Lafayette

1 Knox Central

1 Doss

1 Montgomery Co

1 Male

1 St. Xavier

1 Covington Catholic

TB 140

7 Johnson Central

5 Powell Co

3 Belfry

2 Magoffin Co

1 Rowan Co

TB Magoffin Co