The Way Too Early 2018 Mr. Basketball Preview
We are still 3 months away from the start of the 2017-18 basketball season in the Bluegrass State but there is already plenty of speculation about which young man will take home the title of Mr. Basketball. Last season’s Mr. Basketball Taveion Hollingsworth basically locked up the award by leading Paul Laurence Dunbar to the state championship as a junior. Taveion was outstanding over the 4 game stretch and happened to play great in front of the majority of the KABC voters who vote on the Mr. Basketball honor. That’s the secret to winning Mr. Basketball. Most of the voters never see several of the nominees play, so votes tend to go towards the bigger names that have been around longer. Having said all of that, here is the way too early 2018 Mr Basketball Preview.
The Favorite: Andrew Taylor, Corbin – Taylor may not have committed to a high major school but he had over 25 Division 1 offers and will end his career as one of the highest scoring kids to come out of Kentucky. Also, don’t forget that Mr. Basketball is usually more of a “Lifetime Achievement” award and Taylor has had the best career of anyone in the 2018 class in Kentucky. Expect the Furman commit to take home the hardware, barring injury.
Photo Credit: Times TribuneThe Second Favorite: Trevon Faulkner, Mercer County – Fresh off his commitment to NKU, Faulkner is the obvious second choice for Mr. Basketball. Going into his 5th year of starting varsity for the Titans, Faulkner is already the all time leading scorer in Mercer history and will probably wind up with over 2,500 points for his career. Mercer will play several showcase games and events in an effort to get Faulkner the exposure he needs to make a run at the title of Mr Basketball.
The Vote Splitters: Adam Kunkel (Cooper), Jake Walter and CJ Fredrick (Covington Catholic) – Assuming that the 9th region voters find a way to make all 3 of these D1 commits become finalists for the award, they will likely split the votes for the title. In any other year, any of this trio could make a run at the award. But Kunkel (Belmont commit), Fredrick (Iowa commit) and Walter (Xavier commit) will likely have to be satisfied with a free college education as their parting gifts after outstanding prep careers.
The Dark Horse: Mickey Pearson (John Hardin) – Coming off a red hot July where he racked up several offers, the 6’7 Wing from John Hardin has a ton of momentum heading into his senior season. After averaging a double double as a junior, Pearson will look to improve his averages and gain more statewide notoriety. The Bulldogs may not play a strong enough schedule to get Mickey the looks he needs to influence voters.
In my opinion, the race for 2018’s Kentucky Mr. Basketball is going to be between Taylor and Faulkner. Unless someone like Pulaski County’s Steven Fitzgerald or Trinity’s Jayden Scrubb has a monster individual year with a lot of team success, the 6 guys listed above will be the only players likely to have a shot at the award. I would love to be proven wrong by some young men having big time breakout seasons across the Commonwealth this year.