These college basketball recruits impressed at the 2025 Boys’ Sweet 16 state tournament
The 2025 UK HealthCare Boys’ Basketball Sweet 16 state tournament is now in the history books.
Four days of high school action on the hardwood stretching from Wednesday through Saturday concluded with Great Crossing High School — led by UK basketball signee and McDonald’s All-American center Malachi Moreno — lifting the state championship trophy for the first time.
Along the way, plenty of special performances were put on inside Rupp Arena in downtown Lexington by some of the commonwealth’s top college basketball recruits.
Moreno was obviously the headliner, but plenty of other top prep players also had a special Sweet 16 week.
Here are some of last week’s most impressive Sweet 16 outings from the top college basketball recruits in the field.
Players are listed in alphabetical order.
Zander Carter, Ashland Blazer
A 6-foot-6 senior guard from 16th Region champion Ashland Blazer, Carter is signed to play college basketball at Liberty.
Carter entered the Sweet 16 averaging 23.8 points per game this season, and he continued his high-scoring ways in both of the Tomcats’ games at Rupp Arena.
Carter had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists while playing every second of Ashland Blazer’s opening-round win over Calloway County. In Ashland Blazer’s overtime loss to Bowling Green in the Sweet 16 quarterfinals, Carter had a game-high 33 points along with seven assists and six rebounds.
Carter was the 16th Region player of the year this season and was a Kentucky Mr. Basketball finalist.
Vince Dawson, Great Crossing
A 6-6 senior guard from 11th Region champion Great Crossing, Dawson was an integral part of the Warhawks’ journey to a Sweet 16 state championship.
Across all four of Great Crossing’s games at Rupp Arena, Dawson averaged 17.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists.
Dawson — a Morehead State signee — had 18 points in the Sweet 16 championship game win over Bowling Green.
Reece Davidson, North Laurel
A cousin of ex-Cat Reed Sheppard, Davidson continued to build his profile as an early 2026 Mr. Basketball candidate with stellar showings last week across two games at the Sweet 16.
Davidson — a 6-8 junior forward from 13th Region champion North Laurel — had 36 of North Laurel’s 54 points in an opening-round Sweet 16 win over Breathitt County. That win by the Jaguars, which came by just one point, was North Laurel’s first-ever victory in the Boys’ Sweet 16. Davidson also had nine rebounds and four steals in a do-it-all performance.
North Laurel lost in the state quarterfinals to Montgomery County by three points. In that contest, Davidson had a whopping 41 points to go with 10 rebounds and four steals. That outing made Davidson just the 23rd player in 107 editions of the Sweet 16 state tournament to score more than 40 points in a game.
Davidson already has reported scholarship offers from Liberty, Tennessee Tech, Western Kentucky and Youngstown State. He is ranked by 247Sports as a three-star recruit.
Camron McDaniels, Jeffersontown
A 6-5 senior forward who is receiving college interest both as a basketball and football player, McDaniels played a crucial role for Jeffersontown as the Chargers made a run to the state quarterfinals at Rupp.
In the opening round of the Sweet 16, Jeffersontown upset St. Xavier, one of the pre-tournament favorites and a school that was previously unbeaten this season against other schools from Kentucky. In that stunning victory, McDaniels was one of three Jeffersontown players that scored 17 points. He also had nine rebounds in the win.
In Jeffersontown’s narrow state quarterfinal loss to South Oldham, McDaniels led all Jeffersontown players with 20 points. His 14 rebounds in this game gave him a double-double. McDaniels also had eight assists and four steals in the loss.
Earlier this year, McDaniels reported a basketball scholarship offer from Florida A&M.
Malachi Moreno, Great Crossing
The 6-11 senior center and Kentucky basketball signee from 11th Region champion Great Crossing more than lived up to the hype last week, as the Warhawks went 4-for-4 at Rupp Arena to claim the school’s first boys’ Sweet 16 state title.
Moreno — who is the 2025 Kentucky Mr. Basketball award winner — averaged 21.0 points, 15.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game during Great Crossing’s run to the state championship.
This included a 24-point, 15-rebound effort for Great Crossing in the Sweet 16 title game win over Bowling Green.
Moreno, who is one of three recruits signed as part of Mark Pope’s 2025 freshman class at UK, is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a five-star prospect and as the No. 27 overall player nationally in the 2025 class.
Moreno is also only the 16th player from the commonwealth to be named a McDonald’s All-American since that all-star game began in 1977. That showcase event, featuring Moreno, was played Tuesday night in New York City.
Austin Sperry, Breathitt County
A 6-4 senior guard from 14th Region champion Breathitt County, Sperry entered the Sweet 16 as the top scorer in the field: He averaged 23.5 points per game for the Bobcats this season.
While Breathitt County went one-and-done at this year’s Sweet 16, Sperry gave a credible account of himself during the Bobcats’ opening-round loss to North Laurel.
Sperry — who is signed to play Division I college basketball at Indiana University Indianapolis — scored 22 points in that game, while also grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out five assists.
This story was originally published March 31, 2025 at 8:00 AM.
