Who Josh Moore cast his Mr. and Miss Basketball votes for — and why they might not win
KyKy Tandy received my vote for the 2019 Kentucky Mr. Basketball award.
Tandy, a star for University Heights Academy, was not my pick for Mr. Basketball coming into the 2018-19 season. I favored Michael Moreno, a two-time Sweet Sixteen participant and a double-double factory at Scott County High School.
Then Moreno got hurt. He’s expected to return in the postseason, but missing (at least) 18 of your team’s 30 games as a senior is a tough hurdle to get over as a voter when there’s another deserving candidate on the court. Scott County’s incredible depth also chipped away at his case, too: the Cardinals won 16 of their 18 games without Moreno (though Paul Laurence Dunbar’s big rebounding advantage in its shocking 91-84 win over Scott County suggests the Cards’ star big man is going to be crucial for another lengthy postseason run).
Tandy had incredible offensive numbers in previous seasons: he scored 30.5 points per game as a junior while shooting 61.1 percent from the floor — 47.9 percent from the three-point line. He ended UHA’s decade-long Sweet Sixteen drought last season and in January led the Blazers to an All “A” Classic state championship, the once-dominant program’s first since 2008. He signed with Xavier University — a premier basketball destination — and had offers from dozens of Division I schools, including Tennessee, Auburn, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech (WKU was the only in-state school who offered).
UHA is ranked 17th in the state but favored to repeat as the 2nd Region champion. The Blazers have played in seven boys’ Sweet Sixteen tournaments, winning it all in their 1992 debut, but have never had a Mr. Basketball recipient. Only two Mr. Basketball winners have originated from a private school, period: Mike Silliman (St. Xavier) in 1962 and Nathan Dieudonne (Trinity) in 2012. Tandy could make it three (so could Trinity’s David Johnson, a Louisville signee).
But will he? Dontaie Allen, the Pendleton County sensation who in November signed with the University of Kentucky, also missed most of his senior season after suffering a torn ACL and torn meniscus in December. While his career was unfortunately shortened, it was still incredible: he finished as the 10th-leading scorer in state history and before his injury was averaging 42.9 points through 13 games; had he sustained that, he would have finished no less than second all-time in the record books.
Allen’s recruitment bloomed late, but when it did it exploded. He shot up the national rankings — Rivals.com has him 55th overall — and chose UK over offers from Louisville, Auburn, Florida, Xavier and many others. Unlike Scott County, which was able to sustain without Moreno, Pendleton County lost 14 of its last 15 games — it was 9-3 and challenging the top teams in the 10th Region with Allen at full strength. If the question asked of Mr. Basketball voters was simply, “Who’s the most valuable player to their school?,” then Allen probably would win in a landslide.
But that’s not the question asked, nor is there any asked. All that’s asked of media, coaches and former winners who vote is to pick the players they feel deserves Mr. and Miss Basketball based on whatever criteria they wish to consider, and how they weight those factors. For some, college choice is the biggest deal. To others, gaudy numbers matter the most. Playing in and winning big games resonates most for me (it’s not an absolute, but having played in at least one Sweet Sixteen always brings you up a notch or two in my book).
It’d be nice if the vote and the awards ceremony returned to its former placement following the Sweet Sixteen, but that’s unlikely to change. This year more than any I’ve covered feels like seeing what happens in the postseason would possibly affect my vote. As it stands, I can’t wait to see whose name gets called at the Lexington Convention Center on March 5. Whoever it is will be the right guy.
Miss Basketball
My vote for Miss Basketball this year came down to Savannah Wheeler, a Marshall signee trying to take Boyd County back to the Sweet Sixteen, and Emma King, the UK signee who’s looking to lead Lincoln County to its first Sweet Sixteen since 2013.
Their cases in a way are similar — both have been full-time varsity players since they were in seventh grade and both committed to Division I programs early in their prep careers. Each hails from a school that’s never had a Mr. or Miss Basketball winner — a potential difference-maker for those who might want to recognize a non-traditional power for its hardwood acumen. Each has led their team in scoring since their freshman season, and neither has won a Sweet Sixteen.
But, Wheeler has played in one. She last season led Boyd County to the semifinals, its deepest run in program history, and was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 21.6 points. Wheeler in December averaged 37 points while leading the Lions to the title at the Traditional Bank Holiday Classic, one of the state’s premier in-season tournaments. Boyd County’s ranked fourth in the state, and its only loss to a Kentucky opponent (against 16th Region rival Ashland Blazer) was without Wheeler on the floor.
She leads the state in scoring at 30.8 points and is sixth statewide in three-point makes per game this season. Wheeler missed out on another potential in-season title (and performing in front of Louisville voters against top-flight teams) after inclement weather prevented Boyd County from playing in the Louisville Invitational Tournament, and missed two early games due to injury, but otherwise nothing has slowed her down from finishing her career as no less than the state’s all-time sixth-leading scorer (she’s three points ahead of Lisa Harrison with 3,475 career points).
King’s on pace to end her career as a top-80 scorer (she’s got 2,443 points, which is 57 shy of the 2,500 minimum to be listed in the KHSAA record book). She’s suffered more losses as a senior than Wheeler but King’s Patriots have also played an overall stronger schedule this season than the Lions. Unless they saw Boyd County at state last season, it’s likely that more voting eyes have seen Lincoln County — because of its more central location, and to see the newest star UK’s adding to its program — and that no doubt was a good thing for King’s candidacy.
Either girl would be a super Miss Basketball winner — as would Scott County’s Maaliya Owens, who’s in the running to become the school’s third Miss Basketball winner — but my gut told me to go with Wheeler. So I listened.
This story was originally published February 19, 2019 at 8:10 AM.
