Who are Kentucky’s top 25 boys’ basketball players for 2020-21?
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2020-21 High School Basketball Preview
The Herald-Leader/Kentucky.com is publishing season preview stories leading up to the start of the 2020-21 high school basketball season on Monday, Jan. 4. You can read everything we’ve published to this point by clicking on this drop-down list. All of the stories are also available in our print editions.
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Below is the preseason top 25 ranking of Kentucky high school boys’ basketball players for the 2020-21 season, as voted on by coaches in a statewide survey conducted by the Lexington Herald-Leader/Kentucky.com.
The top 10 players are listed with their school along with grade level, height and last season’s points per game in parentheses along with a brief comment. The remaining 15 players are listed with their school, grade level and last season’s points per game along with their choice of college, if known.
Top 10 players
1. Zion Harmon, Marshall County (5-10 Sr., 25.4 ppg): Harmon, a Western Kentucky commit, comes into his final high school season as the clear front-runner for the state’s Mr. Basketball award with his name appearing at the top of the list for 71 of the 90 coaches responding to the Herald-Leader’s preseason survey.
In a career where he helped win a state championship as an eighth-grader with Bowling Green and spent his sophomore season sitting out due to transfer rules, Harmon has scored 2,356 points and strewn his name across the state record books. Harmon ranks among the leaders in points in a half (31, tied 14th), points in a season (1,014 in 2018, 17th), three-point attempts in a season (310 in 2018, sixth) three-point makes in a season (115 in 2018, tied 10th) and free throw percentage in a season (213-of-234, 91 percent in 2018, sixth).
A four-star recruit on 247Sports.com’s composite index, Harmon ranks as the No. 1 recruit in Kentucky and No. 7 point guard in the nation in the class of 2021. He earned Herald-Leader First Team All-State honors last year. Find him on Twitter at: @zion_harmon.
2. Ben Johnson, Lexington Catholic (6-2 Sr., 25.6 ppg): Johnson, a 2019-20 Herald-Leader First Team All-State player who committed to Bellarmine this year, was the 11th Region’s leading scorer as a junior and helped take the Knights to the region finals. He made 38.3 percent of his three-point attempts, ranking him among the top 25 long-distance shooters in the state. With 1,722 career points, Johnson is on the verge of becoming LexCath’s all-time leading scorer. Twitter: @_benjohnson33.
3. Kaleb Glenn, Male (6-6 So., 13.4 ppg, 10.1 rpg): The Bulldogs’ three-star forward led the state in field goal percentage last year as a freshman, making 190 of his 257 shots for an astounding rate of 73.9 percent. He’s already garnered offers from Cincinnati, Iowa State, West Virginia and Western Kentucky and figures to have dozens of recruiters clamoring for him over the next three years. Twitter: @ka1ebglenn.
4. Jaden Rogers, Fern Creek (6-0 Sr. 16.5 ppg): Rogers has led the Tigers in scoring each of the last two years and helped take them to the Sweet 16 as a junior. He returns along with top 25 teammates Darrius Washington and Ce’Arius Warren along with second-leading scorer Zek Montgomery as Fern Creek looks to make another run to Lexington. A three-star point guard, according to 247Sports.com, his offers include Miami (Ohio).
5. Trey James, Martin County (6-10 Sr., 14.8 ppg, 11.1 rpg): Capable of a triple-double on any given night, James, a three-star center, according to 247Sports.com, already ranks as the state’s top shot blocker with 737 rejections in four seasons and appears poised to put that record out of reach. James signed with the Rick Pitino-coached Iona Gaels recently after decommitting from Wake Forest once Danny Manning was fired there. James was a Herald-Leader Second Team All-State player last year. Twitter: @Trey50James.
6. Sam Vinson, Highlands (6-5 Sr., 24.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg): Hailed as a “complete player and consummate teammate” by Coach Kevin Listerman, Vinson also averaged 4.0 assists, 3.2 steals and 1.5 blocks a game for the Bluebirds. The two-star shooting guard according to 247Sports.com has committed to Northern Kentucky and was named Third Team Herald-Leader All-State last year. Twitter: @sam_vinson3.
7. Sekou Kalle, DeSales (6-10 Sr., 15.6 ppg, 10.9 rpg): Kalle has “great length and athleticism” and “can dominate the game on both ends of the floor,” Coach Damien Anderson says. A three-star center, according to 247Sports.com, he’s committed to Akron. Twitter: @SadaKalle.
8. Isaiah Mason, Bowling Green (6-4 Sr., 16.1 ppg, 9.4 rpg): Mason, the Purples’ leading scorer and rebounder last season, recently signed to play for Northern Kentucky. He’s back along with fellow top scorers Turner Buttry and Conner Cooper to play for Coach DG Sherrill, who returns after a few years off since leading Bowling Green to a state title in 2017. Twitter: @YeahZay2
9. Scotty Draud, Beechwood (6-6 Sr., 22.9 ppg, 7 rpg): Beechwood’s all-time leading scorer crossed the 2,000-point plateau last year. He’s uncommitted. Twitter: @scotty_draud24.
10. Reed Sheppard, North Laurel (6-1 So., 20.6 ppg, 5.2 rgp): Sheppard, the son of two Kentucky basketball standouts, Jeff Sheppard and Stacy Reed, began making his own mark last year, achieving a rare quadruple-double in a game. Third Team Herald-Leader All-State as a freshman, the point guard already has offers including High Point, South Alabama and Stetson, according to 247Sports.com). Twitter: @reed_sheppard
The next 15
11. James Jewell, Marion County (6-7 Jr., 13.3 ppg): Uncommitted.
12. Jaquias Franklin, Elizabethtown (6-0 Sr., 21.5 ppg): Uncommitted.
13. Maker Bar, Ballard (6-9 Jr., 10.0 ppg): Uncommitted.
14. Dashawn Jackson, Frederick Douglass (6-3 Sr., 21.6 ppg): Uncommitted.
15. Cameron Pope, Male (5-11 Sr., 10.9 ppg): Jacksonville State.
16. Mason Moore, Rowan County (6-5 Sr., 24.9 ppg): Kentucky (baseball).
17. Colin Porter, Ashland Blazer (5-10 So., 15.1 ppg): Uncommitted.
18. Kelly Niece, Simon Kenton (6-3 Sr., 19.2 ppg): Uncommitted.
19. Darrius Washington, Fern Creek (6-8 Sr., 9.1 ppg): Western Carolina.
20. DeAjuan Stepp, West Jessamine (6-3 Sr., 20.8): Uncommitted.
21. Christian Spalding, Eastern (6-1 Jr., 12.7 ppg): Uncommitted.
22. Ce’Arius Warren, Fern Creek (6-8 Sr., 6.8 ppg): Uncommitted.
23. Gabe Sisk, Ballard (6-3 So., 12.0 ppg): Uncommitted.
24. Cole Villers, Ashland Blazer (6-2 Jr., 17.1 ppg): Uncommitted.
25. Sam Conley, Spencer County (6-3 Sr., 22.0 ppg): Uncommitted.
Methodology: Our annual survey was emailed to all 272 KHSAA boys’ basketball coaches in Kentucky, using their email registered with the KHSAA. Multiple attempts were made to encourage every school to participate. Coaches were asked to select their top 10 players and points were assigned based on a player’s position on the ballot (10 points for No. 1, nine points for No. 2, eight points for No. 3, etc.), and tabulated across all ballots received; some schools participated in the survey but declined to vote due to unfamiliarity with players and teams outside of their own area. A total of 90 coaches (33 percent) voted in our top-10 players poll out of the 178 coaches (65.4 percent) who responded to the survey and supplied information about their teams.
2020-21 season preview
This is the third of eight stories the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com is publishing in the coming days previewing the 2020-21 high school boys’ and girls’ basketball seasons, which are scheduled to tip off Jan. 4.
This story was originally published December 23, 2020 at 7:48 AM.
