The 2021 Lexington Herald-Leader All-State Boys’ Basketball Team is here
The Herald-Leader is proud to announce its 2021 Boys’ Basketball All-State Teams as voted on by high school coaches across the commonwealth.
Highlands’ Sam Vinson, who helped lead the Bluebirds to a Sweet 16 title, received the most votes for Player of the Year among coaches whose votes also created a list of 50 of Kentucky’s best ballers.
Vinson received 69 Player of the Year votes among the 128 All-State ballots submitted, topping Lexington Catholic’s Ben Johnson, who garnered 38 first-place nods.
Last Sunday, Johnson was selected by coaches and media as Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball, an honor that goes to the state’s top senior and has been voted on ahead of postseason play for the last several years.
The Herald-Leader’s All-State voting took place after the completion of the KHSAA Boys’ Sweet 16 where Vinson and his Highlands teammates appeared to hit their top form on the way to the state title. Vinson was recognized as the state tournament’s most valuable player.
Committed to play in college at Northern Kentucky, Vinson averaged 22.3 points per game during his senior year. Johnson, a Bellarmine commitment, averaged 27.3 points per game.
Among those joining Vinson and Johnson as first team all-staters are Frederick Douglass senior Dashawn Jackson, an Eastern Kentucky commit, Rowan County’s Mason Moore, a Kentucky baseball commit, and two sophomores — Reed Sheppard of North Laurel and Kaleb Glenn of Male, who are two of the top in-state recruits for the class of 2023.
A number of the Herald-Leader’s All-State players were also region players of the year and Mr. Basketball candidates as selected by Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches. Those included Vinson, Johnson, Marshall County’s Zion Harmon, Elizabethtown’s Jaquias Franklin, Simon Kenton’s Kelly Niece and more.
The Herald-Leader All-State Teams are based on coaches’ selections in a statewide survey conducted by the Lexington Herald-Leader/Kentucky.com. Players are listed in order of point totals based on coaches’ votes. There are three teams of 10 players, plus 20 honorable mentions.
First team
| Player, School | Ht | Class | Ppg | Notes | All-State Pts | POY Votes |
| Sam Vinson, Highlands | 6-3 | Sr. | 22.3 | Northern Kentucky commit, Sweet 16 MVP; KABC 9th Region player of the year | 1045 | 69 |
| Ben Johnson, Lexington Catholic | 6-1 | Sr. | 27.3 | Mr. Basketball, Bellarmine commit, LexCath’s all-time leading scorer | 924 | 37 |
| Reed Sheppard, North Laurel | 6-3 | Soph. | 30.1 | Tied for state scoring lead, three-star recruit | 524 | 6 |
| Zion Harmon, Marshall County | 5-11 | Sr. | 22.3 | Western Kentucky commit; top recruit in Kentucky; state champion with Bowling Green as an eighth-grader | 452 | 2 |
| Jaquias Franklin, Elizabethtown | 6-0 | Sr. | 19.9 | Uncommitted. Helped lead team to Sweet 16 finals, KABC 5th Region player of the year. | 418 | 2 |
| Isaiah Mason, Bowling Green | 6-4 | Sr. | 17.7 | Northern Kentucky commit, KABC 3rd Region player of the year | 319 | 2 |
| Kaleb Glenn, Male | 6-7 | So. | 20.5 | Four-star recruit and No. 1 prospect in class of 2023. | 192 | |
| Mason Moore, Rowan County | 6-5 | Sr. | 19.7 | KABC 16th Region player of the year; Kentucky baseball commit with .483 average as a hitter; 23 Ks and a 0.00 ERA as a pitcher | 190 | 4 |
| Dashawn Jackson, Frederick Douglass | 6-1 | Sr. | 21.6 | Eastern Kentucky commit. Helped lead program to its first 11th Region finals | 184 | — |
| Kelly Niece, Simon Kenton | 6-2 | Sr. | 30.1 | Program’s all-time leading scorer; KABC 8th Region player of the year | 181 | 1 |
Second team
| Player, School | Ht | Class | Ppg |
| Cole Villers, Ashland Blazer | 6-2 | Jr. | 22.7 |
| Maker Bar, Ballard | 6-10 | Jr. | 14.6 |
| Sekou Kalle, DeSales | 6-10 | Sr. | 19 |
| Colin Porter, Ashland Blazer | 5-11 | So. | 17.8 |
| Wyatt Vieth, St. Henry | 6-3 | Sr. | 19.1 |
| Gabe Sisk, Ballard | 6-5 | So. | 18.1 |
| Scotty Draud, Beechwood | 6-4 | Sr. | 24.8 |
| Cameron Pope, Male | 6-0 | Sr. | 14.4 |
| Devin Perry, DeSales | 5-8 | Sr. | 19.7 |
| Jevonte Turner, Knox Central | 6-3 | Sr. | 25.1 |
Third team
| Player, School | Ht | Class | Ppg |
| Travis Perry, Lyon County | 6-2 | Fr. | 27.3 |
| Jerone Morton, Clark County | 6-3 | Jr. | 22.6 |
| Justin Becker, Robertson County | 6-5 | Jr. | 26.3 |
| Noah Dumas, McCracken County | 5-10 | Sr. | 15.3 |
| Kade Grundy, Somerset | 6-2 | Sr. | 19.3 |
| Jordan Akal, Harlan | 6-0 | Jr. | 26.1 |
| Wade Pelfrey, Hazard | 5-6 | Sr. | 21.7 |
| DeAjuan Stepp, West Jessamine | 6-3 | Sr. | 20.3 |
| Kole Browne, Madison Central | 6-4 | Sr. | 18.9 |
| Brady Dingess, Martin County | 6-1 | Jr. | 22.1 |
Honorable mention
Isaiah May, Johnson Central; Jaz Johnson, Wolfe County; Teagan Moore, Owen County; George Washington III, Christian Academy-Louisville; Colby Fugate, Paintsville; Dylan Knight, Buckhorn; Trent Noah, Harlan County; Trevor Hardin, Henry County; Rylee Sammons, Pikeville; Turner Buttry, Bowling Green; Grant Profitt, Scott; Colby Napier, Knott Central; Jaxon Smith, Lincoln County; Luke Imfeld, Boyle County; Ayden Mudd, St. Xavier; Darrius Washington, Fern Creek; Jordan Frazier, Betsy Layne; Kobe Bowling, Leslie County; Spencer Baird, Casey County; Jacob Meyer, Covington Holy Cross.
Methodology: Our annual All-State 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 Player of the Year, nine points for No. 2, eight points for No. 3, etc.), and tabulated across all ballots received. The top 50 players receiving votes made our All-State list. This year, 128 coaches participated.
This story was originally published April 25, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
