Butler head basketball coach Larry Just talks to his players during a time-out in the KHSAA girls 6th regional basketball semifinals. 01 March 2017
After two years of using a committee of coaches to select the Kentucky All-Star basketball teams, tryouts will return this year and have been scheduled for April 23.
Butler High School girls coach Larry Just, who will coach Kentucky’s girls team against Indiana in June, said coaches wanted to bring back the tryouts. The Bluegrass Sports Commission, which eliminated the tryouts in 2015 as a cost-cutting measure, no longer is affiliated with the all-star series.
Proceeds from the game held in Kentucky benefit the Kentucky Lions Eye Foundation.
“We felt like it was necessary to have a tryout,” Just said. “We want the kids to do their part and invest a little time instead of just showing up and playing in a game or two.”
The Kentucky-Indiana All-Star games are set for June 10 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis and June 11 at Central Hardin High School. The games will match some of the top players in the Class of 2017.
Tryouts for the boys will be held at Campbellsville University and for the girls at Franklin County High School. Just said about 35 boys and 35 girls will receive invitations this week. To keep costs down, tryouts will be held just one day and there will be no lodging expenses.
“Most years the coaches could probably pick five or six or seven kids that you’re pretty certain will make the team,” Just said. “It’s those last four or five or six spots you’re trying to make decisions on. … We don’t see every kid in the state. This way you bring a few of those together and put them out there and see them, and you can make a better choice that way.”
Former Wayne County coach Rodney Woods will coach the Kentucky boys, and Paul Dunbar coach Scott Chalk will be his top assistant. Franklin County’s Joey Thacker will assist Just with the girls squad.
Just said final rosters should be released a few days after the tryouts. Mr. Basketball Taveion Hollingsworth of Paul Dunbar and Miss Basketball Lindsey Duvall of Bullitt East received automatic spots on their teams.
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.