The top candidates for Kentucky’s Miss and Mr. Basketball awards, from left, Elizabethtown’s Erin Boley, Jenkins’ Whitney Creech, Taylor County’s Quentin Goodin and Owen County’s Carson Williams.
If ever there was a sure thing to win Kentucky’s Miss Basketball award, Elizabethtown High School’s Erin Boley would seem to be the one.
She’s been named a McDonald’s All-American and is among five finalists from around the nation for the Naismith Player of the Year award. She’s signed with Notre Dame, scored 3,276 career points and led E’town to the Sweet 16 for the third straight year.
But when it comes to Kentucky’s most prestigious awards for high school basketball, there’s no such thing as a sure thing.
And, perhaps, that’s the reason the annual debate over who should win Mr. and Miss Basketball is so passionate, especially this year.
“Everybody has an opinion,” said Scott Chalk, the boys basketball coach at Paul Dunbar and the executive director of the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches. “There’s never been a kid who’s received 100 percent of the Mr. or Miss Basketball votes, and there never will be.
“Some people have dumb reasons for the way they vote, and some people have great reasons. But who’s to say there’s only one way it can be?”
The Kentucky Lions Eye Foundation, in conjunction with the KABC, sponsors the awards and will name the 2016 winners during a ceremony Tuesday in Lexington, Ky.
When the season began in November, Taylor County’s Quentin Goodin and Boley appeared to be locks to take home Mr. and Miss Basketball and likely remain the front-runners. But a pair of big-time scorers from small schools – Owen County’s Carson Williams and Jenkins’ Whitney Creech – captured the imaginations of several voters this season and furthered the debate: What criteria should voters use to determine the winners?
For the record, the only set criteria is that only seniors can win. Every coach in the state and select media members can nominate up to five candidates for both awards. The KABC Player of the Year in each region automatically is named a finalist, along with any others the organizers choose to add based on the nominees from the coaches and media.
The debate generally boils down to two questions. One, is it an award based on career accomplishments or just those during your senior year? Two, should recruiting ratings, AAU accolades and college potential factor into the discussion?
For Butler girls basketball coach Larry Just, the award is based solely on a player’s accomplishments during his or her senior season. Therefore, he doesn’t factor the 1,065 points Creech scored as a member of the Jenkins varsity teams from the fifth through eighth grades.
“I’m sorry, but that’s not high school basketball,” Just said. “I’m old school. All of your freshman, sophomore and junior years add up to you should be ready to have your best year as a senior. To me, the bulk of your work is your senior year, not everything else that brought you to that point.”
From there, Just said, it’s a matter of strong play against strong competition.
“I know sometimes that’s unfair because certain teams can’t schedule certain people,” he said. “But you can’t penalize the kids that do. That award to me is for people who have put themselves out there on bigger stages. As coaches you have to help figure out ways to help that.”
Goodin and Boley both hold big advantages over their competition when it comes to recruiting rankings.
Goodin, a Xavier University signee, is a four-star recruit according to Rivals.com. Williams, a Northern Kentucky University signee, does not have a star rating by Rivals.com.
Boley is a five-star recruit, according to the Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. Creech, a Western Kentucky University signee, is not rated.
Now the boys basketball coach at Woodford County, Scott Hundley was named Mr. Basketball as a senior at Scott County in 2000. He said recruiting rankings aren’t a factor when he votes.
“That’s when my coach’s side comes out and says, ‘If it’s based on a ranking, why even play the games?’” Hundley said. “You play the games to see who is who. A lot of those rankings don’t account for how that player meshes with his team or how he makes everyone else better. It’s just about how talented a player is and what his ceiling is.”
Owen County coach Devin Duvall said Goodin’s advantage over Williams among the recruiting services shouldn’t be a factor when voting for Mr. Basketball. He also noted Williams’ Owen County team defeated Goodin’s Taylor County squad 75-63 when the two met Dec. 22 at the King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic. Williams had 28 points and 11 rebounds. Goodin had 30 points and six rebounds.
“That’s great, for next year,” Duvall said of the ratings. “But the best high school basketball player in the state of Kentucky is Carson Williams. It’s not an award based on what people say his future is or what people say Quentin’s future is. We know he has a couple more stars by his name, but head-to-head, Carson won.”
But Taylor County coach Richard Gatewood said Goodin played against a tougher schedule than Williams this season and also noted that Goodin plays along another big-time scorer in junior guard David Sloan.
“If Quentin didn’t play with another 1,000-point scorer … and switched schedules with Owen County, how many more points would he have?” Gatewood said. “I don’t think there’s any question he’s the best player in the state.”
For some, it’s a simple matter of an eye test.
E’town girls coach Tim Mudd said he voted for Allen County-Scottsville’s Morgan Rich for Miss Basketball last year because he hadn’t seen Bell County’s Maci Morris, who won the award.
Mudd believes it’s obvious Boley should win Miss Basketball this season but understands why others may not agree.
“Of all the characteristics and qualities people use, I don’t know that any of them are wrong,” Mudd said. “I always just vote for who I believe is the best player in the state of Kentucky.”
But how does one decide who that is?
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.
A look at the top candidates for Kentucky’s Mr. and Miss Basketball awards:
QUENTIN GOODIN
* School: Taylor County.
* Height: 6-4.
* Scoring average: 23.1 ppg.
* Rebounding average: 7.9 rpg.
* Career points: 2,928.
* College choice: Xavier.
CARSON WILLIAMS
* School: Owen County.
* Height: 6-6.
* Scoring average: 26.7 ppg.
* Rebounding average: 10.8 ppg.
* Career points: 2,967.
* College choice: Northern Kentucky.
ERIN BOLEY
* School: Elizabethtown.
* Height: 6-2.
* Scoring average: 24.4 ppg.
* Rebounding average: 10.7 rpg.
* Career points: 3,276.
* College choice: Notre Dame.
WHITNEY CREECH
* School: Jenkins.
* Height: 5-9.
* Scoring average: 50.3 ppg.
* Rebounding average: 14.0 rpg.
* Career points: 5,527 (No. 1 in state history).
* College choice: Western Kentucky.