Hoops stars Mackey, Miller to get full exposure

Bud Mackey of Scott County and Darius Miller of Mason County (shown at right going against each other this past season) are projected to be the front-runners in the race for Mr. Basketball next season. Rick Bolus’ High Potential Recruiting Service rates Mackey and Miller 1-2 in his “Kentucky Top Rising Prospects for 2007-08.” In the coaches’ voting for the Herald-Leader all-state team, Miller edged Mackey as the top junior. Mackey has commited to Indiana. Miller is undecided on a college.

Both players will get full exposure next season, including a showdown between each other in Maysvill the second week of January. That’s only one of several high-profile games they’ll play. Scott County Coach Billy Hicks and Mason County Coach Chris O’Hearn will test their teams against some of the best competition in the nation.

Reigning state champ Scott County will open the 2007-08 season at state runner-up Ballard, then go to the Marshall County HoopFest where it may be matched against Chicago Simeon. The Cardinals will play in the City of Palms tournament in Fort Myers, Fla., the week before Christmas, and the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C., the week after. A trip to Springfield, Mass., for a Basketball Hall of Fame game against St. Anthony (N.J.) is scheduled for Martin Luther King holiday weekend. Back home Scott County’s opponents will include 11th Region rivals Bryan Station, Henry Clay, Lafayette, Lexington Catholic and Madison Central.

Hicks, now the winningest active boys’ coach in Kentucky with 684 wins, said somebody told him he’s a lock to reach 700 next year. “When I heard that I said, ‘Have you seen our schedule?’ We’ll be lucky to win 16 games next year.”

Mason County’s 2007-08 schedule includes a trip to Hawaii for a Nike-sponsored tournament the week before Christmas. “I’ve never been there before, and it’s one of the 15 things I wanted to do before I die,” O’Hearn said with a laugh. When Mason County returns from Pineapple Paradise, it’ll play in the Fifth Third Holiday Classic at Lexington Catholic. “We might have a little jet lag,” O’Hearn said. The Royals will play host to Scott County and Mackey the second week of January. They’ll also entertain Bryan Station and Henry Clay, and are booked in the Nissan on Nicholasville Shootout at Lexington Catholic, and the Kentucky Prep Classic in Montgomery County.

Bolus rates a couple of Rose Hill Christian sophomores-to-be — 6-foot-8 Dakota Euton and 6-4 Chad Jackson — among his top 12 players for next season. Here’s his dandy dozen, with their school and the class they’ll be in next school year:

1. Bud Mackey, Scott County (Sr.)
2. Darius Miller, Mason County (Sr.)
3. Dakota Euton, Rose Hill (So.)
4. Scotty Hopson, University Heights (Sr.)
5. Chad Jackson, Rose Hill (So.)
6. Aaron Morris, Madison Central (Sr.)
7. Victor Moses, Henry Clay (Sr.)
8. Shelvin Mack, Bryan Station (Sr.)
9. Clark Stepp, June Buchanan (Sr.)
10. Darnell Moore, Madisonville (Sr.)
11. C.J. Penny, Anderson County (Jr.)
12. Tyler Brown, Apollo (Sr.)

Top Sleeper: Eric Mosley, Fern Creek (Jr.)

Bolus also ranks a second 12:

1. Darren Ballou, Adair County (Jr.)
2. Jacob Jenkins, Manual (Jr.)
3. Tate Cox, June Buchanan (So.)
4. Arrez Henderson, Holmes (Sr.)
5. Josh Crawford, Corbin (Jr.)
6. Taylor Stewart, Lex. Catholic (Sr.)
7. Matt Thomas, Ashland Blazer (Sr.)
8. Nathan Novosel, Lex. Catholic (Sr.)
9. Nick Gagel, Jeffersontown (Sr.)
10. Landon Slone, Paintsville (Sr.)
11. Adam Decker, PRP (Sr.)
12. Aaron Watts, McCreary Central (So.)