Midseason Mr. Basketball Predictions

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The season is already past the halfway point and we are a month away from postseason basketball kicking off. Ballots for 2025 Mr. Basketball are out and votes are being sent in. Let's breakdown what the race looks like at this point.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">The Favorite: [player_tooltip player_id='1130310' first='Malachi' last='Moreno'], Great Crossing</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1130310"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67964f557ec7b"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">In reality, Moreno locked up the award the moment he committed to playing his college basketball at Kentucky. Beyond the fact that Malachi has had a great career, voters love to pick the kid who is going to Kentucky. Just to be clear, [player_tooltip player_id='1130310' first='Malachi' last='Moreno'] is the most deserving candidate and is going to win (barring a monumental upset).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">The Second Favorite: [player_tooltip player_id='1089524' first='Zander' last='Carter'], Ashland Blazer</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1089524"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67964f557ecf4"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Any other year in Kentucky and Zander is the likely favorite for the award. Averaging 24 points and 6 rebounds per game with splits of 61/49/69 and leading the Tomcats to a record of 13-5 while playing a ridiculously tough schedule, the Liberty signee is having a huge season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Predicting Regional Players of the Year:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1st Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1513532' first='Jonah' last='Butler'], Calloway County</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2nd Region - [player_tooltip player_id='2299234' first='Kanyon' last='Johnson'], Madisonville-North Hopkins</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>3rd Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1229151' first='Ty' last='Price'], Butler County</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>4th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='2524301' first='Ant' last='McAfee'], Warren Central</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>5th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1130308' first='Connor' last='Loy'], Adair County</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>6th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1876861' first='Prince' last='Kahnplaye'], Jeffersontown</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>7th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='2115231' first='Justice' last='Decker'], DuPont Manual</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>8th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1876862' first='Aaron' last='Gutman'], Walton-Verona</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>9th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='2357590' first='Andy' last='Johnson'], Cooper</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>10th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='2694631' first='Garyn' last='Jackson'], Campbell County</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>11th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1130310' first='Malachi' last='Moreno'], Great Crossing</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>12th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='2323778' first='Titus' last='Boyd'], Danville Christian Academy</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>13th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1130313' first='Maddox' last='Huff'], Harlan County</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>14th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='2749445' first='Evin' last='Eversole'], Hazard</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>15th Region - Parker Watts, Martin County</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>16th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1089524' first='Zander' last='Carter'], Ashland Blazer</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->