Way Too Early 2026 Mr. Basketball Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With the AAU season underway and summer basketball around the corner, let's take a minute to look ahead to next high school season and do some early handicapping of the field for 2026 Mr. Basketball award. Here's an early look at contenders for the award.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Favorite:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1558733' first='Reece' last='Davidson'], North Laurel - Reece has been a top 5 or better prospect in the state the last year or two and had a monster showing at Rupp Arena in front of most the voters in March. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Second Favorite:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1359139' first='Jayden' last='Johnson'], Trinity - Jayden has been a big name and nationally ranked for a long time now. With a good regular season, he could move into the top spot. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Question Mark:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2726831' first='Jake' last='Feldhaus'], Madison Central - He's got a Kentucky famous last name and just had a huge Junior season. Don't sleep on the potential for another huge season for Jake and a push towards the award.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Predicting Regional Players of the Year:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1st Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1543353' first='Jackson' last='Klope'], McCracken County</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2nd Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1894141' first='Tylin' last='George'], University Heights Academy</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>3rd Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1359130' first='Jonathan' last='Moss'], Daviess County</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>4th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='2515142' first='Cade' last='Button'], Metcalfe County</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>5th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1902675' first='Jaylin' last='Craine'], Caverna</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>6th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1543629' first='Dayvone' last='Harrison'], Moore</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>7th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1359139' first='Jayden' last='Johnson'], Trinity or [player_tooltip player_id='1359140' first='Cole' last='Edelen'], Male</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>8th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='2175419' first='Kolton' last='Wuchterl'], South Oldham</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>9th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='2248846' first='Anthony' last='Blaackar'], Lloyd Memorial</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>10th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='2120028' first='Malachi' last='Ashford'], George Rogers Clark</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>11th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1543594' first='DeMarcus' last='Surratt'], Frederick Douglass or [player_tooltip player_id='2726831' first='Jake' last='Feldhaus'], Madison Central</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>12th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1543201' first='Walker' last='Craig'], Rockcastle County</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>13th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1558733' first='Reece' last='Davidson'], North Laurel</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>14th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1901831' first='Daulton' last='Combs'], Hazard</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>15th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='2634565' first='Kaiden' last='Harris'], Lawrence County</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>16th Region - [player_tooltip player_id='1359133' first='Jacob' last='Spurlock'], Boyd County</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->