The state of Kentucky continues to produce Division I basketball talent

The state of Kentucky’s 2023 high school class kicked off the beginning of a trend that continues to gain steam — more and more Bluegrass-born basketball players are taking their talents to the Division I level and beyond.

Kentucky hasn’t necessarily been lacking in skilled homegrown recruits over the years, but things took a turn for the better when North Laurel’s Reed Sheppard established himself as one of the nation’s top high school prospects. After an unexpected Freshman of the Year campaign with the Kentucky Wildcats, Sheppard was the 3rd overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets.

In a way, Sheppard — along with Lexington Catholic seven-footer Reece Potter, who started at Miami (OH) before making his way to UK this offseason — kicked off the start of a movement that is now consistently sending in-state natives to UK. There have always been talented players flowing in and out of the state, but not to this level in recent memory.

First to follow in Sheppard’s footsteps were class of 2024 prospects Trent Noah and Travis Perry, who were both top 150 national prospects and started their college careers at Kentucky (Perry has since transferred to Ole Miss). Class of 2025 prospects Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno, considered top 35 national recruits, are about to enter their freshman campaigns as Wildcats. The class of 2026 could be a repeat of 2025 with top 15 prospects Tyran Stokes (No. 1 overall) and Tay Kinney (No. 13) both being heavily recruited by Kentucky head coach Mark Pope.

That’s about as impressive a run of homegrown talent as you’ll ever see in the state of Kentucky.

“I think we’re producing what needs to be produced,” Moreno told reporters earlier this week when asked about the state’s talent influx. “Like a lot of people say that Kentucky doesn’t produce NBA talent. And I think the four of us (Moreno, Johnson, Kinney, and Stokes), we’re some of the four best players in the country. I think now we’re starting to get rid of that narrative that Kentucky doesn’t produce talent and now people are starting to see, if you’re from Kentucky, as long as you want it, you can go get it.“

It’s not just Kentucky-level players making a name for themselves in recent years, either. We can go back and point to the likes of Ballard’s Gabe Sisk (class of 2023; ETSU), Elizabethtown’s Ayden Evans (2024; Ohio), Warren Central’s Kade Unseld (2024; Western Kentucky), Lloyd Memorial’s EJ Walker (2025; South Carolina), and others as other current Division I players who carved out a path in the Bluegrass State on their way to the DI ranks.

More will be on the way in the coming years.

Woodford County’s Armelo Boone (2025; Western Kentucky) and Harlan County’s Maddox Huff (2025; ETSU) are about to embark on their college journeys. Over the past week, Male’s Cole Edelen (2026; Western Kentucky) and North Laurel’s Reece Davidson (2026; Liberty) committed to mid-major programs. Trinity’s Jayden Johnson (2026) and Washington County’s Gabe Weis (2026), who will play at out-of-state prep schools in the 2025-26 season, are considered top 150 recruits in the nation.

Looking even further ahead, Newport’s Griffins Starks (2027), also heading to prep school next season, is already ranked as a top 80 player in his class and is hearing from the likes of Ohio State, Penn State, Cincinnati, Florida State, and West Virginia. St. Xavier’s Josh Lindsay (2028) expects to be among the country’s best recruits as he continues to develop. Those are far from the only future college players suiting up to play ball in the Bluegrass, too.

The state of Kentucky doesn’t seem to have a talent problem right now — the next step is figuring out how to keep them all from transferring out of state once their stock begins to blow up.