Our Kentucky high school boys basketball preseason poll: Meet the top 25 teams in state

Here is The Courier Journal’s preseason boys basketball top 25, as voted by the state’s coaches. A total of 96 coaches returned ballots. First-place votes are in parentheses:

Team Region 2022-23 record

1. Lyon County (23) 2^nd 31-6

Travis Perry (UK commit), state’s scoring leader, is Mr. Basketball front-runner

2. Great Crossing (21) 11^th 28-6

Malachi Moreno, 7-foot-1 star, is a top junior recruit

3. Trinity (11) 7^th 24-8

Shamrocks led by senior Drae Vasser, sophomore Jayden Johnson

4. Warren Central (14) 4^th 36-1

Kade Unseld (WKU commit) only returning starter for 2023 champs

5. Frederick Douglass (2) 11^th 33-3

Armelo Boone leads way for 2023 Sweet 16 semifinal squad

6. Male (6) 7^th 26-11

Sharpshooter Cole Edelen among Bulldog’s three returning starters

7. Bowling Green (5) 4^th 26-9

Mason Ritter is a double-double machine for the Purples

8. Evangel Christian 6^th 29-5

Kyran Tilley, Christian Doerr form one of state’s top backcourts

9. Newport (7) 9^th 28-7

Point guard Taylen Kinney is one of state’s top sophomores

10. Covington Catholic (3) 9^th 27-5

Tennis star Brady Hussey also a tough guard for the Colonels

11. Elizabethtown 5^th 24-10

6-10 Ayden Evans (Ohio signee) is one of state’s top bigs

12. Mason County (1) 10^th 29-6

Royals added talented transfer in Blake Reed (Bracken County)

13. George Rogers Clark (1) 10^th 30-6

Cardinals must replace four starters from state runner-up squad

14. DeSales (1) 6^th 21-12

Will Gibson (Liberty signee), Damone King (Manual transfer) lead

15. Woodford County 8^th 22-13

State semifinalist lost talented Jasper Johnson to transfer

16. Lexington Catholic 11^th 32-3

Tyler Doyle (Bellarmine signee) expected to have big season

17. Ballard (1) 7^th 26-5

Junior Sam Frazier only returning starter from last season

18. Harlan County 13^th 27-6

Trent Noah (South Carolina commit) leads way for Black Bears

19. St. Xavier 7^th 18-14

Tigers have young stars in Jeremiah Jackson, Chance Dillingham

20. Ashland Blazer 16^th 23-12

Zander Carter (Liberty commit) among state’s top junior guards

21. Butler 6^th 23-9

Senior Dayton Williams one of the top guards in Louisville

22. Danville Christian 12^th 14-14

Warriors emerging behind senior Emmanuel Dut, junior Lual Ayiei

23. Manual 7^th 21-12

Crimsons expect wing Justice Decker to have big junior year

24. Washington County 5^th 23-10

6-6 forward Gabe Weis one of state’s top sophomore recruits

25. Boyd County 16^th 27-6

Sophomore Jacob Spurlock leads high-scoring Lions

Travis Perry: Lyon County basketball star, state's leading scorer commits to Kentucky

Reach Jason Frakes at jfrakes@courier-journal.com and follow him on X @kyhighs.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA basketball rankings: Lyon County tops our boys preseason poll