The Kentucky High School Athletic Association boys' and girls' state basketball championships are single elimination tournaments held each March featuring 16 high schools. Colloquially known as the Sweet Sixteen (the KHSAA holds a trademark on the phrase). Since 2019, both the boys' and girls' tournaments takes place over four days at downtown Lexington's Rupp Arena.
History The Kentucky High School Boys' Basketball State Tournament began in 1918. For the first fourteen years, there were 18 regions that encompassed the tournament. Since 1932, there have only been 16 regions, thus the term "Sweet Sixteen" was coined. Kentucky is one of only two states (Delaware is the other) that still play a state tournament without a class system that divides large and small schools into separate tournaments.
The first six tournaments were held at the University of Kentucky gymnasium in Lexington. After 1923, the tournament continued to be held in Lexington, but moved to the new Alumni Gymnasium on UK's campus which had become the new venue for the university's basketball teams, where it stayed from 1924 until 1944. In 1945, the tournament moved to the Louisville Gardens until 1950, when it moved back to Lexington and took up residence at Memorial Coliseum, again on the UK campus. Once construction was complete on Freedom Hall in Louisville, the 1957 tournament was held there and returned in odd-numbered years.
In 1965, Freedom Hall agreed to host the tournament for fourteen consecutive years until 1978. The opening of Rupp Arena in 1979 led to the tournament's return to Lexington, where it remains to the present day. However, Freedom Hall has hosted the tournament six times since then, the most recent being in 1994.
Both the boys' and girls' tournaments were cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.KHSAA cancels 2020 spring sports season, Sweet 16 tournaments
In 2026, George Rogers Clark became the first school in the modern era to claim both the boys and girls State Championships in the same season.
Notable participants Boys' Tournament Notable participants in the Kentucky High School Boys' Basketball State Tournament Player Years High School College Notes Butch Beard 1964, 1965 Breckinridge County Louisville Mr. Basketball '65; pick, 1969 draft; Atlanta Hawks Ralph Beard 1944, 1945 Louisville Male Kentucky Indianapolis Olympians Brian Brohm 2004 Trinity (Louisville) Louisville (football) Green Bay Packers (football) Greg Buckner 1992, 1994 University Heights (Hopkinsville) Clemson Dallas Mavericks Michael Bush 2001 Louisville Male Louisville (football) Chicago Bears (football) Mike Casey 1965, 1966 Shelby County (Shelbyville) Kentucky Mr. Basketball '66 Rex Chapman 1985 Apollo (Owensboro) Kentucky Mr. Basketball '86; pick, 1988 draft; Charlotte Hornets Kelly Coleman 1956 Wayland Kentucky Wesleyan Mr. Basketball '56; holds overall PPG and single-game scoring/rebound tournament records Tim Couch 1990 Leslie County Kentucky (football) Cleveland Browns (football) Dave Cowens 1966 Newport Central Catholic Florida State Boston Celtics Johnny Cox 1953, 1955 Hazard Kentucky Chicago Packers Wesley Cox 1973 Louisville Male Louisville Mr. Basketball '73; pick, 1977 draft; Golden State Warriors Richie Farmer 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 Clay County (Manchester) Kentucky Played in '84 season as grader; Mr. Basketball '88 Travis Ford 1989 Madisonville Kentucky St. Louis Billikens head coach (men's basketball) Jack Givens 1972, 1974 Lexington Bryan Station Kentucky Mr. Basketball '74; pick, 1978 draft; Atlanta Hawks Darrell Griffith 1974, 1975 Louisville Male Louisville Mr. Basketball '76; pick, 1980 draft; Utah Jazz Cliff Hagan 1948, 1949 Owensboro Kentucky St. Louis Hawks Clem Haskins 1963 Taylor County Western Kentucky Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns Dominique Hawkins 2013 Madison Central (Richmond) Kentucky Mr. Basketball '13 Allan Houston 1987, 1988 Ballard (Louisville) Tennessee Mr. Basketball '89; pick, 1993 draft; New York Knicks Wallace "Wah Wah" Jones 1942, 1944, 1945 Harlan Kentucky Indianapolis Olympians Roy Kidd 1950 Corbin Eastern Kentucky Hall of Fame coach (football) Jeff Lamp 1977 Ballard (Louisville) Virginia Mr. Basketball '77; 1981 NCAA All-American; pick, 1981 draft Dan Langhi 1995 Marshall County Vanderbilt SEC Player of the Year '00; 31st pick, 2000 draft; Rockets, Suns Chris Lofton 2002, 2003, 2004 Mason County Tennessee Mr. Basketball '04; SEC Player of the Year '07; NCAA All-American 2007/2008 O. J. Mayo 2003 Rose Hill Christian (Ashland) Southern California pick, 2008 NBA draft; Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks, Milwaukee Bucks Jim McDaniels 1967 Allen County (Scottsville) Western Kentucky Mr. Basketball '67; Seattle SuperSonics Darius Miller 2008 Mason County Kentucky Mr. Basketball '08; New Orleans Pelicans Dirk Minniefield 1979 Lexington Lafayette Kentucky Mr. Basketball '79; Cleveland Cavaliers Frank Selvy 1950 Corbin Furman Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers Mike Silliman 1962 St. Xavier (Louisville) Army Mr. Basketball '62; Buffalo Braves Dwight Smith 1963 Princeton Dotson Western Kentucky Milwaukee Bucks Felton Spencer 1985, 1986 Eastern (Louisville) Louisville Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks Wes Unseld 1963, 1964 Seneca MCA (Louisville) Louisville Mr. Basketball '64; pick, 1968 draft; Washington Wizards J.R. VanHoose 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 Paintsville Marshall Mr. Basketball '98 Player Years High School College Notes
2026 Tournament Results
-:Note: First round seeds indicate ordinal position by region, match-ups are determined by random draw.
-:Note: First round seeds indicate ordinal position by region, match-ups are determined by random draw.
Boys' Basketball State Championship Tournament results, by year