Minnesota Mr. Basketball is an annual award recognizing excellence in Minnesota boys' high school basketball. The female equivalent is Minnesota Miss Basketball.
The award's legitimacy was challenged in February 2017 when Henry Sibley, Minnesota high school basketball coach John Carrier called out owner and chairman Ken Lien for his politicized anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant tweets from the @mrbasketballmn Twitter account. The Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association was among many who announced their support of Carrier's complaint.
The award was established in 1975 and is given to the person(s) chosen as the best high school boys' basketball senior in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The award is the fourth oldest such award in the nation; only Indiana Mr. Basketball, California Mr. Basketball, and Kentucky Mr. Basketball, which were first awarded in 1939, 1950, and 1956, respectively, predate it. A nine-member selection committee, headed by Ken Lien since 1977, has selected five finalists in March of every year since the award began. Those five finalists are chosen from a larger pool of 15 finalists picked in January, and the winner of the award is named in April. In order to select the most deserving student-athlete, the selection panel watches over 120 high school basketball games and creates detailed reviews on every one of them. The winner is then invited to an honorary dinner, along with the Minnesota Miss Basketball selection. Twice the panel chose two winners, in 1979 and 1998.
Six recipients of the Minnesota Mr. Basketball award were enrolled at Hopkins High School and Minneapolis North High School, the most of any high school. Most recipients go to Division I universities, with a high of 17 attending the University of Minnesota. Glynn, the 1975 winner; Jim Jensen, the 1978 winner; Steve Schlotthauer, the 1986 winner; Tom Conroy, the 1989 winner; Joel McDonald, the 1991 winner; and Bret Yonke, the 1992 winner, all attended Division II schools. Conroy attended Northeastern Illinois University, which upgraded to Division I in 1991, his sophomore year. Yonke began his career at Division I Northwestern and later transferred to Division II St. Cloud State due to lack of playing time. The 1981 winner, Redd Overton, never attended a university and chose the junior college route instead.
Joel Przybilla was the co-recipient of the award in 1998.Kris Humphries was the recipient of the award in 2003.Royce White was the recipient of the award in 2009.Tyus Jones was the 2013 recipient.
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