NCAA Basketball: 10 best players from state of Kentucky of last decade

5. Taveion Hollingsworth – Western Kentucky

Moving forward, we take a look at a talented guard that Rick Stansbury recruited to Western Kentucky. Hollingsworth is a 6’2 guard from Lexington who spent his entire collegiate career with the Hilltoppers. The 3-star recruit was the best high school basketball player in the state, but chose Western Kentucky, playing for them between 2017 and 2021.

Hollingsworth started all but one of the 131 games in his career, making an impact already as a freshman. That season he had a 30-point effort in a win at North Texas, and had another 30-burger in an NIT win at Oklahoma State. He averaged at least 13 points per game in each season, reaching 16.6 points per game during a dynamic junior season. While he never played in the NCAA Tournament at Western Kentucky, he did have a 43-point effort in a win over Louisiana Tech right before the pandemic.

Hollingsworth was named to the All-CUSA teams three times in his career. He was a dynamic scorer and shooter who ranks among the all-time conference leaders in a number of cumulative categories, including for his 81.8% free throw percentage. His basketball career has continued professional in Austria. He didn’t get the chance to thrive in the Big Dance, but he still put up some pretty incredible numbers along the way.