The Dawahares/KHSAA announced its Class of 2023 inductees on Friday.
Among them are five who either played or coached at a Northern Kentucky school: Jared Lorenzen and Derek Smith (Highlands), Dave Cowens (Newport Central Catholic), Dan Goble (Lloyd Memorial) and Randy Reese (Ludlow).
Lorenzen and Smith led Highlands to the 1998 Class 3A football state title, finishing with a 15-0 record. Lorenzen was Kentucky’s Mr. Football in that year, throwing for 3,392 yards and 42 touchdowns while rushing for 904 yards and 15 touchdowns. Lorenzen is still the University of Kentucky’s all-time passing leader with 10,354 yards. He won a Super Bowl as a member of the New York Giants in 2008. Lorenzen is also a member of the UK Athletics Hall of Fame.
Smith added his second football state championship with Highlands in 1999. That year, Smith was runner-up for both the Kentucky Mr. Football and Mr. Basketball awards. He was a first-team all-state selection in both sports – three seasons in basketball, two in football. He won the Paul Hornung Award and Gatorade Player of the Year for football. In basketball, Smith was the 1999 Region 9 Player of the Year and finished with 2,229 career points. He was an All-SEC tight end at UK and ended up playing one year with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Cowens was the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 1973, and eight-time all-star and the 1971 Rookie of the Year after being selected fourth overall by the Boston Celtics in the 1970 NBA Draft. He won two championships with Boston. During his two seasons at Newport Central Catholic, he helped lead the Thoroughbreds to a 50-11 record, two district titles and a region crown. At Florida State, Cowens still hold the record for most career rebounds and is among the top 10 in all-time points. His jersey has been retired by both the Seminoles and the Celtics. Cowens is also a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Goble led Lloyd Memorial to a 12-1 football season, which is its best record in school history. Goble also holds that distinction at Atherton, Christian County and Shelby County. He won two state championships as head coach at Christian County.
Reese won the 1975 Class A state championship with Ludlow before going on to win two more with Paris in 1981 and 1982. His Paris teams put together a 38-game win streak.
The remaining Hall of Fame class includes Carolyn Alexander (Hazard/basketball), Candy Berry (Greenup County/cheerleading coach), Greg Brohm (Trinity/football), Jermaine Brown (Fairdale/basketball), Megan Gearhart (West Carter/basketball), Barry BB King (Knott County Central, Letcher County Central, Breathitt County/basketball player, coach), Randy Napier (MC Napier, Perry County Central/basketball coach), Charlie Tyra (Atherton/basketball) and George Unseld (Seneca/basketball player, coach).
This class will be inducted on Sunday, April 30 at the Central Bank Center Ballroom in Lexington. Tickets to the ceremony will be available for purchase beginning Feb. 6 at KHSAAtickets.org.