In order to be considered for the award, nominees must have been nominated by their high school coach, started in 90 percent of all games, must be high school seniors, and must be of "outstanding moral character".
[1] Ten boys are selected as finalists after nominations are compiled, and a special committee of assistant college coaches in Missouri choose the winner.
The first recipient of the honor was Monroe Douglas in 1985, who is the fourth all-time leading scorer for the Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball team in total points with 1,877 points and was named to their all-century team.
[2] Two sets of brothers, JarRon and Kareem Rush along with Tyler and Ben Hansbrough, have received the honor.
Other recipients of the honor have played with professional teams in Europe and Asia including Michael Dixon, who played for the Georgia national basketball team in the EuroBasket 2017 qualification tournament.