Gene Rhodes, Jim Rose, Dwight Smith and Harry Todd all had standout careers as basketball players at Western Kentucky.

But before those four were Hilltoppers, they were all high school basketball stars in the state of Kentucky. It’s for that portion of their careers that Rhodes, Rose, Smith and Todd will all be honored Saturday night.

The Hilltopper quartet will be among 17 former players and coaches inducted into the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame in Elizabethtown. They’ll be part of the Hall of Fame’s fifth class.

Rhodes, Rose, Smith and Todd will join Clem Haskins, Clemette Haskins, Jim McDaniels and Geri Grigsby (2012 class), Sharon Garland and Jaime Walz Richey (2013), John Oldham and Crystal Kelly (2014) and Bobby Rascoe and Lillie Mason (2015) as former WKU players in the KHSBHOF.

“It was a recognition, this High School Hall of Fame, that I certainly didn’t expect,” Rhodes told the Daily News on Wednesday. “I’ve been away from it an awfully long time.

“I’m most appreciative, looking forward to being one of the folks honored Saturday night.”

Rhodes, a Louisville native and resident, helped Male High School secure Sweet 16 berths in 1944, ’45 and ’46. He was a first-team all-state player in 1945 and ’46 and was named to the all-state tournament team in 1945.

Rhodes also later coached at Male and St. Xavier High School, where he won the 1958 state title.

“Remembering my Male High days and my Western Kentucky days,” Rhodes said, “they’re really the two highlights not only of an athletic career, but also just in developing lifelong relationships with other people.”

Rhodes scored 1,029 career points as a player under coach E.A. Diddle at WKU. His coaching career eventually led him to an assistant position with the Hilltoppers under former teammate John Oldham, and he later became coach of the ABA’s Kentucky Colonels.

Rhodes was drafted out of WKU by the NBA’s Indianapolis Olympians.

Rhodes recalled his friendships with teammates and the atmosphere at home games as some of his favorite memories of his college career.

“I would say I came away with the typical feeling of really having grown and expanded in my experiences of dealing with other people and with a great, great love for Western and respect for the people there,” Rhodes said. “That still remains with me.”

Rhodes coached Smith during his time as an assistant from 1965-67. Smith, who died in a 1967 car accident, will be inducted posthumously.

Smith, a Princeton native, led now-defunct Dotson High School to the state tournament in 1963 and made the all-tourney team with future teammate Clem Haskins.

Smith ranks 33rd in WKU history with 1,142 career points and ninth in career rebounding average at 11 per game.

The top rebounding college guard of his time, Smith was part of Hilltopper teams that were ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation.

Smith was drafted by both the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and the ABA’s Colonels in 1967 before his death.

“Dwight was an outstanding player and all of the people who saw him play … knew the quality of player he was and the future that he had,” Rhodes said. “He would’ve been a really good pro.

“He had the size, he had the speed, he could shoot it, he’d guard somebody, had a good head on him, good teammate, great attitude – he had all of that going for him.”

Rose, who died in 2009, will also be inducted posthumously Saturday.

Rose helped Hazard High School to three straight Sweet 16 appearances in 1964, ’65 and ’66. He was named all-state in his final three high school seasons and was selected to the Parade All-American team in 1967.

His success continued at WKU, where he scored 1,133 career points (34th in school history). He was a key member of nationally ranked Hilltopper teams, including the 1971 NCAA Final Four club.

Jim Richards, who was head coach of the Hilltoppers from 1972-78, coached Rose during his time as an assistant under Oldham from 1969-71.

Rose “was a terrific player coming into Western to start with and a guy that felt like he could make shots and felt like he could go past you on the dribble… and pass the basketball,” Richards said. “He was a very complete player, particularly an outstanding shooter from outside – really, really good.

“He could take the ball, as they call it in today’s vernacular, off the bounce, a dribble or two and go up and shoot a jump shot.”

Rose averaged 15.4 points per game in 1971, tied with Jerry Dunn for second on that team only to Jim McDaniels’ 29.3 ppg average.

Rose’s backcourt defense was one of the key factors in the Hilltoppers’ 107-83 win against Kentucky in the 1971 NCAA Tournament, Richards said.

Rose was drafted by the NBA’s Boston Celtics and ABA’s Memphis Tams in 1971.

Rose “had the physical skills to play the game at any time or era,” Richards said. “He could really shoot the basketball.

“In today’s game where there’s a lot of screen-and-roll, Jim Rose would’ve been really good in that scenario because he could come off that screen and if you didn’t switch on him, he could pop it in a hurry.”

Todd averaged 30 points and 20 rebounds as a senior at now-defunct Earlington High School in 1958 and led his team to the 1956 state tournament his sophomore year. He received first-team all-state honors from 1956-58 and shared Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball award in 1958 with Ralph Richardson.

The Mr. Basketball honor has been a lasting part of Todd’s life. Several years ago he helped organize what he described as a fraternity for the state’s Mr. Basketball winners.

Todd’s a member of three other Halls of Fame, but said Mr. Basketball is the label that sticks with him to this day.

“Tomorrow night I’ll be in four Halls of Fame but I see people nearly every day in my daily walk that’ll say, ‘Aren’t you Harry Todd? You were Mr. Basketball,’” Todd said. “You’d think they’d say, ‘Aren’t you a Hall of Famer?’ But they don’t do that. Mr. Basketball is the thing.”

Todd led WKU in rebounding for three straight seasons from 1960-62 and finished his career ranked seventh in school history in career rebounds with 924.

Todd then went on to a 30-year career with the U.S. Army, including a stint as command sergeant major at Fort Campbell before his retirement in 1991.

Todd, a Cadiz resident, then served as tourism director in Trigg County before going into the ministry. He’s now a Methodist minister at a church in Livingston County.

“It fits there right with the other accomplishments and recognition I have received over the years,” Todd said of his induction Saturday. “I’m very proud to be a member of it.”

– Follow Daily News sports reporter Brad Stephens on Twitter @Stephens_Brad or visit bgdailynews.com.