Anyone here remember Todd Lichti?
He was a total stud at Mt. Diablo HS (of all places) back in the 80's, scored a zillion points and dominated the old DVAL... I personally saw him play vs. my alma mater Berean Christian at the old carpeted (yes, I said "carpeted") gym the Eagles used to call home... After he felt his way around the strange floor for several minutes, he settled in and totally tore my Eagles apart... But I digress...
Then he went to Stanford and was the biggest factor in their first trip to the NCAA tournament in 47 years. Followed his Stanford career with a few years in the NBA and a few more in Australia pro leagues (where I understand he was a major star).
Now, he's been named to the National Collegiate Basketball HOF in Kansas City's "Basketball Experience" museum. (Okay, this news is a couple weeks old, but I just today found out).
Bonus trivia: My mom was Todd's 5th-grade teacher. I was between jobs and helped out a little with her class's President's Physical Fitness tests (remember those?), with Mom dangling this carrot in front of me so I'd do it:
A lot of her kids had good scores in the various events, except for the "standing broad jump" as they called in back then... It so happens this event was just about the only athletic thing I was ever any good at (held my high-school record for a couple years), and getting a good jump is mostly a technique thing... I was happy to show off a little and then try to teach the kids how to get good balance and momentum for the jump. Most of the kids improved a little bit, but...
One kid improved by a foot in something like five minutes by just following my tips... Yup, that was Todd. He was more coordinated, faster, stronger than everyone, and picked up my instructions practically immediately. Could already tell he had potential to be a real athlete in a few years, and even told him so.
He was a total stud at Mt. Diablo HS (of all places) back in the 80's, scored a zillion points and dominated the old DVAL... I personally saw him play vs. my alma mater Berean Christian at the old carpeted (yes, I said "carpeted") gym the Eagles used to call home... After he felt his way around the strange floor for several minutes, he settled in and totally tore my Eagles apart... But I digress...
Then he went to Stanford and was the biggest factor in their first trip to the NCAA tournament in 47 years. Followed his Stanford career with a few years in the NBA and a few more in Australia pro leagues (where I understand he was a major star).
Now, he's been named to the National Collegiate Basketball HOF in Kansas City's "Basketball Experience" museum. (Okay, this news is a couple weeks old, but I just today found out).
Bonus trivia: My mom was Todd's 5th-grade teacher. I was between jobs and helped out a little with her class's President's Physical Fitness tests (remember those?), with Mom dangling this carrot in front of me so I'd do it:
A lot of her kids had good scores in the various events, except for the "standing broad jump" as they called in back then... It so happens this event was just about the only athletic thing I was ever any good at (held my high-school record for a couple years), and getting a good jump is mostly a technique thing... I was happy to show off a little and then try to teach the kids how to get good balance and momentum for the jump. Most of the kids improved a little bit, but...
One kid improved by a foot in something like five minutes by just following my tips... Yup, that was Todd. He was more coordinated, faster, stronger than everyone, and picked up my instructions practically immediately. Could already tell he had potential to be a real athlete in a few years, and even told him so.
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