Very true although these discussions typically take into account whether a player made it to the pro ranks.
Who is the best player ever to come out of your city or area?
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Very true although these discussions typically take into account whether a player made it to the pro ranks.
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Wolfe Perry. Tech
Northern Shavers Tech
John Williams Crenshaw
Richard Hamilton Verbum Dei
David Greenwood Verbum Dei
Glenn Burke Berkeley
Bill Laimbeer Palos Verdes
Nate Williams Mac
John (sIc) Williamson Emery
Dell Demps. Mt. Eden
J. R. Rider. What might have been.
Wolfe Perry. Tech
Northern Shavers Tech
John Williams Crenshaw
Richard Hamilton Verbum Dei
David Greenwood Verbum Dei
Glenn Burke Berkeley
Bill Laimbeer Palos Verdes
Nate Williams Mac
John (sIc) Williamson Emery
Dell Demps. Mt. Eden
J. R. Rider. What might have been.
I put Lin on the list as he was a pioneer in being the first Asian-American kid to win an State Title against against national power, Mater Dei, in HS, go on and have a very good career at Harvard, and has been a solid NBA pro. And all the time being underrated and/or subject to institutional racism - Stanford did not want him, the opposing fans in college (we're talking Ivy League here) shouting Asian hate remarks, and the whole "Linsanity" fiasco in NY that wasn't his doing, but the media's. He has become a solid role model for all student-athletes of every ethnicity.
Doug True from College Park back in the 70s was the best big man to come out of the Diablo Valley. 4 year starter at Berkeley. Drafted by the Suns. Made the team, but was offered more by Boeing as an engineer, and his wife was pregnant, so he chose the more stable career.
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Lin absolutely belongs. I will always remember that MD game when he put himself on the map. But nobody and I mean nobody saw this coming. What a success story.
Maybe I'm showing my age but the Ogden brothers (Bud and Ralph) from Lincoln High School in San Jose were waaay better than many on your list. Bud was a 1st Team All American at Santa Clara University and a second round NBA pick ( 53rd). He led the Broncos to the NCAA west regional finals his jr. and sr. year losing to UCLA with a guy named Lew Alcindor. At Lincoln in his senior year they went 29-0.
Bud was a second team All American his senior year at Santa Clara and was a 1st round NBA pick (13th). His teams at Santa Clara went 70-10 and was on one of those teams that lost to UCLA. He still owns the Santa Clara single game scoring record of 55 points vs Pepperdine.
I saw first-hand those Riordan teams as my older brothers took me to my first game (SI-Riordan) in 1984. SI had a great team that year and handled the young Crusaders, but every SF fan were abuzz of the Crusader youth and pipeline.
Remember, this was pre-AAU, pre-social media - these were all City kids who took the bus to school every day. The hoops scene in the City was very good with the AAA teams also being competitive. Back to the Crusaders, they started their 80's domination starting in the 84-85 season all the way to the 89-90 season, winning a WCAL title every year. 3 of those seasons going undefeated in consecutive years. Riordan appeared in national tournaments before they became the norm travelling to Arkansas, Hawaii and LA. They welcomed all comers in the pre-season going up against the storied Stevie Thompson-led Crenshaw hoop team in LA losing by one point. The Gary Payton-Greg Foster Skyline HS battles were classics as they beat the Titans all 3 times to go along with some of the Phelps-led O'Dowd teams. One Crusader Classic all-tourney team read like this: Gary Payton and Greg Foster-Skyline, Mike Hayward-Drake (UW), Terrence Mullins and Chris Munk (Riordan). Many said this would have been a very good college starting 5 if they all stayed together - a la Cal or USF. What really stood out during that run is the WCAL Player of the Year was a different Crusader starting with Erik Newman '85, Terrence Mullins '86, Denfield Wade '87, Wayman Strickland '88, Ray Kelly '89 and Dwayne Fontana '90. During this time all the City players knew each and often played together at the City gyms such as Potrero Hill, Ella Hutch, Sunset, Glen Park, Hamilton Rec, etc. Also, this was when SI and SH were all-boys and the City matchups were epic - always held at Kezar Pavilion and sometimes USF. Riordan's biggest blowout came at the hands of SH as the Crusaders crushed them in front of a packed house at Kezar by 50 points, this was with the reserves playing in the 2nd quarter! These games were packed full of fans, alumni and students. Good times.
Defense Rules, before my time, but these guys definitely put up impressive stats. Are you saying these players were better than Bill Russell, Jason Kidd and Gary Payton ? Basketball HOF'ers?
I pulled this up of all-time CCS scorers and one of the Ogden Bros. appears.
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2009/01/28/top-scorers-in-ccs-basketball-history/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2009/02/13/ccs-career-scoring-leaders-part-iii/
If were just talking basketball, I have to throw in Connie Hawkins. He would walk thru Lincoln Terrace Park, and even the Rabbi's at the chess tables would go check him out.
Madison Square Garden- Wingate - Boys High city championship. Boys high with that " Boy's high Mambo Ole' Ole' chant.
Here's wishing you great hoops
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California MR Basketball and Bishop odowd alum Tony Jackson along with teammate Tony Ronzone and Brian Shaw.
Demetrius hook Mitchell Mac
Demetrius hook Mitchell Mac
Phil Smith- Washington High
Willie Wise- Balboa
Francois Wise - Balboa
Kevin Restani -Riordan
Kevin O'Shea,- St. Ignatius
Willie Wise- Balboa
Francois Wise - Balboa
Kevin Restani -Riordan
Kevin O'Shea,- St. Ignatius
Remember Alton Byrd of Riordan.. I talked to him last year and Eddie Chow of Washington... I talked to him recently.
Best was Glenn Hubbard '72. He played at Santa Clara and played well against Bill Cartwright. If he hadn't sustained a knee injury while playing professionally in Europe, he would have been an NBA player easily.
Further back, maybe Harry Heilmann. He scored 24 points during the first SH-SI hoops game in 1911. Irish won, 36-15. (Yes, I know it's an old post. I can't believe I missed it).
Teeter Marshall has to be on the first or second team dude was a flat out baller left Woodrow Wilson and won a state championship at Jefferson high !
Well... I live in Concord, not exactly a hotbed for superstar ballers...
Todd Lichti and Eric Bamberger are the two top players that I am certain were really from CA... and I'm not even sure about where Bamberger lived when at YV since that's right on the Concord/WC border.
I know, DLS is in Concord, but I have no idea whether any DLS players were actually from Concord, but the Barry brothers have to be considered for an area list...
James Moore and Elijah Perryman are two current superstars at CVC whose future careers are obviously unproven... Go back a few years at the same school and find Garrett Pascoe... He is having a pretty good run at Boston U. Also, Jeremiah Dargan of DLS then CVC was a big part of this year's West Valley JC 33-0 state title season.
In any case, I have no idea whether these CVC kids lived in Concord, Clayton, or elsewhere nearby.
Todd Lichti and Eric Bamberger are the two top players that I am certain were really from CA... and I'm not even sure about where Bamberger lived when at YV since that's right on the Concord/WC border.
I know, DLS is in Concord, but I have no idea whether any DLS players were actually from Concord, but the Barry brothers have to be considered for an area list...
James Moore and Elijah Perryman are two current superstars at CVC whose future careers are obviously unproven... Go back a few years at the same school and find Garrett Pascoe... He is having a pretty good run at Boston U. Also, Jeremiah Dargan of DLS then CVC was a big part of this year's West Valley JC 33-0 state title season.
In any case, I have no idea whether these CVC kids lived in Concord, Clayton, or elsewhere nearby.
I think Rob Jones belongs somewhere on the list of top guys…..beating out Drew Gordon for WCAL poy is a huge feat, especially considering what Gordon did in the NBA after.
Armani Collins from Stuart Hall maybe the best player in the history of the BCL West and would be on my personal list for one of the top players out of SF. But probably not on a lot of other people’s.
I never personally saw Lillard play in High School, but me and my boss would talk about him all the time, and he knew Dame was going to be special.
So those three would be on my personal list.
Armani Collins from Stuart Hall maybe the best player in the history of the BCL West and would be on my personal list for one of the top players out of SF. But probably not on a lot of other people’s.
I never personally saw Lillard play in High School, but me and my boss would talk about him all the time, and he knew Dame was going to be special.
So those three would be on my personal list.
Todd Lichti - Mt Diablo High (Concord)
JR Rider - Encinal (Alameda)
Dame Lillard - Oakland High
I'll keep my answer to my town. The best player to come out of Del Oro High School is Spencer Butterfield (2009 grad). 6-4, 205 lbs. Played at Yuba College (2010-12) and Utah State (2012-14). He began his professional career in 2014 in Europe where he continues to play now. In 2017 he won the French Cup and FIBA Europe Cup titles while playing for Nanterre 92. He also set the FIBA Europe Cup record when he hit 11 three-point shots in a game, and tied the scoring record by scoring 39 points in a game. He currently plays for Telenet Giants Antwerp where his team won the Belgian Cup last year and he was the Belgian Cup Final MVP.
Spencer is one of the better overall athletes I've seen around here. Because he has also a legit college recruit as a receiver too
The current kid outta Del Oro Caden Pinnick is really good as well. 3 sport star...
One more time: As great as Bill Russell was as a collegian and a pro, he was not terrific at all as a prep at Mack. He started for one semester in his senior year. He graduated mid-term in January 1953. He was not heavily recruited at all. Few schools were even aware of his existence. USF convinced him to enroll at the Hilltop and he was a project early on. Very limited on offense, intriguing and raw on defense. But the rest is history. Should he be on any of these lists? It's your call. As always. For the record as well, only three NorCal preps have been named California's Mr. Basketball in two consecutive years: Fred LaCour of SI, Jason Kidd of St. Joe's and Aaron Gordon of Mitty.
Well, since the orig. post doesn't specify HS only or not... I'd have to include Bill Russell due to his post-HS development.
I have heard or read somewhere that most HS coaches back in the 50's didn't really want their tall centers leaving the floor to block shots... It was more like "Get a hand up in his face (sticking or waving hands into the face to obstruct shooter's vision wasn't necessarily illegal back then, as I understand it), then turn around and block out if the shot goes over you". Russell was more likely to leap for a block... No matter how good he may have been at that, it wasn't the preferred way back then.
Of course, while I may be an old guy, I'm not THAT old, so I wasn't there and this is speculation on my part.
I've already talked Concord-only, but this is my list for NorCal players that I saw in person, no consideration for what they did or didn't do after HS... The years in question would be 1980-1994, then 2013-present, since I lived in Oregon from 1995-2012. (obviously, this means I missed Lillard in HS)
No order, except for #1 being Jason Kidd.
Kidd
Payton
Aaron Gordon
Calvin Byrd
Can't make a 5th dude out of the guys I remember seeing in person... but JR Rider could have made my list if he hadn't been off the team more often then on it due to discipline/grades/whatever...
And Ernest Lee! Only saw him once, and he was absolutely killing O'Dowd in the state tourney at the Coliseum until he got in foul trouble and spent much of the game on the bench after the first quarter. Every time he came back in, he'd get a foul right away and be back on the bench... At least two of the fouls looked rather bogus from the stands... So I saw him play maybe 11-12 minutes, certainly not enough for me to decide how great he really was... I still remember him during warmups for that game, working his way around the court, well behind the arc, taking passes from coaches, nailing one catch-and-shoot J after another, Curry range, as easy as layups.
Looked like he had built-in shoulder pads, thighs like a fullback, quick, feathery J from very long range. Wish I'd gotten to see him more...
Just for the heck of it, top Oregon HS players that I saw in-person would include Kevin Love, Kyle Singler, Terrance Ross, and Terrance Jones.
Also saw a bunch of great players from out-of-state powers over the years at the Les Schwab tourney... names escape me offhand. Saw Oak Hill win 5 of the 6 Schwab tournaments they came to while I was up there, only loss to that great 2009-2010 Westchester team in the 2009 final.
I have heard or read somewhere that most HS coaches back in the 50's didn't really want their tall centers leaving the floor to block shots... It was more like "Get a hand up in his face (sticking or waving hands into the face to obstruct shooter's vision wasn't necessarily illegal back then, as I understand it), then turn around and block out if the shot goes over you". Russell was more likely to leap for a block... No matter how good he may have been at that, it wasn't the preferred way back then.
Of course, while I may be an old guy, I'm not THAT old, so I wasn't there and this is speculation on my part.
I've already talked Concord-only, but this is my list for NorCal players that I saw in person, no consideration for what they did or didn't do after HS... The years in question would be 1980-1994, then 2013-present, since I lived in Oregon from 1995-2012. (obviously, this means I missed Lillard in HS)
No order, except for #1 being Jason Kidd.
Kidd
Payton
Aaron Gordon
Calvin Byrd
Can't make a 5th dude out of the guys I remember seeing in person... but JR Rider could have made my list if he hadn't been off the team more often then on it due to discipline/grades/whatever...
And Ernest Lee! Only saw him once, and he was absolutely killing O'Dowd in the state tourney at the Coliseum until he got in foul trouble and spent much of the game on the bench after the first quarter. Every time he came back in, he'd get a foul right away and be back on the bench... At least two of the fouls looked rather bogus from the stands... So I saw him play maybe 11-12 minutes, certainly not enough for me to decide how great he really was... I still remember him during warmups for that game, working his way around the court, well behind the arc, taking passes from coaches, nailing one catch-and-shoot J after another, Curry range, as easy as layups.
Looked like he had built-in shoulder pads, thighs like a fullback, quick, feathery J from very long range. Wish I'd gotten to see him more...
Just for the heck of it, top Oregon HS players that I saw in-person would include Kevin Love, Kyle Singler, Terrance Ross, and Terrance Jones.
Also saw a bunch of great players from out-of-state powers over the years at the Les Schwab tourney... names escape me offhand. Saw Oak Hill win 5 of the 6 Schwab tournaments they came to while I was up there, only loss to that great 2009-2010 Westchester team in the 2009 final.
Best SF HS players I’ve seen:
Brett Crawford
Paul Fortier
David Boone
Eric Booker
Harold Keeling
Levy Middlebrooks
Terrence Mullins
Wilson Stephens
Ray Kelly
Jody Daggs
Dwayne Fontana
Jaha Wilson
Marquise Kately
John Tofi
Rob Jones
Out of area;
1982 Drake basketball team
Tony Jackson
Matt Muehlbach
Gary Payton
Greg Foster
Calvin Byrd
Jason Kidd
Rex Walters
Bryan Thomason
Teeter Marshall
Aaron Gordon
Chase Tapley
Brett Crawford
Paul Fortier
David Boone
Eric Booker
Harold Keeling
Levy Middlebrooks
Terrence Mullins
Wilson Stephens
Ray Kelly
Jody Daggs
Dwayne Fontana
Jaha Wilson
Marquise Kately
John Tofi
Rob Jones
Out of area;
1982 Drake basketball team
Tony Jackson
Matt Muehlbach
Gary Payton
Greg Foster
Calvin Byrd
Jason Kidd
Rex Walters
Bryan Thomason
Teeter Marshall
Aaron Gordon
Chase Tapley
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I saw Ernest Lee play several times when he was playing at Kennedy in the early 80’s. Probably the best high school player I ever watched in person. Unfortunately grades kept him from doing anything significant in college and tragically he later took his own life.
Kevin Johnson was also amazing at Sac High, leading the State in scoring his senior year (82-83), averaging 32.5 ppg. He obviously went on to a great career at Cal & in the NBA.
Love the Ernest Lee love. He was a little before my time, but I saw him play in local Pro Ams in the 90s. The Sacramento list seemed pretty solid, but I’m thinking as McD All-Americans, Andrej Stokavich and Jordan Brown would need to be added to any list of Sactown all time HS hoopers. Ryan Andersen won a State Title (I think) with Oak Ridge before having a very good NBA career.
what did Drew Gordon do in the NBA? Amazing to get there, but from what i remember he played one season on a team that was trying to tank.
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