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It's an argument that never will be settled to everyone's satisfaction.
Who were the five best high school basketball players you ever saw?
After observing and covering the game for 50 years, I think my starting lineup would hold its own on any playground or in any gym.
Farragut's Kevin Garnett. St. Joseph's Isiah Thomas, Carver's Cazzie Russell, Marshall's George Wilson, Simeon's Derrick Rose.
Size, quickness, versatility, athleticism, leadership. Is there anything they couldn't do? And if you think someone else deserves a spot, who would you drop?
To back them up, I'd fill my bench with Thornridge's Quinn Buckner, Westinghouse's Mark Aguirre, Proviso East's Doc Rivers, Thornton's Lloyd Batts and Collinsville's Tom Parker.
And if you're looking for the most entertaining and exciting five you've ever seen, how about Hales Franciscan's Sam Puckett, Hirsch's Rickey Green, Dunbar's Billy Harris, Proviso East's Dee Brown and Farragut's Ronnie Fields?
I first became aware of high school basketball and the state tournament when I watched Hebron/Quincy in the first televised event in 1952. I still recall the Judson twins and Bruce Brothers in that dramatic overtime game playing out on a small, black-and-white screen with Jack Drees doing the play-by-play.
Then there was favored Du Sable with Sweet Charlie Brown and Paxton Lumpkin losing to Mount Vernon in the controversial 1954 final. John Wessels and Nolden Gentry leading West Rockford to consecutive titles in 1955 and 1956, winning a pair of two-point thrillers over Elgin and Edwardsville. And Herrin upsetting favored Collinsville to win the 1957 crown.
There was a lot of drama and excitement in the 1950s. With television exposure, it was a time when the state tournament emerged as a major attraction among sports fans in Illinois.
It reached a crescendo in 1958 when Marshall, with George Wilson, became the first all-black team and the first Chicago Public League representative to win the state title. And later in 1963 when Carver beat Centralia on Anthony Smedley's last-second shot in a game that attracted more viewers than Loyola's NCAA's championship team.
Some critics discount Garnett because he only played his senior year in Illinois. But he did and it matters. If you saw him, you immediately recognized his enormous talent and understood why he was regarded as an NBA lottery pick from the first time he was evaluated by a professional scout.
Perhaps there are two players on my 10-man list that some might question, Batts and Parker. At a time when 6-5 players were centers, Batts played guard and displayed great quickness and ball-handling and outside shooting skills. He went to Cincinnati, became the school's No. 2 all-time scorer behind Oscar Robertson, then played for 10 years in Europe.
Parker was the greatest player ever produced by legendary coach Vergil Fletcher at Collinsville, the fourth of his All-Americans after Terry Bethel (1957), Bogie Redmon (1961) and Rodger Bohnenstiehl (1964). In 1967-68, the 6-7 center/forward averaged 35 points per game, mostly on 15-17 foot jumps shots, and scored 50 pooints in the final game of the Carbondale Holiday Tourament, a milestone that still stands. The two-time all-stater later starred at Kentucky.
Until I saw Rose, Buckner had always been my choice as the fifth starter. To be honest, I can't see how anyone could argue with the other four. Buckner and Thornridge's 1972 team have always been my favorites. Nobody was a better team leader than Buckner. He went on to prove that in college and in the NBA. But a spot had to be made for Rose, a better offensive player than Buckner if not a better defensive player, and a superb leader in his own right.
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Wow! Very nice list but what about Sean Livingston (2 time state champ for Peoria Central) or Sergio McClain (FOUR time state champ from Peoria Manual)???????
There is some High School hoops played south of I-80. Too bad many of you scribes haven't figured that out yet.
Something that might interest you: I believe that the Proviso East boys varsity basketball program is on the verge of its 50th consecutive winning season.
wat about RONNIE FIELDS w/o him who is KG?
George Wilson, was really good, but I believe that Cazzie Russell, was the best ever ! He controlled the game .
Point: Before Proviso East, Proviso had great sports teams! The teams of the 50's and 60's, filled the trophy cases with more hardware in all sports, than have been won in recent years.
I went to Fenwick, but seldom missed Pirate games, except when we played.
I have watched hs basketball since the early 60s. The best was buckner but almost as good was hf's Jim Frye on the 1964 team. He went to college at NC and was the ACC's newcomer of the year. Injuries slowed him at college.
Antoine Walker?!?!
Quinn Buckner was the best high school athlete I've ever seen, and I've been watching since the early '60's. Remember, he was an unstoppable WR and amazing DB for Thornridge, then played both sports at IU before the general stopped football. I was covering Thornridge's Bill Buckner's (yes, he was Bill for a year or so before becoming Quinn) a freshman brought up to varsity for the regionals for a small suburban newspaper. Sitting across press row from me was a middle aged black man who kept criticizing the play of this terrific young player. After the game , I asked how he could find so much fault with this phenom, to which he replied, "because he's my son!" We had other nice conversations after that, but the thing I remember is him telling me that Bill (Quinn) had to shoot 200-300 free throws in the driveway before dinner, and dad said he was still a poor free thrower. Something that plagued him the rest of his high school, college, and pro careers. Taylor, I interviewed you a number of times in the 70's and 80's when I was moonlighting at WLNR-FM in Lansing. Good to see we can still read your sports reporting; you're the top prep writer I've read.
What would happen if we took his perspective seriously?
I believe the subject was "most exciting" high school basketball player. Sam Puckett was briefly mentioned, and I believe he truly was the most exciting that I ever witnessed. The Chicago Catholic League, prior to membership in the IHSA, had a varsity level called "Lightweights". At its inception, Lightweights was a weight restriction which changed to a height restriction (5'9" and under). This was always exciting fast-paced basketball; most teams played full-court presses against eachother the entire game. Many Lightweight teams would play at their Center position, not a highly skilled basketball player, but a highly skilled football player most often a full-back or linebacker where the football coaching staff welcomed their participation in Leightweight basketball to improve quickness and agility for the following football season. Taking the ball to the hoop was always at one's own risk.
Fenwick sponsored a Christmas Lightweight tournament with all Catholic League teams participating every year. Sam Puckett competed as a freshman against other teams juniors and seniors and electricified a jam-packed gym every night of the tournament with skills and moves that players and spectators alike witnessed for the first time in their lives.
Please dont't leave out Tony Stroud, shooting guard for Chicago Vocational (CVS). We won the Blue Division championship in 1969-70.(I was a member of the Freshman/Sophomore team that went 19-1). Tony was also the starting guard along with Sam Puckett on Marty Blake's (NBA scout) annual Chicago all-star team (1970. This team also included Marcellus Starks, Lloyd Walton, Larry Moody, Rickey Green and a host of others. He later attended Western Kentucky. I'm not sure what happened after that but he definitely needs to be included.
Hello, i need to say great internet website you have, i came across it online. Can you'll get a good deal traffic?
My name is Chris Walker I also know Sam we played
together off the court I played for St Phillip High
Catholic League, I also was a All American player for
Wright College Sam was the best He just made the mistake
of going to the wrong school. I played with all of them.
THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER ( SAM PUCKETT )
Chris Walker Wright College 69 points record