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USA Olympic Gold: Where It Started!

Ronnie Flores — Sun, 11 Aug 2024 02:04:32 +0000

Now that Team USA has won Olympic gold for the fifth consecutive time with a thrilling 98-87 over host France in Paris, we take a look at the background of each player from his high school days.
Nobody would have guessed back in high school Steph Curry would thrill the world by making four incredible 3-pointers in the final 2:43 of the Gold Medal game to close out the victory in dramatic fashion. Curry finished with 24 points and went 17-of-27 from 3-point range in Team USA’s final two victories.

The performance by Curry sealed his legacy as the best range shooter of all-time and as one of the game’s all-time greats. Nobody would have predicted a performance and career like the one Curry has had even from an all-time great high school player, but certainly not from the Golden State Warriors superstar.

Nobody.

Before the Gold Medal game, we talked about what could be done to help the developmental process of USA Basketball as it relates to choosing Olympians and branding future stars and now that USA has won gold, we take a look at where each of the 13 players started from. All 13 players (Kawhi Leonard was selected but unable play) were certainly not elite high school players or All-Americans and each has a unique path to professional and Olympic success.

Below is a break down of Team USA's roster by our first and lasting impressions of them during their time in high school. Behind each impression is an important lesson that we still apply and use when evaluating up-and-coming players today. We will apply these lessons in the years to come as well.

Bam Adebayo, High Point Christian Academy (High Point, N.C.) 2016
Always worked so hard every time we evaluated him and had a terrific senior campaign to finish No. 7 in the HOOP SCOOP’s final rankings for 2016. He is a great example of knowing your role and maximizing it to carve out a terrific career.

Devin Booker, Moss Point (Miss.) 2014
The son of a CBA player who was highly regarded in college (Missouri’s Melvin Booker), Devin got great insight from his father on how not to rely on athleticism and to be a complete player using both his mind and physical attributes. Booker had a McDonald’s All-American talent level, but what struck us was how under control and poised he was as a high school prospect. This from our Mississippi correspondent Lavel Johnson: “He had the look of a high major prospect after seeing him the first game of his tenth grade year. I had alot of people mad around here because I said he I felt he had a higher ceiling than Malik Newman."

Stephen Curry, Charlotte Christian (Charlotte, N.C.) 2006
We saw Curry at the 2005 NBPA Top 100 Camp and he was there as a "legacy pick” as the son of a former NBA player. He wasn’t an elite prospect and even his father’s alma mater (Virginia Tech where Dell Curry played) didn’t have a scholarship to give him coming out of high school. Would the Hokies have loved him as a preferred walk-on? Sure. But Davidson turned out to be a great fit, he got physically stronger and better and most importantly, he went where he got the opportunity to play right away. In this era of NIL, playing right away is even a bigger factor for incoming freshmen. Back that it was perhaps not as important, but Curry used the scholarship snub it as motivation and kept honing his craft to become an all-time great. Curry’s story goes to show that development never stops and proves the point how the stars of USA Basketball’s youth programs won’t necessarily be the stars on the big Olympic stage.

Anthony Davis, Perspectives Charter (Chicago) 2011
Similar to Steph Curry, Davis was an ultimate late bloomer, but his blossom occurred while he was still in high school and not after he accepted a scholarship offer. For Davis, a growth spurt of 7-8 inches over a two-year period fueled his rise at a small charter school in the Chicago Public League. Prior to spring 2010, few outside of Chicago knew who Davis was, but by the first session of Nike EYBL at Boo Williams Sports Complex in Virginia for Meanstreets, Davis' name was quickly spreading across the country. He went from national obscurity in March 2010 to "he's a Top 5 national prospect" at the Bill Hensley Memorial Run-n-Slam All-Star Classic in Indiana in early May and ended as the best long term prospect in the class. He is now part of the NBA’s Top 75 all-time player list.

Kevin Durant, Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.) 2006
One of the NBA’s all-time greatest scorers is a terrific example of hindsight. A great example of making bold statements after the fact. It was easy to say Portland royally screwed up by drafting Greg Oden before KD as the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. In reality, in real time and without the benefit of hindsight, Oden was a terrific prospect. It was a close call to keep the big man as the No. 1 player in the national class of 2006, but the HOOP SCOOP’s Clark Francis pointed out then at the end of the 2006 cycle that Durant had a chance to be an all-time great because of his work ethic and desire to be great. We questioned that logic just a bit at that time; we knew Durant was going to be a fine player, but Francis ended up being right. Durant has the necessary size and athleticism, but it was his work ethic that put him over the top. You can’t always measure or define work ethic is what he take from Durant’s remarkable career.

Anthony Edwards, Holy Spirit Prep (Atlanta, Ga.) 2019
Ant Man has always been a great soundbite and a great prospect. It was evident right away within the first half of his first game at the 2018 Pangos All-American Camp that he was the best prospect there and had a chance to be a terrific NBA player. He eventually re-classed to the 2019 class and went on to be the first pick of the 2020 NBA Draft. Will he be the leader of the 2028 US Olympic team?

Joel Embiid, The Rock School (Gainesville, Fla.) 2013
The big man was discovered at the 2011 Basketball Without Borders (BWB) event in South Africa and was guided to attend Montverde Academy in Florida for the 2011-12 high school season. He didn’t play much meaningful minutes for the No. 9 team in the FAB 50 that lost in overtime to Findlay Prep in the Chipotle Nationals (then NHSI) title game. Embiid made the decision to leave Montverde and he blossomed into a second team All-American Elite team choice as a senior. Had Embiid been part of the American high school and grassroots system earlier, he might of earned even more honors and been ranked higher than No. 6 by ESPN and No. 13 by 247Sports.com. Who know what happens if he never attends the BWB event or leaves MVA to get more guaranteed playing time at The Rock School. Since Embiid developed into a NBA MVP, his story speaks to the global expansion of the game and how making a sound decision on what high school to attend is paramount.

Tyrese Haliburton, Oshkosh North (Oshkosh, Wis.) 2018
We first saw this combo guard at the 2015 Pangos All-Midwest Frosh/Soph Camp. He was a good prospect, but not considered one of the better performers at the event. The camp for rising ninth and tenth-graders was dominated by names such as Tyler Herro, Talen Horton-Tucker, Patrick McCaffery and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. At the end of the day, Haliburton wasn’t chosen for either one of the camp’s All-Star Games. What is an oversight? Perhaps, but the lessons here is one camp setting is never the end-all to a final evaluation, players don’t have to be discouraged by how scouts feel in a camp setting if they are getting better and what players take from a camp. Haliburton later thanked camp director Dinos Trigonis for the motivation in not selecting him, as he used that motivation to keep betting better and now is a two-time NBA All-Star and Olympic Gold Medalist.

Jrue Holiday, Campbell Hall (North Hollywood, Calif.) 2008
He came from an athletic family, and looked like a future big timer right away in his high school career. What he did was get better every season and developed into the Gatorade National Player of the Year and a top three national recruit. What Holiday possessed was probably the best body control of any guard we have evaluated in the last 30 years. He fits his role perfectly on winning teams and may be a shoo-in for the NBA Hall of Fame one day.

LeBron James, St. Vincent-St Mary (Akron, Ohio) 2003
James has become exactly what we thought in real time; an all-time great. It was evident right from the beginning as he was a great youth player on the national AAU level and our national freshman of the year. James’ public image has take some slight dings in his time with the Lakers, but he’s been a terrific ambassador and a great role model for over 20 years.

Kawhi Leonard, ML King (Riverside, Calif.) 2009
He was a part-time starter as a sophomore at Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley, Calif.), but by halfway through his senior year it was clear he was the best player in California and a top 15 national prospect. It was too late to make him a McDonald’s All-American and too late from some of the big-time schools that wanted to get in on him late, as he stayed loyal to the San Diego State staff. Not making an early judgement on a prospect is the lesson here. Players do get better.

Jayson Tatum, Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.) 2016
HOOP SCOOP ranked him No. 4 in the national class and he was third in the Mr. Basketball USA voting behind honoree Lonzo Ball and Josh Jackson. He was a steady prospect and we thought he would have been the wiser choice for the Lakers at No. 2 in the 2017 NBA Draft. Los Angeles went for the hometown star from UCLA and Celtics fans couldn’t be happier.

Derrick White, Legend (Parker, Col.) 2012
He was lightly recruited out of high school and was an honorable mention all-state choice. We don’t recall him off hand at any major grassroots events or being in consideration for any of our honors based teams. Not only was he not in consideration for any All-American honors, but he wasn’t even in the rather large pool of players considered. There are tons of players that aspire to play at the next level, but only one NAIA school (Johnson & Wales University in Denver) took a serious look at White and even then it was a non-scholarship institution. White got a break when its head coach, Jeff Culver, took a job at Colorado–Colorado Springs, a D2 program, and offered him a stipend to attend. The non-scholarship player got a shot and what Culver did know was White was likely to keep growing and fill out and that’s exactly what happened. White keep growing even as his high school career was finishing, and he became an immediate freshman D2 starter. He eventually became UCCS’s all-time leading scorer and transferred to Colorado for his final season of eligibility. White is another clear example of why accurately projecting where a player will end up down the line is so vital to the recruiting process and needing only one coach to believe in you and give you a shot is reality. White got that one shot and had that one coach and took full advantage.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at?[email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter:?@RonMFlores

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Team USA: The Big Miss

Ronnie Flores — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 01:21:56 +0000

As the 2024 Olympics in France wind down, we take a look at the big picture of USA Basketball at the Olympic Games and what it's meant for American development over the years.

As Team USA goes for its fifth straight men's basketball Olympic Gold Medal on August 10 (3:30 pm ET, NBC) against host France, we wanted to put into perspective what the Olympics has meant to American basketball development over the years.

To give it some perspective, Team USA was 143-6 all-time entering Olympic competition at this year's games, including the 5-3 "disaster" of 2004 when America took the Bronze medal. Overall, there is no big problem. Everyone always says the world has caught up to the U.S.A., but in reality, they still have a plenty ways to go.

Serbia led 76-63 with 10 minutes remaining in this year's semifinal contest vs. the USA with arguably the best player in the world on its team (Nikola Joki?) and still fell, 95-91. When Team USA had to get it done, it defended and played team ball. It wasn't all that surprising it made that comeback. It's how it got to this point that raises questions and/or doubts about the quality and usefulness of the American Olympic process.

There is no denying that the decision to use NBA players starting with the 1992 Olympics in Spain and coaching clinics around the world featuring some of the brightest minds over the last half century is the reason the world is so much better at the game we love. The Dream Team gave the world the motivation and our coaches gave the world the know how to get better at the game. Without that 1992 Dream Team, there perhaps is no Joki? today, or maybe a player of his caliber wouldn't have developed for another 50 years or so.

Many folks feel the development across the world has come at the expense of development here in the United States, but at the highest level, that development is curtailed.

There are two things that made the Dream Team work in 1992. tThe timing of its announcement and Team USA's 82-76 loss to the Soviet Union in the 1988 semifinals. If the late John Thompson and his group of college players (alongside David Robinson, who hadn't yet played pro ball but was the No. 1 pick of the 1987 NBA Draft) had won Gold in Seoul, South Korea, who knows if we are even having this discussion now. USA and the rest of the world was ready to see what would happen with NBA players and there was no better group than the guys on that 1992 Dream Team to make it a success. Perhaps it wouldn't have worked as well in 1988 or in 1996. Timing is very important and people forget the go-to players on this year's US Olympic team, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry, are significantly older than anyone on the 1992 Dream Team, which had the make and feel of a veteran national team.

Lost in the Dream Team's greatness is the lack of a tryout process. And there hasn't been one since.

Yes, USA Basketball has done a fine job at the youth level and are dominant in the 19U-16U age groups. But those players who dominate the younger levels are not necessarily the ones who dominate at the senior levels. Development happens at various stages for aspiring players and what the Olympic team is missing is a tryout process.

Having a tryout process would eliminate some of the issues that come with clashing NBA egos on a team and would help with chemistry. Now, NBA stars probably don't want to be part of the tryout process, as they don't want to give up the leverages they have worked at for years to attain as the world's best, but the positives would outweigh any backlash.

The positives of a tryout process are many. It would create an atmosphere of fairness, it would help foster a team culture (instead of a group of star players), and most importantly, would be great evaluation for NBA personnel, not to mention college and grassroots scouts for the younger players. It would also create what recent Olympic teams are missing: the ability for role players to increase their worldwide profile and young players to enjoy a marketing platform that would help the world know more about the up-and-coming and future pro stars. With the current state of college basketball and the NBA's reliance on players to enter the league who have been out of high school for less than a year, there are limited ?opportunities to market players to the point where they have built brand value and a faithful following prior to the draft. This would help in that area tremendously and be a win for everyone involved in the process.

The tryout should include non-NBA players and elite high school players, if the selection committee deems them worthy. Only a few might be worthy every four years, but after watching Cooper Flagg (last season's Mr. Basketball USA and now a Duke freshman) doing what he did against Team USA at a scrimmage, it would be meaningful to have that type of atmosphere in a formal tryout setting. Even for the players who didn't make the team, it would be a tremendous evaluation and marketing opportunity.

As NBA agent and marketing veteran Nate Jones points out, the Olympics are one of the few events left in terms of media platforms, where the masses still watch the game at one time. For an up-and-coming star to be siting on the bench or contributing in a way that is not the norm for a max contract NBA player, it would not only be a great opportunity, it would enhance the team and set a great example of what a team should be on on the world stage.

For anyone who attended an Olympic tryout prior to the formation of the Dream Team, it was more than an excellent evaluation tool. For Frank Burlison, a McDonald's All-American voters since the game's inception in 1977, the 1984 Olympic tryouts was one of the best settings and best basketball he ever evaluated. This coming from a person who has attended endless summer games since the 1970s to NBA Finals games featuring Michael Jordan. Even players who were cut from that '84 Olympic tryout, such as future NBA Hall of Famers John Stockton and Charles Barkley, got tremendous milage out of the experience.

Now, the 1984 team led by Jordan was one of the best teams of all-time that didn't feature NBA players. As the late Bobby Knight told the world before they could understand or were ready to hear from a coaching perspective, Jordan was that special of a talent and the team around him, which included Patrick Ewing and specialists such as sharp-shooter Steve Alford, was strong. It was evident when Thompson was putting his team together for 1988, it wasn't going to be as strong as the team in 1984. The tryout roster was not near the talent level of four years prior. Some felt Thompson was playing favorites when his incoming high school recruit Alonzo Mourning (the 1988 Mr. Basketball USA pick) was one of the last Olympic cuts. In reality, however, his talent level warranted a serious look despite just graduating from high school.

That brings us to our next two points. One, the talent level across the high school and grassroots landscape is not close to equal year over year. This is hardly ever never pointed out or analyzed by national scouts. Two, it wasn't the end of the world that Team USA lost an Olympic game. There is no secret the high school classes that made up the 1984 team were clearly stronger than the high school classes that created the talent poll for the 1988 team. The Class of 1985 is considered weak overall and it took a major hit when forward Ben Wilson of Siemon (Chicago, Ill.), was murdered just as his senior season was about to tip off in the fall of 1984. Perhaps as a graduated college senior, he could have helped Thompson and Team USA win gold.

We'll never know.

After the 1988 team lost in the semifinals in a competitive game to Arvydas Sabonis and the Soviet Union, the 1992 Dream Team's performance felt like a series of exhibition games. Still to this day, the Dream Team proved the point. Also, for a U.S. Olympic team, there is no shame in losing if the players are giving it their all like the 1988 team did. The novelty of the NBA players in FIBA events wore off fast. By the 1994 World Championships, in fact, they were more criticized than praised. The young team had talents such as Shawn Kemp and Derrick Coleman that were framed by the media as malcontents more often than great champions.

Heading into 1992, Team USA was 85-2, including the infamous 1972 Gold Medal loss to the Soviet Union. Since then, Team USA has only lost in the medal round once with a young team in 2004 that was void of great chemistry and leadership. Those issues were resolved by the 2008 Redeem Team led by the late Kobe Bryant, but perhaps those issues wouldn't have been there had the circumstances of making the team been different and accepted over the years.

The 2004 losses certainly wouldn't be looked at the same if the team wasn't handpicked by influential individuals and had a more open tryout process. For now, the process only favors NBA elites instead of being used as the ultimate developmental setting for our country's players.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at?[email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter:?@RonMFlores

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USA Basketball Day 3: LeBron, Anthony Edwards, Steph & Team USA IMPRESSED By Cooper Flagg

Cazzie Luz — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 22:42:27 +0000

On the third day of USA Basketball's training camp, the potential of this year's squad were on full display. Among the standout moments, Cooper Flagg from Team USA Select impressed everyone with an outstanding performance. Flagg's performance set him apart, hinting at a promising future for the young athlete.

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LeBron James DNA On Full Display! | Bryce James Catches BODY

Cazzie Luz — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 18:24:58 +0000

Bryce James made his debut with his new Sierra squad at Section7. They took on Riordan which is one of the toughest schools in Northern California and he caught a body!

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Coach LeBron James Can't Be Stopped! SFG Goes Undefeated at Nike EYBL

Cazzie Luz — Wed, 29 May 2024 22:40:44 +0000

Coach Lebron being undefeated on the weekend, #1 PG in America Dominating and SFG winning at the buzzer!

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Bryce James drops CAREER HIGH in points with LeBron COACHING!

Cazzie Luz — Sun, 19 May 2024 16:52:51 +0000

EYBL Indy was a movie! Bryce James new career high with Lebron coaching. Jake West vs Kiyan Anthony goes down to the wire, Kiyan drops 28 but Team Melo Falls to Team Final. AJ and Tyran have there best games of the year in a BIG win with John Wall in attendance.

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Gilbert Arenas Says This Player Would Beat KD & LeBron In 1v1

Cazzie Luz — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 16:50:45 +0000

In Episode 4 of Sessions w/ Frank we have one of the most outspoken and entertaining NBA player turned media personality, Gilbert Arenas.

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Bryce James Athleticism On FULL Display In Strive For Greatness OT Thriller!

Cazzie Luz — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 02:06:49 +0000

Bryce James & Strive for Greatness played their last game of the Made Hoops showcase against Cali Stars yesterday and it was an overtime thriller!!

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Bronny James - " I've made the decision to enter the NBA Draft..

Cazzie Luz — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 22:40:15 +0000

while maintaining my college eligibility, and will also be entering the NCAA transfer portal."

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Bryce James OFFICIAL Junior Year Mixtape

Cazzie Luz — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 01:31:57 +0000

Bryce James Official Mixtape Vol 2 followed by his full junior season highlights!

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LeBron James & Scottie Pippen PULLED UP To Sierra Canyon!

Cazzie Luz — Thu, 11 Jan 2024 02:21:32 +0000

Sierra Canyon faced off against St. Pius in a nail-biting matchup, and the final score of 51-42 only scratches the surface of the drama that unfolded on the court.

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Bryce James Takes OFF ON DEFENDER In 42 POINT Win For Sierra Canyon!

Cazzie Luz — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 22:01:02 +0000

Bryce James & Sierra Canyon faced off against Burroughs High School and got the 92-46 win.

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Bronny Shows Up & Bryce James Has His BEST GAME Of Junior Season So Far!

Cazzie Luz — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 01:35:16 +0000

Bryce James and Sierra Canyon took on Crossroads at the 2023 Beverly Hills Basketball Tournament and they put on a show.

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Sons of LeBron, Scottie Pippen, Keyon Martin and Eddie House Face Off!!

Cazzie Luz — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 20:56:43 +0000

This match up between SIerra Canyon and Desert Mountain at Hoophall West featured 5 sons of NBA players. Bryce James (LeBron), Justin Pippen (Scottie Pippen), Kam Martin (Kenyon Martin) and Kaden & Kalek House (Eddie House).

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Bryce James Is BACK With Sierra Canyon.. Leads 60 POINT WIN.

Cazzie Luz — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 19:42:03 +0000

Bryce James, Justin Pippen and Sierra Canyon keep their undefeated season rolling with the 86-24 win over Moorpark

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LeBron James Is Still The Lakers Best Player

Steven Pepper — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 17:39:35 +0000

It's mind-blowing to think that ever since LeBron James walked across the NBA draft stage 20 years ago, he's always been his team's best player. He turns 39 in a little over a month. Many people predicted that 2023 would be when he finally hands the Los Angeles Lakers' keys over to teammate Anthony Davis. However, in the first 13 games of the season, the King surprisingly still wears his crown.

Davis is a confusing talent. The league's blocks-per-game leader (3.3) is by far the best defender on the planet. Plus, he ranks first in many offensive metrics from the post. If you were to count on your fingers the number of players better than him when he's on, you would have many fingers left. Most would say the big man is better than James at their best.

Unfortunately, AD's offensive production is more up and down than a roller coaster. In the Lakers' first meeting with the Sacramento Kings, the former Kentucky Wildcat scored 30 points and hauled 16 rebounds. In the second match, he failed to score double-digit points or boards.

The Lakers extended Davis through the 2027-28 season with the richest annual salary for a reason: to take the number one option role from James. However, Davis' unpredictable production has forced the Lakers to continue to rely on James despite his age.

Father Time must have made an exception for James. He is averaging 26.4/8.2/6.5 on a ridiculous 58.6/39.7/69.1 shooting split. Davis has some catching up if he wants to be the man. 22/11.7/3.3 on 53/30/86.3 shooting splits is great, but not enough to be the best player on the Lakers.

Everyone agreed that James would still be Lakers' best distributor. But not many foresaw him continuing as the LakeShow's primary scorer at 38 years old. In last night's 105-104 win against the Houston Rockets, James dropped a season-high 37 points on an extremely efficient 74 FG%. Davis's 27 points was the game's 2nd-highest scorer, but foul trouble removed him from big spots.

LeBron James' CLUTCH performance propelled the Lakers to a close win over the Rockets!

37 PTS
8 AST
6 REB
Game-winning free throw pic.twitter.com/OXr3sfKpZ6
— NBA (@NBA) November 20, 2023

The offensive gap between the duo was more apparent in last Friday's 107-95 win in Portland. James tallied 35 points, doubling Davis' 16.

Can you believe that James has scored 28 points or more six times this month? What you actually can't believe is that Davis has failed to score more than 20 points five times this month. The Brow plays exceptional defense and is capable of star-level offense, but James never reaches the same offensive lows as his partner. The Lakers know what to expect from James on a nightly basis, but crosses its' fingers with the big man.

The Lakers' early season story has been that the squad is not even functional when James is off the court. He had a 25.6 +/- net per 100 possessions in his first 12 games. Without the King on the floor, the Laker offense cannot move the ball in the half-court or push in transition.

It's not like the Lakers don't have the personnel to be fine without James running the show. But Davis' inconsistent offensive aggression begs the opponent to go on a run. James subbed out with 4:29 left in the first quarter while up 13 points in Portland. The Blazers looked utterly outmatched but found life on a 15-4 run in following six minutes. Davis was scoreless during the attack.

What ultimately separates James from Davis is James' ability to close games. The Clutch Player of the Year award could find its way amongst James' stacked trophy case because he's been the king of the fourth quarter. He's averaging a league-leading 9.2 points per fourth quarter on 66.1 FG%.

In the Lakers' last two contests, the team needed to pull away in final quarter with Davis on the bench in foul trouble. That might have been a problem for most players, but not for James.

James scored 14 fourth-quarter points against the Rockets, including the game-winning free throw. Davis put up a donut hole in the quarter's points column.

Portland cut the lead to 7 heading into the 4th quarter. Here's every 4th quarter score for the Lakers...

LeBron ASSIST
LeBron 3P
LeBron ASSIST
LeBron ASSIST
LeBron ASSIST
LeBron ASSIST
LeBron ASSIST
Reddish 2P
LeBron 2P
LeBron FT's
LeBron ASSIST
LeBron ASSIST

Game Over.
— ??? (@georgemikan) November 18, 2023

To close out the Blazers, James put on an offensive masterclass. No one in the building could stop the man from scoring or assisting on 23 of 25 Laker points in the 4th. Flashbacks had to have hit Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. James scored the Cleveland Cavaliers' last 25 points to win Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals against Billups' Detroit Pistons. 16 years later, James still owns the final quarter.

On Tuesday, the Lakers host the 4-9 Utah Jazz. The opportunity is there for Davis to silence his haters by proving some consistency. A 30-point and 12-rebound game would be ideal. But another underwhelming offensive night would further prove why LeBron is still the Lakers' best player.

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NBA Season is here: Betting Odds & Stats

Sara Jane Gamelli — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 21:20:55 +0000

Written and edited by

Sara Jane Gamelli

The NBA is back today! pic.twitter.com/4ireEdRhfD
— www.ebooksnet.com (@Ballislife) October 24, 2023

It's official, the 2023 NBA season starts tonight. The Denver Nuggets, the reigning champions, will take on the Los Angeles Lakers on their home court. Having a home opener record of 60-16, the Nuggets will face the Lakers for the first time since their 4-0 sweep in last year's Western Conference Finals. The newly revamped Phoenix Suns will matchup against Golden State on the road tonight. Here you will find the WNBA betting odds, statistics, trends, and predictions for Tuesday, October 24.

How to watch the matchups

The Los Angeles Lakers will matchup against the Denver Nuggets tonight. The matchup will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET, at Ball Arena, located in Denver, Colorado. The Phoenix Suns will play the Golden State Warriors, starting at 10 p.m. ET, Chase Center, located in San Fransisco, California. If you're betting on the NBA and interested in watching, the game will air on TNT. For the best betting odds, stats and analysis, here is information to know.

Daily Game Odds: Los Angeles Lakers @ Denver Nuggets

Joker and LBJ are two of the league's premier passers at their positions

Take a look at some of the best dimes from their careers ahead of #KiaTipOff23!

LAKERS/NUGGETS, 7:30 PM ET, TNT pic.twitter.com/ZAsUgZHFPR
— NBA (@NBA) October 24, 2023

*Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook*

Lakers: +164
Nuggets: -198
Spread: Lakers +5 (-108), Nuggets -5 (-112)
Total: O 228 (-115)/ U 228 (-105)

Daily Game Odds: Phoenix Suns @ Golden State Warriors

Brian Windhorst on the Suns BIG3: "They have the potential to be the No. 1 offense in the history of the NBA."pic.twitter.com/fqj0kNq9Dp
— www.ebooksnet.com (@Ballislife) October 24, 2023

*Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook*

Suns: +130
Warriors: -155
Spread: Suns +3.5 (-115), Warriors -3.5 (-105)
Total: O 233.5 (-112)/ U 233.5 (-108)

Injuries

Lakers

Jarred Vanderbilt (heel) ruled out for season opener on Tuesday.
— Underdog NBA (@Underdog__NBA) October 23, 2023

-Jalen Hood-Schifino: OUT

-Jarred Vanderbilt: OUT (Heel)

Nuggets

-Julian Strawther: Day-To-Day (Right Ankle Sprain)

-Jay Huff: Day-To-Day (Ribs)

-Vlatko Cancar: OUT (Left Knee)

Suns

Shams: Devin Booker (toe) "50-50" for season opener Tuesday; will warm up and try to play.
— Underdog NBA (@Underdog__NBA) October 24, 2023

-Devin Booker: Game Time Decision (Toe)

-Bradley Beal: Game Time Decision (Back)

-Damion Lee, OUT (Knee)

Warriors

Draymond Green (ankle) ruled out for Tuesday.
— Underdog NBA (@Underdog__NBA) October 23, 2023

-Draymond Green: OUT (Ankle)

Lakers + 5 (-108)

GOT A GAME TODAY

4:30 PM PST
NBA on TNT
ESPN LA 710/1330 KWKW pic.twitter.com/DOvfqeepqY
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 24, 2023

It's opening night, and the Los Angeles Lakers will be in town to see the Denver Nuggets receive their championship rings. After getting swept by the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals last season, this will be a revenge game for the Lakers. After finishing the season 43-39, and failing to win a championship, the Lakers overhauled their roster this offseason.

Yes, the Nuggets are at home, and have a 60-16 in season openers. Conversely, the Lakers are 0-5 in their past five season openers. The Nuggets kept their main Championship core, with the exclusion of Bruce Brown and Jeff Green, which will give the Lakers some sort of advantage. For Los Angeles they have the new acquisitions of Gabe Vincent, Christian Wood, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish, Jaxson Hayes, Maxwell Lewis, and Jalen Hood-Schifino. In addition, the Lakers have a fully healthy LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

It's unclear how long the Lakers will need to develop chemistry with these additional assets. One advantage Los Angeles has over the Nuggets is their bench depth. Either the Lakers will struggle early on with this new lineup, or Denver will have a tough time coming up with a plan defensively. Either way, this is a matchup the Lakers have been eyeing since they were swept 4-0.

Why the Lakers will cover

If you look at last years playoffs, yes, the Lakers didn't win a game against the Nuggets. The point differential wasn't astronomical, given Denver won by an average of 6 points over four games. With two games decided by 5 points or less, I have full confidence the Lakers will be able to cover the +5.5 spread tonight.

I'm going to full fade the Nuggets at home spread wise, and their 4-1 record in season openers in the past. They retained one of the best starting lineups in the NBA, one that's won together and has chemistry. The Lakers have a much stronger bench than Denver, and these two teams are 5-5 against the spread in the last ten games. With a 4-6 record against the Nuggets over the last ten, I'll stick with the spread.

Warriors vs. Suns Over 228 Points (-115)

Make
'Em
Look pic.twitter.com/yjLRm5UPME
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) October 24, 2023

Tonight, is a highly anticipated matchup between the Golden State Warriors and the Phoenix Suns. After playing three seasons in Phoenix, Chris Paul was traded to the Warriors for Jordan Poole just after Bradley Beal was traded to the Suns. Tonight will be his homecoming against his former team, the Suns.

Phoenix has a new big three in Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, and will have to wait to see them on the court together. Beal was already ruled out for tonights game with a back injury, and Booker is "50/50" to play. For the Warriors, they will be without Draymond Green with an ankle injury.

Both eliminated in the Western Conference Finals, the Warriors and Suns are projected to be two top teams in the West. Still without those players, Phoenix and Golden State have high power offenses. In their last ten matchups, the over hit five times, and the Warriors finished 44-34-4 against totals last season. Second in the league in offensive, Golden State averaged 119 points per game, and that was with Klay Thompson and Steph Curry out for some games. Defensively, the Warriors struggled, and finished 115.1 in defensive rating.

For the Suns, they made a splash for Kevin Durant in the middle of last season, and finished 42-39-1 against totals. With the departure of Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul, this team should generate a ton of offense, even with Beal out tonight.

I expected for this game to hit the over, especially with two high powered offenses on opening night. Not the best teams defensively, it should be an absolute showdown tonight.

Best bet: LeBron James/Nikola Jokic to score 20 + Points
Odds Boost Draft Kings: +100

In his 21st NBA season, Lakers star LeBron James has no plans on slowing down. He's averaging 25.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 6.4 assists in 20 openers. For Jokic, He's averaged 17.3 points and 9 rebounds in 8 season openers. Having averaged over 20 points in the past two openers, LeBron has scored over 20 points in three straight opening days.

Two of the best stars in the league, I expect James and Jokic to show out tonight. James is averaging over 26 points a game against the Nuggets in his career, and scored over 20 points in each of the four playoff matchups against Denver. In his prime, the Joker hasn't scored below 20 points since Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against Minnesota.

Stay tuned for more NBA betting related articles. Click here

Sara Jane Gamelli is a full-time Sportswriter at Ballislife, and Sports Content Creator on Twitch and TikTok. She has a focus on the NBA, WNBA, NCAA Basketball, and the NFL. Sara Jane currently resides in Connecticut/NYC area with her Cat and Dog. SJ has her undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut in Economics, with a minor in business administration.

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The RISE of BRONNY JAMES!!

Cazzie Luz — Sun, 01 Oct 2023 19:25:25 +0000

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Sir "Young Lebron" Miles and squad make DEFENSE EXCITING!!

Cazzie Luz — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 17:01:47 +0000

Sir Miles who played young Lebron James in shooting star. His team makes defense exciting.

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Bryce James Makes DEBUT For New School!

Cazzie Luz — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 18:43:42 +0000

Lebron James younger son, Bryce James makes his debut with Campbell Hall. The young James is 6'5" and the class of 2025.

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Bryce James and Kiyan Anthony teammed up and put on a show!!

Cazzie Luz — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 19:51:17 +0000

Kiyan Anthony, Bryce James and SFG faced off against Jalen Suggs' AAU team tonight in Las Vegas with Chris Paul watching.

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He played young Lebron James

Cazzie Luz — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 17:59:39 +0000

Sir Miles played young Lebron James in the movie shooting stars. He's a very tough player. Sir attends Arizona Compass Prep.

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In The Paint: Evolution of NBA Peak Performance, Recovery & Longevity!

Ronnie Flores — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 03:32:33 +0000

In our latest episode (Ep. 153), the ITP Crew welcomes special guest Jasen Powell (L.A. Clippers Head Athletic Trainer) to talk evolution of NBA peak performance, recovery and longevity as LeBron James passes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA's all-time leading scorer.

RELATED: ? | ??

On Episode 153 of the Ballislife "In The Paint Show", hosts Ronnie Flores, Ani Umana and Chelsea Hopkins welcome on special guest Jasen Powell (L.A. Clippers Director of Medical Sevices/Head Athletic Trainer) to dish on the inner-workings of NBA preparation, health and wellness and how it relates to longevity and peak performance.

Powell has been tenured with the Clippers for nearly 25 years and offers ITP's audience some terrific insight on the differences and advances in medical technology and game preparation over the last quarter century. Powell also dishes on the evolution of what NBA franchises invests in when it comes to player health and wellness and how and why it's such a bigger part of the game day preparation in the current NBA than the days when Michael Jordan broke into the league in the mid 1980s.

Powell also discusses how the average fan may not be aware when a player is laboring or not injured quite enough to sit out and how it's part of his job description to make sure players perform at a optimal or peak level, which may include some load management.

This topic is obviously relevant and important as the Laker's LeBron James surpasses Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leading scorer in NBA history. The ITP crew discuss the legacy of the NBA's two ironman superstars and what James' record-breaking achievement and career means to them. Ron also gives some background on Abdul Jabbar's career and how and why he's still somewhat overlooked by casual or young NBA fans.

The ITP crew also break down the Kyrie Irving trade to the Dallas Mavericks and what it means. Did the Mavs make a mistake in not trying harder to keep Jalen Brunson? Was this move strictly made to keep Luka Doncic?happy? What does it mean for the Lakers that they missed on the Irving sweepstakes?

The crew also dish on NBA All-Star snubs, which player each believes needs a change of scenery, WNBA dynasties and more!

The ITP crew and its special guest offers some terrific insight on a inner-workings of the NBA and the topics related to KAJ's and Bron's longevity, so make sure to tune in to Episode 153 from start to finish!

(0:00) - Intro
(2:50) - Chelsea’s Quick-Hitting NCAAW Updates!
(5:03) - Chelsea’s Pro Updates: Free Agency & W Super Teams!
(9:47) - Big Money in Pro Ball: Spending & Ego!
(14:23) - Gambling on Kyrie: Would You Do It?
(21:30) - Trade Deadline: Any Other Big Upcoming Moves?
(26:36) - All-Star Game Omissions: Owner-Agent Battle?
(31:24) - Top NBA All-Star Game Snubs
(38:00) - NBA Players That Need A Change
(44:03) - Quick Reaction To LeBron Catching Kareem!
(51:38) - Guest Jasen Powell (LA Clippers Director of Medical Services)
(57:51) - Powell on Load Management & Old Heads’ Gripes
(1:00:43) - Powell on Evolution of Pre-Game Preparation
(1:06:46) - Powell on Recognizing Peak Performance
(1:08:51) - Powell’s Advice on Game Prep For Young Players
(1:10:04) - Chelsea’s Reaction To Powell’s Insight
(1:18:21) - Ron’s Background on Kareem Adbul-Jabbar
(1:23:50) - Ani & Chelsea on LeBron’s Legacy

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The Mater Dei Vs St. Vincent-St. Mary Rematch We Got 20 Years Later

Brandon Johnson — Sun, 08 Jan 2023 22:29:52 +0000

Coach Gary McKnight And The Mater Dei Monarchs Get Their Revenge On St. Vincent-St. Mary 20 Years! Mater Dei Won 63-61 At The Chosen One Invitational. The Last Time They Played Is When LeBron James Was Still In High School.

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LeBron James & Jayson Tatum SHUT DOWN SEATTLE!! Dejounte Murray & Paolo Banchero & More!

Arek Kissoyan — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 16:58:00 +0000

LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Dejounte Murray, Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Thomas and many more pulled up to The Crawsover today and SHUT IT DOWN... Literally!

The game had to end in the second quarter due to the humidity making it unsafe to continue playing.

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LeBron James Shuts Down TRASH TALKER at The Drew League!! Drops 42 Points & 16 Rebounds

Arek Kissoyan — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 15:58:00 +0000

LeBron James pulled up to the Drew League and destroyed everyone. He dropped 42Pts & 16 Reb

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Ballislife's NBA 75 Rankings!

Ronnie Flores — Sat, 26 Feb 2022 09:56:48 +0000

The highlight of the 2022 NBA All-Star Weekend was the celebration of the all-time best players throughout the 75 years of the league. The NBA named and honored the players, but with every outlet taking a stab at rankings, we'll do it too, with a twist.

We just give a high-line reason why each player slots into the position he does, but also factor in ABA success. After all, ABA stats and honors count, unlike the USFL for football. We also give a rundown of what the player was like in high school and group all of them into six categories: All-Time Great, HS All-American, All-Stater, Run Of The Mill, Did Not Play, International.

We rank the best high school players of the group into a Top 25, based on performance.

The most interesting part is we insert our snubs where we think they belong on the list, because the 76 players who were honored by the NBA are not the 76 best NBA players of all-time!

Two things really stand out in ranking these all-time NBA greats. Many of them won't be around when the NBA has its 100th anniversary celebration and quite a few were not high school basketball All-Americans. In fact, some were bench-warmers or didn't even play.

Goes to show how remarkably different people's paths are to greatness and immortality.

Editor's Note: Accomplishments in the ABA are considered here because the statistics count and some of the league's best players ever did compete in the upstart league. The list of 76 players (there was a tie during the NBA's voting for its 75th Anniversary Team) are listed by high school, high school size and year of graduation and we insert deserving snubs where they belong. Those players are noted by italics.

1) Michael Jordan, Laney (Wilmington, N.C) 6-4 G '81
He was a second team All-NBA choice as a rookie and got exponentially better in subsequent seasons with regards to his shooting, ball-handing and offensive attack. It's not a stretch of the imagination to say MJ is both the most talented offensive and defensive perimeter player of all-time. He also kept the motivation and drive to meet his goals despite becoming one of the most recognizable people on the plant by the time his championship run began with the Bulls in 1991. He also never took plays -- or games -- off.
HS Status (All-American): After being cut from the varsity team as a sophomore, talent scout Brick Oettinger called him the best "two guard" prospect he'd ever seen the first time seeing MJ play as a junior. The next perceived slight that motivated Jordan was not being listed as a preseason All-American by Street and Smith's Magazine or even a top 500 player. The late Dave Krider placed Jordan on his post-season first five All-American team for Basketball Weekley, but that "make good" choice didn't phase Jordan because he still wasn't named State Player of the Year in North Carolina.

2) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Power Memorial (New York) 7-1 C '65
Six titles, six MVPs, and all-NBA 15 times only tells half the story. Jabbar was expected to dominate the game and he did. He also understood taking care of his body well before most of his peers and the "Showtime Lakers" rejuvenated his career enough to the point he was still capable of a 24-point, 13-rebound performance like the one he put forth in his second-to-last game in the 1989 NBA Finals.
HS Status (All-Time Great): It's not a stretch to say Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor) was the best player at each level of the game, college included (UCLA). By the time he enrolled at UCLA, he was considered one of the ten best players in the World and was a two-time National Player of the Year.

3) Earvin Johnson, Everett (Lansing, Mich.) 6-8 G '77
Nobody else as an ALPHA went toe-to-toe with four other legit dynasties and he came out of those highly-anticipated battles with a 5-4 NBA Finals record. He is the most unique player of all-time, possessing ?Bill Russell's size with the ball-handling wizardry of a man six inches shorter and 40 pounds lighter. Had two NBA titles and two NBA Finals MVPs by 22 and the Lakers were still favored to win the West in 1991-92 before he shocked the world by retiring at 32.
HS Status (All-Time Great): A well known commodity even in middle school, his high school coach George Fox gave him his nickname in tenth grade. As a senior, he averaged 31 ppg, 17 rpg with 121 assists and 73 steals. If the Detroit Pistons had their way, he would have come out after his freshman year at MSU and been the No. 1 pick.

4) LeBron James, St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, Ohio) 6-8 F '03
The most scrutinized player of all-time, James' peers at the top of this list layed the groundwork for the league to survive and make it thrive, but he transformed himself from a player to an active stakeholder in the league's multi-billion dollar business. Some feel that detracts from playing the game, but there is no denying his all-around ability and sustained excellence. If he becomes the league's all-time leading scorer, it should put things in perspective as he's known for being a pass-first point forward.
HS Status (All-Time Great): A once-in-a-generation talent, he lived up to tremendous media expectations and produced three state championships and an unbeaten FAB 50 national title as a senior. His lasting legacy is making high school basketball a nationally televised sport and showing the tremendous monetary value top tier high school athletes possess.

5) Wilt Chamberlain, Overbrook (Philadelphia, Pa.) 7-1 C '55
If Jordan is not the greatest athlete to ever play the game, Wilt certainly is. The term "ahead of his time" is tossed around way too loosely but Wilt is really one of the few players who really was, along with Pete Maravich. He was just so big, strong and athletic that his mind-boggling numbers are taken for granted.
HS Status (All-Time Great): Wilt didn't play in college for free and Dipper had already made a nice chunk of money working as a bellhop at Kutsher's Country Club, a Jewish resort in the Catskill Mountains of New York. He was coached there by Red Auerbach and it's not a stretch to say by his senior season at Overbrook, he was already the best player in the World.

6) Bill Russell, McClymonds (Oakland, Calif.) 6-9 C '52
Russell had a knack for timing, whether it showing up in Boston as a perfect piece to a budding dynasty, or retiring on top with his eleventh championship. In between, Russell revolutionized defensive basketball and the NBA fast break. Individually, he won five NBA MVPs and his impact can't be measured in stats alone.
HS Status (Run of the Mill): Played with talented athletes in high school and backed up future MLB HOFer Frank Robinson at Mack. A lot of credit goes to USF coaches who saw the potential and how to utilize his budding quickness and instincts around the basket.

7) Larry Bird, Springs Valley (French Lick, Ind.) 6-8 F '74
Take it from people that watched him live and in real time, he was quick and had some of the game's best defensive instincts before his back began to act up. The only 20-10-5 player ever; one of one. And he was way over 5 assists (6.3 apg) despite sometimes rarely handling the ball. All it took was a quick flick, or tap, and Bird could find the open man without needlessly pounding the rock.
HS Status (All-Stater): Averaged 31 ppg, 21 rpg and 4 apg as a senior, but amazingly wasn't first team all-state. Indiana coach Bob Knight took him because of his size as an in-state recruit, but expectations for Bird at IU were not high. Perhaps if Knight had taken a bit more interest, he stays, but in reality the Hoosiers were good without him.

8) Kobe Bryant, Lower Merion (Ardmore, Pa.) 6-6 G '96
Revered by peers and fans alike, a tireless work ethic and self belief drove him to capture five NBA titles. There is some nostalgia when it comes to his career, as his defensive accolades were a bit reputational and he was never quite the same after tearing his achilles in 2013. The polarizing place on lists like this one are only heightened by his untimely passing.
HS Status (All-American): He wasn't considered the best in his class right away, but vowed to ABCD Camp director Sonny Vaccaro he would be the best player at his event in his second appearance in 1995. What separated him from Tim Thomas in his class? The same thing that separated him from his NBA peers -- drive and ethic.

9) Tim Duncan, St. Dunstan's Episcopal (Saint Croix, V.I.) 6-11 C '93
Boy it's hard to separate Duncan and Bryant; but if you seen both play consistently there is just something dynamic about Bryant that makes you think the Lakers could win any game. That's the beauty of Duncan, however, as his won five titles with less fanfare. He was first team all-NBA as a rookie and the Spurs made the playoffs in each of his 18 seasons, a couple of things Bryant was not close to matching.
HS Status (International): He picked up basketball after having dreams of being an Olympic swimmer and was a quick learner. After averaging 25 ppg as a senior, he fielded D1 offers and got better under the tutelage of Dave Odom at Wake Forest.

10) Oscar Robertson, Crispus Attucks (Indianpolis, Ind.) 6-5 G '56
Interestingly enough, when the 50th anniversary team dropped 25 years ago, the Big O was consistently in the top 3 or 4 discussion. Consistently. Respect for older players has waned and perhaps the novelty of the triple-double has worn off as well. Even simpler, there was not much flash to Robertson's game; he'd just back his man down and shoot right over the top. Time and time again.
HS Status (All-Time Great): As a junior, he starred on the first team with an all-Black starting five to win a de-segregated state championship and was the best player in the country as a senior. How good was he? John Wooden said on tape he was good enough to go from high school to the pros. Go look it up!

11) Shaquille O'Neal, Cole (San Antonio, Texas) 6-11 C '89
He would have been the No. 1 pick in any of the four drafts after one year of college and made an immediate impact, earning player of the week honors in his first week in the NBA. With regards to the Shaq-Kobe relationship-feud: Shaq had the Heat in a Game 7 of the conference finals the very next year after he was traded and brought the franchise a title in his second season, while the Lakers went through some tough times before getting back on top in 2009-10.
HS Status (All-Time Great): An army brat, Shaq moved around in his youth before his family settled in San Antonio, where he led Cole to a 68-1 mark his last two seasons. He blew up as a national recruit at the BCI Tournament the summer before his monster senior campaign.

12) Jerry West, East Bank (W.V.) 6-3 G '56
We're talking about the second greatest playoff performer behind Jordan, whose outputs were clearly affected by not having a 3-point goal during his career. In addition to his trademark pull-up jumper, West won a scoring title, an assist title when he moved to the point, and was an accomplished defender.
HS Status (All-Time Great): A folk hero in West Virginia, West was considered on par with Oscar Robertson in his class. Interestingly enough, the duo teamed up on the 1960 Olympic team and there were a plethora of prep standouts in the 1960s and 1970s dubbed the "Next West" and "Next Oscar" who could never live up to those lofty expectations.

13) Moses Malone, Petersburg (Va.) 6-11 C '74
For a period in the late 1970s and 80s, he was easily the best player in the World. He just pounded other talented big men and should get more credit as arguably the best rebounder ever. There are three statistical outliers in the NBA: Wilt's single-season scoring outputs, Steph Curry's 3-point shooting and Big Mo's offensive rebounding numbers.
HS Status (All-Time Great): He was courted by over 300 colleges and signed a Grant-In-Aid with Maryland as the best recruit since Jabbar in '65. Perhaps Lefty could have made the Terrapins "UCLA of the East", considering Malone was a ABA All-Star at 19 years old, had he actually enrolled.?

14) Hakeem Olajuwon, Muslim Teachers College (Lagos, Nigeria) '81
Everyone knows about Dream's stellar offensive footwork, but some don't know he used it on the defensive side of the ball with the same devastating affects. Dream was a nine-time all-defensive selection, and if you saw him play, you know he could pick a guard's pocket and go the length of the floor as easily as he could block a shot inside.
HS Status (International): He was the first non-American to do hit these individual marks: All-Star, NBA MVP, NBA Defensive Player of the Year. But he worked hard to get better after not picking up the game until 15 and got exponentially better by playing pick-up with Moses Malone once at U of H.

15) Stephen Curry, Charlotte Christian (N.C.) 6-1 G '06
He's the greatest range shooter ever and his volume and percentage of makes from 3-point range is still breath-taking, even after all the accolades (2-time MVP, 3-time NBA Champ, etc.). People relate to him because his size and unassuming demeanor, but it's a complete misnomer that he's not one of the best athletes in the world. His balance and strength are incredible.
HS Status (Run of the Mill): It's embarrassing the colleges that overlooked him and didn't offer a scholarship, considering the access he had as the son of a NBA player. Same thing can be said about NBA brass on draft night.

16) Isiah Thomas, St. Joseph (Westchester, Ill.) 6-1 G '79
The ringleader of the Bad Boy Pistons, that terrific group are the greatest "party crashers" in NBA history, keeping the Lakers and Celtics from total dominance and suppressing Jordan's Bulls as long as it could. The only thing keeping Thomas higher is the abrupt decline to his career because of wear and tear to his small frame.
HS Status (All-Time Great): Entered high school with plenty of fanfare, but some felt Bloom's Raymond McCoy was going to be the greater guard. That began to change by the end of the junior season and by the end of his high school career it was evident Thomas was a future NBA All-Star.

17) Kevin Durant, Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.) 6-9 F '06
Some feel KD is the greatest scorer in the history of the game, and he's already a nine-time all-NBA choice at age 33. The four-time scoring champ is excellent percentage wise from the field and the line, while his assist numbers have steadily increased over the latter part of his career.
HS Status (All-Time Great): He was the No. 2 prospect in his class behind Greg Oden and it's so easy to say Portland screwed up the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. It wasn't bad scouting, as Oden was a once-in-a-decade center talent, but one thing scout Clark Francis noted was that KD has one of the best work ethics he'd ever seen in a young player with that much talent.

18) Julius Erving, Roosvelt (N.Y.) 6-7 F '68
Most people under the age of 45 have seen the Good Doctor's NBA highlights, but most of those are against the Lakers in the NBA Finals as an aging Superstar. His work is the ABA is simply stellar, as Erving was a tireless rebounder, terrific defender and more than solid 3-point shooter considering the league-wide average. Want proof? Go check how many times he blocked over 100 shots in his career and how many times LeBron has done it.
HS Status (All-Stater): He earned all-county and all-Long Island honors and was actually seen by legendary grassroots scout Howie Garfinkel in high school. He he played in New York City's PSAL or Catholic League, he likely would have received tons more acclaim. Either way, he was a terrific long-term prospect and made an immediate impact at UMASS.

19) Karl Malone, Summerfield (La.) 6-9 F '81
How much higher would be on this list if the Jazz won a NBA title? Not much, honestly. What you see is what you get, a physical specimen who kept improving to the point of where he won MVPs at 33 and 35 years old.
HS Status (All-Stater): A small-school terror who led his school to three consecutive Class C state titles, the Mailman got a glimpse of what modern, big-time travel ball is today. He played on the New Orleans-based First Progressive club financed by a wealthy banker that also featured NBA Top 75 snub Joe Dumars.

20) John Stockton, Gonzaga Prep (Spokane, Wash.) 6-0 G '80
The all-time leader is assists and steals (by a sizable margin), Stockton was tough and had a nasty streak that only made him that much more appealing to Jazz fans. Stockton only missed 22 games in 19 seasons.
HS Status (All-Stater): He had offers to Idaho and Montana after breaking local scoring records, but chose to stay home and play for Gonzaga.

21) Rick Barry, Roselle Park (N.J.) 6-7 F '62
The ABA's all-time regular season and post-season scoring leader, Barry also averaged 40.8 ppg in the '67 NBA Finals and 36.3 ppg in all NBA Finals games. He's also won a title in both leagues as an ALPHA player and is the only player to go for 50 plus points in a Game 7 playoff contest.
HS Status (All-Stater): Was a fine high school player, but it wasn't until he arrived at Miami that he began to show the makings of a future NBA standout. Going to play for the Hurricanes was a terrific fit for the fast-rising prospect.

22) Kevin Garnett, Farragut (Chicago) 6-11 F '95
The Kid developed into the Big Ticket and for a couple seasons in the early 2000s, he was as good as any player in the game in helping the Timberwolves gain respectability. A NBA champ with the Celtics, Garnett made 12 all-defensive teams and averaged double-digits in rebounds for 10 seasons.
HS Status (All-Time Great): Ranks with LeBron as the most talented player of the past quarter century. KG did show glimpses it was possible he could successfully make the leap from high to the pros as a rising junior. If NBA front offices could have measured his determination and work ethic, he would have been the No. 1 pick instead of arising skepticism when he declared for the draft.

23) Dirk Nowitzki, Rontgen Gymnasium (Wurzburg, Germany) 7'0 F '98
From 1998-2019, the Mavs only had six All-Star selections outside of their sweet-shooting German and when they won the NBA title in 2011, he was their only all-star. Just as impressive, the Mavs won 50 games for 11 straight seasons (2000-11) without attracting a lot of high-profile free agent talent.
HS Status (International): The first Euro player to win NBA MVP, Dirk showed glimpses of that talent with his 33-point, 14-rebound performance at the '98 Nike Hoop Summit. Had he played in the states in the American grassroots system, there is little doubt he would have been the No. 1 player in an otherwise pedestrian class.

24) David Robinson, Osbourn Park (Manassas, Va.) 7-1 C '83
One of the greatest physical specimens ever to lace them up, Robinson dominated immediately after serving two years in the Navy and closed out his career with a NBA title in 2003. As late as 2001, he was still playing at an all-NBA level (third team).
HS Status (Run of the Mill): The Admiral shot up from 5-foot-9 to 6-foot-6 as a senior, but didn't receive any scholarship offers after an all-district season. He didn't stop growing until his second year in the Navy, when he was too tall to every serve on a U.S. naval ship.

25) Bob Pettit, Baton Rouge (La.) 6'9 F '50
Watch film of Big Blue, and it's easy to see how he'd still be terrific in the modern NBA, working the baseline and scoring from all angles. He also gets credit for ending Boston's stronghold on the title with a memorable performance in the '58 Finals, en route to first team all-NBA accolades in each of this first 10 seasons.
HS Status (All-Stater): A two-time all-city performer after not making the team as a sophomore, Pettit kept working on his craft until he led Baton Rouge to a state title and accepted a scholarship from nearby LSU.

26) Charles Barkley, Leeds (Ala.) 6-4 F '81
When today's players and scouts describe a "Unicorn", it evokes images of Sir Charles, one of the most uniquely gifted players of all-time. In his prime, he did things NBA fans are hoping a healthy Zion Williamson can do in terms of running the court, finishing with authority and blocking shots.
HS Status (All-Stater): Short (5-10) and heavy (220 lbs.) as an underclassmen, Barkley blossomed as a senior (19.1 ppg, 17.9 rpg) and get noticed by Auburn's coaching staff after he went up against Huntsville Butler's Bobby Lee Hurt, a first team All-American forward.

27) John Havlicek, Bridgeport (Ohio) 6'5 F '58
Hondo would still be an all-timer if he just stayed in his sixth man/secondary role, but after Russell retired he took the role of an ALPHA and led the Celtics to championships in '74 and '76. Not only the Celtics' all-time scoring leader, he also was an eight-time all-defensive choice.
HS Status (All-Stater): Hondo was known more as a terrific athlete than an all-world basketball player in high school. He had the ability to play in the NFL and was actually in the Cleveland Browns' mini-camp before he decided to concentrate on basketball.

28) Jason Kidd, St. Joseph (Alameda, Calif.) 6-4 G '92
No guard has been in the same breath as Magic since he came onto the scene 40 years ago, but from the standpoint of pushing the rock and setting up, Kidd comes in No. 2. He also was a hellacious defender and all-NBA first team five teams.
HS Status (All-Time Great): Known for his strength and stamina from the lead guard position, he was four-time all-NorCal, three-time all-state and generally considered NorCal's best prep ever.

29) Dwyane Wade, Richards (Oak Lawn, Ill.) 6'3 G '00
D-Wade plays big and came up big as a cornerstone of three NBA title teams in "Wade County". He was named first or second team All-NBA five times and blocked more shots than any guard in history.
HS Status (Run of the Mill): Famously came off the bench for his loaded travel team and was ranked No. 51 in the country by talent scout Bob Gibbons.

30) Walt Frazier, Howard (Atlanta, Ga.) 6-4 G '64
A flashy backcourt performer, he doesn't get enough credit for being an ace defender and for his scoring ability. Put together the best ever NBA Finals Game 7 performance (36 points, 19 rebounds) to lead to Knicks to the first of two titles.
HS Status (All-American): A terrific all-around athlete with dreams on being a NFL quarterback, Frazier is considered one of The Peach State's best guards ever, even though his career exploits are a bit buried playing at an all-Black school during segregation.

31) Elvin Hayes, Britton (Rayville, La.) 6-9 C '64
The "Big E" was durable and dominant, leading the Bullets to a NBA title and making 12 all-star teams.
HS Status (All-American): A great recruit for legendary U of H coach Guy Lewis who always dreamed of playing MLB, just like many other black youth after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947.

32) Patrick Ewing, Ringe & Latin (Cambridge, N.Y.) 7-0 C '81
He was billed as the next Bill Russell with way more offense coming out of Georgetown, but even though he never was that great, Big Pat was still damn good. He endeared to fans because of how hard be played and because of his effort in trying to bring the Knicks a championship against rugged 90s competition.
HS Status (All-Time Great): One of the most decorated big men of all-time, his was a three time All-American, the nation's top recruit and his college commitment to Georgetown was national news.

33) Giannis Antetokounmpo, Filathlitikos (Athens, Greece) 6-10 PF '12
There is little doubt when the final chapter is written, The Greek Freak will be quite high on this list, perhaps near the range of the top dozen. He's already a two-time NBA MVP and had a 50-point, 14-rebound, 5-block performance to help the Bucks clinch their first title in 50 years.
HS Status (International): He played in the semi-pro Greek B Basket League, and a number of major Euro clubs had interest in the Nigerian who grew up in Athens. His rise is why international high school aged scouting is such a major part of the recruiting landscape and NBA mock drafts now.

34) James Harden, Artesia (Lakewood, Calif.) 6-5 G '07
Unless you've seen him up close or studied his numbers, you don't realize how talented he really is at the offensive end. Despite being so polarizing, he's accomplished things only the game's very best have.
HS Status (All-American): A two-time divisional state player of the year, Harden averaged 19 ppg on California's best team and was significantly younger than many of his peers in a great class.

35) Scottie Pippen, Hamburg (Ark.) 6-7 F '83
A terrific all-around talent who kept getting better early in his NBA career, this seven-time All-NBA performer gets dinged for not leading a team to a NBA title as an ALPHA performer. He certainly had a couple of golden opportunities.
HS Status (Run of the Mill): Young Pip had some talent, but not a lot of refinement and not enough exposure for a scholarship offer.

36) Elgin Baylor, Spingarn (Washington, D.C.) 6'5 F '54
A 10-time all-NBA First Team selection, Baylor was one of the pioneers of above-the-rim play and making moves while suspended in mid-air. A gifted scorer, he also averaged 13.5 rpg, including a high of 19.8 rpg.
HS Status (All-Time Great): Dropped out of high school for a year to work, but came back as a senior to average 36.1 ppg, including a D.C. single-game record of 63 points. Had he played even just a few years after Brown vs. Board of Education instead of at an all-Black program, his accolades would have been much more national in scope.

37) Chris Paul, West Forsyth (Clemmons, N.C.) 6'0 G '03
The first player in history with 20,000 career points and 10,000 career assists. Gets credit for his sustained excellence, but at his peak there are guys ranked lower who were better and Paul doesn't own one monster playoff run one can't point to in order to justify a higher spot.
HS Status (All-American): Averaged 31 ppg, eight apg and six spg to earn state Mr. Basketball honors. Like everyone in his class, his exploits were over-shadowed by Lebron James' larger-than-life persona.

38) Allen Iverson, Bethel (Hampton, Va.) 6-1 G '94
Some people love him for his style and cultural influence, but he's one of the fastest, quickest and toughest athletes in history. A four-time scoring champ and '01 MVP, AI was also a volume shooter who connected on less than 43 percent of his field goal attempts.
HS Status (All-American): The nation's top two-sport athlete as a junior, he didn't get to play his senior season after a now infamous bowling alley brawl. The late John Thompson deserves plenty of credit for offering him a scholarship after the negative press. Felipe Lopez was the nation's top player in his class, but would Iverson have pressed him for Mr. Basketball USA honors if not for the unfortunate incident?

39) Steve Nash, St. Michaels University School (Victoria, B.C.) '92
At his peak, he was playing the position as well as anyone since Magic, but the Run 'N Gun Suns never got over the hump in the NBA Playoffs. The two-time MVP led the league in assists five times and shot 42.8 percent from 3-point range.
HS Status (International): A budding prospect in British Columbia, Nash averaged 21.3 ppg, 9.1 rpg, and 11.2 apg as a senior, but wasn't recruited by any American college until Santa Clara's Dick Davey took a look at his film.

40) Kawhi Leonard, Martin Luther King (Riverside, Calif.) 6-7 F '09
The only player to earn NBA Finals MVP with a team from each conference in a full season, Leonard is dominant on both sides of the ball. In the era of stars switching teams, should Leonard one day lead a third franchise to a NBA title, he'll continue to climb rapidly on this list.
HS Status (All-American): A somewhat late bloomer who was a part-time starter as a sophomore at Canyon Springs of nearby Moreno Valley, 'Whi was definitely looked at as a big-time prospect and impact Pac-12 recruit. However, those programs got on board much too late and he stayed loyal to SDSU's recruiting efforts.

41) George Gervin, Martin Luther King (Detroit) 6-8 G '71
At his peak, the Ice Man made first or second team all-NBA seven consecutive years (1977-83) and was the best scorer in the league four times.
HS Status (All-Stater): He had a late growth spurt that allowed him to put up monster numbers (31 ppg, 20 rpg) as a senior. Jerry Tarkanian at Long Beach St. saw his potential, but he was homesick and wanted to get back to Michigan as soon as he could.

42) Russell Westbrook, Leuzinger (Lawndale, Calif.) '06
One of the most explosive guards of all-time, he is also one of the most polarizing NBA MVPs of all-time.
HS Status (All-Stater): He was literally one of the final selections on the Cal-Hi Sports All-State team, after averaging 25.1 ppg. A growth spurt helped his game on the boards (8.7 rpg) while he honed his perimeter skill.

43) Paul Pierce, Inglewood (Calif.) 6-7 F '95
There is no denying what he did in the big moments, outplaying Kobe Bryant and LeBron James in key playoff series, and his career marks.
HS Status (All-American): Started off his career slow, but took off his junior year and was considered the best player on the West Coast as a senior. One of the very best in a terrific class.

44) Dwight Howard, Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy (Atlanta, Ga.) 6-10 C '04
Our highest-rated snub, it's mind-boggling to look at his accolades and think he's not a Top 50 choice, much less Top 75. It's almost as egregious as the 'Nique snub 25 year ago. He's been All-NBA First Team five times, an eight-time all-star and 3-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year. He also was the ALPHA on a NBA Finals team.
HS Status (All-American): The Georgia Player of the Year led his team to a state Class A title while averaging 25.5 ppg, 18.3 rpg and 8.0 bpg. A first five All-American choice and the top-ranked prospect in his class.?

45) Willis Reed, West Side (Lillie, La.) 6'9 C '60
A rugged defensive player, he also earned every individual accolade a player can get. A two-time NBA finals MVP.
HS Status (All-Stater): A terrific all-around athlete who excelled in hoops, football, baseball and track, Reed was recruited to play football at Grambling for legendary coach Eddie Robinson. He smartly chose basketball as a career path.

46) Carmelo Anthony, Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) 6-7 F '02
A top ten all-time scorer, Anthony gets knocked here because has never been the difference maker in a big playoff series.
HS Status (All-American): Would have been Mr. Basketball USA as a senior if not for a junior named LeBron, whom entered the league with him amid much fanfare.

47) Bob McAdoo, Smith (Greensboro, N.C.) 6-9 C '69
By the end of his fourth season, he had ROY, three scoring titles and a MVP is his pocket. A scoring machine in the 70s, he adjusted his game to help the Lakers win two of their five "Showtime" titles.
HS Status (All-Stater): Led his team to the state semifinals and was also an excellent all-around athlete, winning a state title in the high jump.

48) Dominique Wilkins, Washington (N.C.) 6-7 F '79
It was embarrassing when Wilkins didn't make the NBA Top 50 team 25 years ago. Until Trae Young came along, he WAS the Atlanta Hawks for his high-flying style of play. He produced and played hard even after he came back from a potentially devastating Achilles injury on the back nine of his career.
HS Status (All-American): Two-time All-American was one of the very best players in the most legendary class of all-time that helped shaped the popularity of the NBA in the 1980s. 'Nique played in every camp and all-star game he could get to, with his famous "Human Highlight Film" nicknamed coined by Naismith HOF grassroots camp mogul Howie Garfinkel.

49) Gary Payton, Skyline (Oakland, Calif.) 6-4 G '86
The Glove is one of the best practical and reputation defenders ever, earning first team all-defense nine consecutive seasons. Payton was also durable, underrated offensively and a noted clubhouse presence for teams looking to get over the hump.
HS Status (All-Stater): A third five all-state selection as a senior, the first team all-East Bay choice led Skyline to back-to-back OAL titles alongside future NBA player Greg Foster. As a a senior, he averaged 20.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg and 10.5 apg.?

50) Nate Thurmond, Central (Akron, Ohio) 6-11 C '59
Anyone that averaged 15 rpg for his career is a bad dude, and Thurmond epitomized toughness during an era defined by inside play.
HS Status (All-Stater): Was a teammate of high-flying future NBA player Gus Johnson at Central and chose not to go to Ohio St., so he could see the court right away instead of battling NBA 75 member Jerry Lucas for playing time.

51) Artis Gilmore, Carver (Dothan, Ala.) 7-2 C '67
After a distinguished run in the ABA, where he earned MVP honors in '72 and was playoff MVP in '75, he put forth together a nice run through the NBA, too. Gilmore was a five-time All-Star, including his last selection in his 15th pro season in '86.
HS Status (All-American): Gilmore was a high-jumping, dominant big man who attended Carver after de-segregation in his hometown of Chipley, Fla. He was a third five All-American and considered a terrific prospect.

52) Anthony Davis, Perspetives Charter (Chicago) 6-9 F '12
Some were surprised to see AD make the cut, but we're even more surprised to see him make it in front of Dwight Howard. AD has never carried a team deep in the playoffs as an ALPA like Howard did in Orlando.
HS Status (All-American): Rates with Bill Walton and Tracy McGrady as the players who skyrocketed the quickest to the elite status in their respective class after their junior year of high school. A growth spurt allowed AD to average 32 ppg, 22 rpg and 7 bpg, even though his team went 6-18 against Class 3A competition.

53) Wes Unseld, Seneca (Louisville, Ky.) 6-7 C '64
In many respects, he's still the face of the Washington Wizards (then known as the Bullets) franchise. The '78 NBA Finals MVP, never made all-NBA after his rookie season when he was also named MVP.
HS Status (All-Time Great): Would have been the national player in the year as a senior if it wasn't for a junior named Lew Alcindor. Considered one of the all-time greats in the Bluegrass State and expected to be a future NBA player.

54) Dave Cowens, Central Catholic (Newport, Ky.) 6-9 C '66
There is this misnomer the Celtics fell off after Russell retired in '69. In reality, Cowens led them to a 68-14 record in '73, when he won MVP, and to two NBA titles.
HS Status (All-Stater): He wasn't recruited by UK, but made an excellent choice in Florida St. because he would get playing time and further develop his game and aggressive style.

55) Clyde Drexler, Sterling (Houston) 6-7 G '80
One of the best all-around big guards in NBA history, Drexler came at a time when he was over-shadowed by Michael Jordan and bigger, more marketable personalities. Go look at his numbers.
HS Status (Run of the Mill): After growing six or seven inches the summer after his freshman season, he kept getting better and people could see the potential. Although not a prime-time recruit, U of H's Michael Young recommended him to the Cougars' coaching staff and someone tipped off talent scout Bob Gibbons, who ranked him No. 4 in the class.

56) Dennis Rodman, South Oak Cliff (Dallas, Texas) 6-7 F '79
The greatest rebounder ever who did not play the traditional pivot, Rodman was a winner and consummate team player.
HS Status (Did Not Play): He was listed at 5-foot-6 as a freshman and not considered a talent in basketball or football, the latter which he loved like most Texas schoolboys.

57) Robert Parish, Woodlawn (Shreveport, La.) 7-0 C '72
In his 14 seasons with the Celtics, he averaged a double-double and shot over 55 percent from the field. He did his job and did it well.
HS Status (All-Time Great): His first high school was closed due to de-segregation, but he was the Mr. Basketball USA choice as a senior and finished his prep career with 3,562 points.

58) Nate Archibald, DeWitt Clinton (Bronx, N.Y.) 6-1 G '66
Everybody knows he's the only cat to lead the league in scoring and assists in the same season, but he also adjusted his game to fit on a World Championship team in Boston.
HS Status (Run of the Mill): Cut from the varsity as a sophomore, but mainly because Clinton was loaded beyond belief. There was three future NBA players on the team he got cut from and his senior year he wasn't the star, but helped Clinton win the mythical national title.

59) Bill Cunningham, Erasmus Hall (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 6-6 F '61
For three years running, the Kangaroo Kid was first team all-NBA and is one of the greats in the ABA as well.
HS Status (All-American): A top five player in his class, Cunningham is one of the greatest Caucasian playground legends of all-time, known for his jumping ability.

60) James Worthy, Ashbrook (Gastonia, N.C.) 6'8 F '79
Similar to Boston's Sam Jones, "Big Game James" was statistically better across the board in the post-season. The Lakers has a chance to draft Dominique Wilkins, but have no regrets selecting one of the best "No. 3 option" of all-time.
HS Status (All-American): A two-time All-American, Worthy averaged 21.2 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 5.0 apg and shot .594 from the field as a senior. Believe it or not, he drew some comparisons to his future NBA teammate Magic Johnson.

61) Earl Monroe, Bartram (Philadelphia, Pa.) 6-3 G '63
An iconic player, "Black Jesus" would have been a Mixtape sensation as a modern player. It's hard to believe he only made all-NBA only once.
HS Status (All-Stater): Averaged 21.4 ppg as a senior and often played in the front court as a youth. He attended prep school and was later recruited to play for legendary coach Clarence "Big House" Gaines at Winston-Salem State.

62) Dolph Schayes, De Witt Clinton (Bronx, N.Y.) 6-9 F '44
12-time all-star was a pioneer and reliable, but for a big guy inside his shooting percentages were not up to snuff.
HS Status (All-Stater): He was one of the early stars of New York's Public School Athletic League and led his famous school to a borough title as a senior. He entered college at 16.

63) Hal Greer, Douglass (Huntington, W.Va.) 6'2 G '54
A model of consistency, Greer was a 7-time second team All-NBA choice and didn't have any weaknesses.
HS Status (All-Stater): Went to an all-Negro school and was the first African-American to play for a public college in his home state (Marshall).

64) Dennis Johnson, Dominguez (Compton, Calif.) 6-3 G '72
Perhaps D.J. was snubbed from this team because three members of the 1980s Celtics already are on, but he can't be judged just by what he did in Boston. A trusted, clutch performer and one of the best defensive guards ever, Johnson has to get credit for being a first team all-NBA performer in '81 and second team in '80. On top of that, he was the '79 NBA Finals MVP for the Sonics.
HS Status (Run of the Mill): He hardly ever played at Domingues, toiling deep on the Dons' bench. Jim White, the coach at L.A. Harbor College, saw him play and encouraged him to enroll. In three years, he developed into a second round draft choice.

65) Jerry Lucas, Middletown (Ohio), 6-8 F '58
Can't ignore 15.6 rpg for his career. Plus he made first or second team all-NBA five times and later adjusted his game to play a role on a championship NY Knicks club.
HS Status (All-Time Great): His games were on radio all across Ohio and he's one of the biggest high school stars ever. The first two-time national player of the year (only Lew Alcindor and LeBron matched that feat).

66) Bernard King, Fort Hamilton (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 6-7 F '74
One of the first players to come back from a devastating ACL injury, King averaged 28.4 ppg and 4.6 apg in 1991 on his re-constructed knee. He was looking like an MVP candidate before the injury and quickly established himself in the NBA, averaging 24.2 ppg as a rookie for the Nets. You'd have to have seen him in real time to realize his explosive scoring ability and rightful place on this list.
HS Status (All-Stater): King was considered a talented prospect, but he got even better at Tennessee, and was more suited for the pros than his college running mate Ernie Grumfield. King's younger brother Albert is one of the biggest high school legends of all-time, but was a pedestrian pro.

67) Pete Maravich, Broughton (Raleigh, N.C.) 6-5 G '65
Arguably the greatest showman of all-time, this basketball wizard was four-time all-NBA. He led the league in scoring once and made 10-of-15 3-pointers in his final season, the same year the NBA 3-pointer was instituted.
HS Status (All-American): Like everyone else in his class, he was overshadowed by the exploits of Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). He did a year of prep school be enrolling at LSU to play for father Press Maravich.

68) Ray Allen, Hillcrest (Dalzell, S.C.) 6-5 G '93
Very good at what he does, but similar to Reggie Miller, he was never considered among the league's very best. Made All-NBA Second Team and Third Team once. A very good player on solid teams and a specialist on championship teams.
HS Status (All-American): Part of one of the all-time great classes, Allen was just a notch below McDonald's All-American status. He did play in the Nike US vs. Illinois game that featured many of 93's top talent.

69) Kevin McHale Hibbing (Minn.) 6-10 F '76
One of the most efficient and dangerous low-post players ever, McHale thrived off the bench and became an all-NBA performer once he moved into a starting lineup. Although injuries eventually slowed him down, McHale played through pain and was beloved for it.
HS Status (All-Stater): He led his team to the Class AA state final and even though he was named Mr. Basketball in the state of Minnesota, he was known as a team-first player.

70) Dave Bing, Spingarn (Washington, D.C.) 6-3 G '62
Was one of the best players in the league in his prime and a fan favorite.
HS Status (All-American): Bing was one of the very best guards in the nation after having dreams of playing MLB as a youth.

71) George Mikan, Joliet Catholic (Joliet, Ill.) 6-10 C '42
Much of his dominance came off the offensive glass, as Big Mike proclaimed in countless interviews later in his life. Sure, his dominance might have waned had he played in future decades playing at the level he did in the early 50's, but he must get credit for being the league's first star attraction and capturing five titles with the Minneapolis Lakers.
HS Status (Did Not Play): The big fella was a bit awkward and reserved during his high school days, but legendary college coach Ray Meyer of DePaul harnessed his potential.

72) Bob Cousy, Jackson (Queens, N.Y.) 6-1 G '46
The "Cooz" admitted well after his playing days were over that 12-year old kids on the playgrounds could do some of his NBA moves. The game progressed, but that's not the point. He was called "Mr. Basketball" because he deserves plenty of credit for helping make the NBA worth-while entertainment and worth the price of a stand-alone ticket.
HS Status (All-American): He was a NYC standout as a senior, but that was after he was cut the first two years and missed the beginning of his junior season because of a failed citizenship course.

73) Paul Arizin, La Salle College (Philadelphia, Pa.) 6-4 F '46
The jump shot pioneer was still a terrific player in his last NBA season (21.9 ppg)
HS Status (Did not play): Cut from tryouts as a senior.

74) Bill Walton, Helix (La Mesa, Calif.) 6-11 C '70
At his peak, Walton was one of the very best players in the league. Defeating the '77 76ers in the finals is one of the best individual accomplishments for a ALPHA leading a non-dynasty club. Outplayed Kareem in the conference finals the same season and had the Blazers rolling the next season until injury changed the projection of his career. If peak performance is a criteria of focus, the Big Red Head more than deserves his spot on this list.
HS Status (All-Time Great): After a nondescript junior season, Walton wasn't considered the front-runner for state player of the year even though he was a good college prospect. That all changed when Helix ventured to the San Dimas Tournament of Champions. After his performances, scouts and college coaches knew Walton was probably a better prospect that SI cover boy and three time All-American Tom McMillen.

75) Tony Parker, INSEP (Paris, France) 6-2 G '00
A four-time NBA champion, Parker was also named NBA Finals MVP in 2007 when the Spurs steamrolled to the title. Parker was a six-time NBA All-Star and three-time all-NBA second team; his importance and impact in big games cannot be understated and that's why he'd make our final cut.
HS Status (International): After excelling at the 2000 Nike Hoop Summit, many American colleges wanted him to enroll but he decided to remain in the French League before declaring for the 2001 NBA Draft.

76) Tracy McGrady, Mt. Zion Christian Academy (Durham, N.C.) 6-8 F '97
Injuries robbed him of a career in the NBA after 30, but in his prime there were few scorers better than T-Mac. He won two scoring titles and was a seven-time NBA All-Star.
HS Status (All-Time Great): Wasn't considered a Top 500 prospect entering his senior year, but all that changed when he was recommended for the ABCD Camp. He quickly showed explosive talent and left the camp on par with Lamar Odom, the No. 1 player in the country. No player in the history of grassroots basketball had his fortunes change as quickly as McGrady, who was drafted into the league out of high school less than a year later.

77) Lenny Wilkens, Boys (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 6-1 G '56
He just got better as he got older, and it's probably a foreshadow to his lengthy coaching career.
HS Status (All-Stater): One of the great players from The High, a breeding ground for talented players in the 50s and 60s.

78) Sam Jones, Lauringburg Institute (Lauringburg, N.C.) 6-4 G '51
As the Celtic dynasty aged, Jones had to score more and made his first all-star team at 28 years old. Mr. Clutch won 10 NBA titles and is one of the league's greatest playoff performers.
HS Status (Run of the Mill): Played at a D2 college (HBCU North Carolina Central) and was recommended to Red Auerbach by the Wake Forest coach.

79) Joe Dumars, Natchitoches Central, Natchitoches, La.) 6-3 G '81
Very few accolades missed Dumars, as he was the unsung cog on the Bad Boys dynasty and teamed with Isiah Thomas to form of the best backcourts in history. He was a but more durable, too, playing in his sixth and final all-star game in 1997 well after Zeke retired. A five-time all-defensive choice, Michael Jordan felt Dumars was his toughest check.
HS Status (Run of the Mill): Known more for his football ability at an early age, Joe-D eventually gravitated for hoops and became a prolific scorer at McNeese State University.

80) Chauncey Billups, Washington (Denver, Col.) 6-3 G '95
The 2004 Detroit Pistons are the only NBA champ without a Top 75 member, but Mr. Big Shot should be included above a few who made it, with his teammate Ben Wallace also deserving. A clutch player in the mold of John Havlicek or Sam Jones, Billups was the 2004 NBA Finals MVP, averaging 21 ppg, 5.2 apg and 3.2 rpg against the favored Lakers. He was a five-time NBA All-Star.
HS Status (All-American): Billups was known in the region as a terrific prospect in ninth-grade and was expected to be one of the best players Colorado ever produced. He always looked forward to summer camps to prove he was one of the best players in the country.

81) Dikembe Mutombo, Institute Boboto (Kinshasa, Congo) 7-1 C '84
In the early days, blocked shots weren't an official statistic but by the time Mutombo retired, he had the second most in history behind Hakeem Olajuwon. An eight-time All-Star, Deke also averaged double-digit rebounds his first 13 seasons and was a four-time Defensive Player of the Year honoree.
HS Status (International): Mutombo was a gifted student and picked up basketball in his late teens. He decided to come to the states at age 21 and he chose the perfect mentor in John Thompson to teach him the defensive fundamentals of the game.

82) Bill Sharman, Porterville (Calif.) 6-1 G '44
Four-time champ and a great shooter, if Sharman is on so should the No. 2 or No. 3 options from more recent great dynasties.
HS Status (All-Stater): Sherman was an accomplished athlete during WW2.

83) Ben Wallace, Central (Hayneville, Ala.) 6-9 F '92
Earned NBA Defensive Player of the Year honor four times, a record he shares with Dekembe Mutombo. He also led the league in blocked shots once, rebounding twice and made All-NBA Second Team three times.
HS Status (All-Stater): A terrific all-around athlete, Wallce played football, basketball and baseball and was recommended to Virginia Union but another player from the D2 school built in his mold: Charles Oakley.

84) Walt Bellamy, Barber (New Bern, N.C.) 6-11 C '57
Although his scoring tailed off at the end of his career, Bellamy averaged 20.1 ppg and 13.7 rpg in a 14-year career. He was over-shadowed by some of his contemporaries, but his overall numbers can't be ignored.
HS Status (All-American): Bellamy was one of the state's top recruits, but couldn't go to an ACC school. Instead of going to a HBCU, he went to Indiana, where he developed into of the storied program's best players.

85) Dave DeBusschere, Austin Catholic (Detroit, Mich.) 6-6 F '58
A rugged and great team-oriented defensive player, there are definitely better, more accomplished talents who didn't make the cut.
HS Status (All-American): Helped his school defeat Chet Walker's team in the state Class A final and was a terrific all-around athlete. In fact, one of the best on the NBA 75 team.

86) Alex English, Dreher (Columbia, S.C.) 6-7 F '72
He averaged 21.3 ppg or more for every season of the 1980s and won a scoring title in 1983 (28.4 ppg). English made All-NBA Second Team three times and most important, the Nuggets made the playoffs nine consecutive times in his prime.
HS Status (All-Stater): Before he retired from the NBA as its seventh leading scorer, he was all-region and all-state at Dreher. His jersey number No. 22 was retired by his high school in 2020.

87) Reggie Miller, Poly (Riverside, Calif.) 6-6 G '83
Pacers all-time great never made higher than third team All-NBA. His longevity makes him better than guys like Klay Thompson, Vince Carter, Sidney Moncrief or Marques Johnson, guys who were better at their peak but either haven't played as long or didn't last as long.
HS Status (All-Stater): Was a first five choice as a senior, but Miller and the other seniors in California were overshadowed by a terrific crop of juniors.

88) Damian Lillard, Oakland (Calif.) 6-2 G '08
A clutch shooter, Lillard will move up on this list one day, but he was more suited for the 100th anniversary team.
HS Status (All-Stater): Averaged averaged 22.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg and 2.3 apg as a senior, just never got to play in the big showcase game or tournament to show he was on par with California's very best players.

NBA TOP 75: Top 25 GREATEST AS HIGH SCHOOL PLAYERS

1. Lew Alcindor 2. Wilt Chamberlain 3. Moses Malone 4. LeBron James 5. Kevin Garnett 6. Oscar Robertson 7. Jason Kidd 8. Jerry Lucas 9. Magic Johnson 10. Jerry West 11. Patrick Ewing 12. Isiah Thomas 13. Wes Unseld 14. Elgin Baylor?15. Shaquille O'Neal 16. Kevin Durant 17. Robert Parish 18. Bill Walton 19. Kobe Bryant 20. James Worthy 21. Dominique Wilkins 22. Tracy McGrady 23. Carmelo Anthony 24. Billy Cunningham 25. Michael Jordan.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at?[email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter:?@RonMFlores

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The Retro Room: NBA Players as Classic Hip Hop Albums

The Retro Room — Fri, 07 Jan 2022 19:03:18 +0000

Randy Cruz and Denny Blanco venture into a new concept on the show as they discuss three NBA players, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry, and relate their careers to classic hip hop albums in Volume 1.

The post The Retro Room: NBA Players as Classic Hip Hop Albums appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

The Retro Room: The King In The Land

The Retro Room — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 15:03:18 +0000

Randy Cruz and Denny Blanco revisit LeBron James' second stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2014-2018, which includes him leaving the Miami Heat in 2014, building a new 'Big 3' with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, winning a championship in 2016 down 3-1 to the Warriors and more.

The post The Retro Room: The King In The Land appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Salute to All-Time FAB 50 No. 1s

Ronnie Flores — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 21:49:01 +0000

A detailed listing of the all-time No. 1 nationally-ranked high school basketball teams

Note: The FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by www.ebooksnet.com is a continuation of the National Sports News Service ratings that began in 1952. These were the first national high school rankings and they were compiled by the late Art Johlfs of Minnesota. They were compiled for many years by the late Barry Sollenberger of Phoenix, who merged them into the FAB 50 for the 1999-2000 season. The FAB 50 is the longest-running weekly national rankings.

(Each school listed with win-loss record, head coach and source of ranking. Rankings key: BIL - FAB 50 powered by Ballislife; GR - Grassroots Hoops FAB 50; SS - Student Sports FAB 50; ESPN - POWERADE/ESPN RISE FAB 50; Rivals - Rivals FAB 50; Fox - Fox FAB 50; NSNS - National Sports News Service; NPP - National Prep Poll -- The Associated Press, ESPN, The Sporting News; USA - USA Today Super 25; BW - Basketball Weekly.)

FAB 50 ERA

2024 -- Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) (33-0); HC-Kevin Boyle; BIL-- The Eagles started off as preseason FAB 50 No. 1 and went wire-to-wire in the pole position, capping off their season with a 79-63 victory over No. 3 Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) in the title game of Chipotle Nationals. Montverde Academy’s unblemished mark against the program's toughest schedule ever produced its third wire-to-wire No. 1 finish, joining the unbeaten 2018 team and the one loss 2021 team that remained at No. 1 after a loss to Sunrise Christian (Bel Aire, Kan.), a team it previously beat and ended up beating two of three times that season. Duke bound Cooper Flagg (16.4 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 3.8 apg, 2.6 bpg) finished the Chipotle Nationals title game with 16 points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots and averaged 20.0 ppg, and 7.0 rpg in the event’s three victories over FAB 50 ranked foes. Maryland-bound big man Derik Queen (16.4 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.0 apg) also had a great tourney output, averaging 16.3 ppg and 6.7 rpg, but it was the team's "sixth starter”, LSU-bound guard Curtis Givens, who stepped up big-time vs. Paul VI by canning 6-of-9 3-pointers to finish with 24 points. In the semifinals, the Eagles downed No. 2 Columbus (Miami, Fla.), 84-70, and opened with a 64-49 win over No. 16 AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.). Incredibly, the Eagles beat three opponents at the end-of-season tourney it already defeated earlier in the season. In fact, Kevin Boyle’s crew also beat No. 5 Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.) and No. 7 Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) twice, while also beating No. 6 Link Academy (Branson, Mo.) once while capturing the EYBL Scholastic League title. Not only did Montverde Academy win 11 games vs. teams in the Top 7, including five teams twice, this club used balance to navigate a schedule that included 20 wins over preseason FAB 50 ranked clubs, 19 victories over clubs in the final FAB 50 and 24 wins over teams that were FAB 50 ranked at some point during the season. The amount of quality wins in a season by one team is high even by MVA’s standards and at an all-time level, although some detractors will point to the advantages it has over traditional public and/or parochial programs that play for state titles. On the flip side, the advantages MVA has as an academy-type program four of the Top 7 ranked teams (not to mention others in the EYBL Scholastic League) also have and the Eagles still only had three games decided by single-digits. The balanced attack was rounded out by three starters that averaged double-figure scoring: Baylor-bound point guard Robert Wright III (12.2 ppg, 5.8 apg, 4.0 rpg), senior wing Liam McNeeley (12.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.8 apg) and Georgia-bound power forward Asa Newell (11.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg). The No. 1 finish gives the program its seventh FAB 50 national title, which ties the all-time mark set by Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) between 1993 and 2012. This is the best club of the program’s three wire-to-wire No. 1 FAB 50 teams, but will ultimately be compared to the 2020 unit that started No. 2 and won the FAB 50 title, but didn’t get an opportunity to compete at Chipotle Nationals (then known as GEICO Nationals) because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. In addition to its 24-0 mark against ranked foes, the Eagles recorded a winning margin of 29.7 ppg while having to defeat four of its best five opponents not once, but twice, during the course of the season.

2023 -- Link Academy (Branson, Mo.) (27-1); HC-Bill Armstrong; BIL-- The Lions began the season No. 11 in the FAB 50 and had the talent to start even higher, but were breaking in a new coach and cast of players after Rodney Perry left for an assistant coaching position at Kansas St. In 2021-22, Perry led the program to the GEICO Nationals title game, losing to Montverde Academy and finishing No. 4 in the FAB 50. This season the independent program on the campus of Camp Kanakuk had lofty aspirations and the talent level to meet those goals under new coach Bill Armstrong. The Lions started off the season 23-0 before losing by a wide margin to preseason No. 1 Montverde Academy, 84-58, at the Metro Classic in N.J. Link Academy just couldn’t overcome early 15-0 and 12-0 runs, but it bounced back at GEICO Nationals to make up for that awful first quarter against the Eagles. Led by Baylor-bound guard Ja'Kobe Walter and junior guard Elliot Cadeau, who is committed to North Carolina, Link Academy defeated three top 20 foes to claim the program’s first GEICO Nationals crown in its second year as an eligible program. In the quarterfinals, the Lions were involved in a tough No. 4 vs. No. 5 seed contest, as Link Academy was a surprise No. 4 seed and downed FAB 50 No. 18 Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.), 68-65, behind Walter's 34 points (including four 3-pointers). Top seeded Montverde Academy fell in its quarterfinal contest to FAB 50 No. 14 Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) by a point (46-45) and the Lions were able to atone for their lone regular season loss by downing the club that just knocked off the top seed, 67-61, as Cadeau had 16 points and 10 assists. Tennessee-bound guard Cameron Carr came up big for the Lions in the win over Sunrise Christian Academy with 18 points. Link Academy, which entered the eight-team tournament No. 2 in the FAB 50, was able to secure the top spot with a dominant 73-55 championship game victory over No. 9 AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.). The Lions were in control throughout the title game, taking a 35-25 halftime lead and extending it to 44-26 after starting out the second half on a 9-1 run. Walter netted a championship game-high 21 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, including 3-of-4 3-point shots while, Tyler McKinley, a 6-foot-9 junior, had a big outing with 17 points and six rebounds. Walter averaged 21.3 ppg in three GEICO Nationals games, while Cadeau averaged 9.7 ppg, 9.7 apg, and 2.3 spg, while his 29 total assists broke the event record held by Montverde Academy's Andrew Nembhard, who had 28 in 2018. Coach Armstrong’s club actually defeated Sunrise Christian Academy during the regular season, 72-66, as the Lions defeated seven FAB 50 ranked foes, including No. 32 Oak Cliff Faith Family (Dallas, Texas) by 30 points, 70-40. Like many outstanding ball clubs, Armstrong had a balanced attack throughout the season, with Walter (14.4 ppg, 37.8 3-PT FG, 4.0 rpg, 1.7 spg), Cadeau (10.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 7.3 apg, 1.9 spg) and Carr (11.6 ppg, 75.0 2-PT FG, 87.2 FT, 3.1 rpg) leading the way in the backcourt, while LSU-bound power forward Corey Chest (7.3 ppg, 76.3 2-PT FG, 3.2 rpg) and Phillips (6.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.2 bpg) playing key interior roles.

2022 -- Duncanville (Texas) (35-1); HC-David Peavy; BIL-- The Panthers began the season No. 7 and had aspirations to compete for the FAB 50 title after finishing as Texas' top-ranked team three years running. The team got its big chance when it faced No. 1 and defending FAB 50 champ Montverde Academy (Fla.) at Hoophall West in Pheonix after it moved up to No. 5. Duncanville battled back from a 21-8 deficit after one period to win the game at the buzzer, 67-66, on a 3-pointer by junior guard Aric Demings. At that point in the season, Duncanville had beaten six FAB 50 ranked foes in 10 games. The Panthers did lose in overtime by two points (60-58) to Richardson (Texas) and that team got as high as No. 7 in the FAB 50, but the Panthers never fell behind Montverde Academy in the rankings. Duncanville was behind No. 1 Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) for the second half of the season, but when the Buffaloes were upset in the first round at GEICO Nationals and Montverde Academy went on to win the prestigious end-of-season tournament over five teams that were in the Top 10, it opened the door for the Panthers to re-gain the top position after the Richardson loss. In all, Duncanville won seven games against teams that were FAB 50 ranked at the time, including No. 33 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.), 80-73, No. 5 Centennial (Corona, Calif.), 75-50, and No. 26 McKinney (Texas), 69-49, in the University Interscholastic League (UIL) Class 6A title game after that club downed Richardson by two points (54-52) in the regional quarterfinals. In addition to Demings (9 ppg, 42 percent 3-point), junior forward Ashton Hardaway (9 ppg, 66 3-pointers), junior power forward Cam Barnes (6 ppg, 5 rpg, 53 percent FG) and senior forward Davion Sykes (9 ppg, 5 rpg) made first team all-district. McDonald's All-American Anthony Black (13 ppg, 58 percent FG, 5 rpg, 3.5 apg) was named District 11-6A Offensive Player of the Year and junior Ron Holland (15 ppg, 60 percent FG, 8 rpg, 2 spg) its overall player of the year. There is a bit of a misnomer that public school programs belonging to state associations cannot compete with academy-type programs, but Duncanville's resume means a third public in seven years finishes as the top-ranked team in the country. Duncanville is also the third UIL program to capture the FAB 50 title in 20 years, joining Lincoln (Dallas) in 2001-02 and Yates (Houston) in 2009-10. All of Texas' other mythical national championships occurred before the advent of weekly, in-season national rankings (1975-76).

2021 -- Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) (24-1); HC-Kevin Boyle; BIL-- It wouldn't be fair to compare this unit to the 2019-20 team that is considered one of high school basketball's all-time greats, as this team carved out its own niche in FAB 50 lore. The Eagles began the season at No. 1 and stayed there throughout, even when their 44-game winning streak was snapped by FAB 50 No. 2 Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) in the two powers' second meeting of the regular season. By virtue of joining the newly-formed National Interscholastic Basketball Conference (NIBC), nearly every game on the regular season schedule was against a team of national or regional significance. All the teams in the NIBC played each other more than once and Montverde Academy won the inaugural NIBC title game with a 61-57 victory over Sunrise Christian Academy. The Eagles closed out the season by winning their fifth GEICO Nationals title, after last season's team was denied the opportunity to compete in the season-ending tournament for elite teams because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Eagles bested No. 23 Oak Hill Academy of Virginia (85-64) in the quarterfinals, AZ Compass Prep of Arizona (51-49) in the semifinals and Sunrise Christian Academy for the third time during the season in the title game (62-52). They not only went 4-1 against No. 2 Sunrise Christian Academy and No. 3 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.), the Eagles won 16 games against teams that were FAB 50 ranked at some point in the season. That 16-game total doesn't include AZ Compass Prep, the only other team to defeat Sunrise Christian Academy. MVA beat AZ Compass Prep without Dayton-bound big man DaRon Holmes at GEICO Nationals and also with him in the lineup in overtime, 76-65, at the Montverde Academy Invitational. This team's defining moment came when it went 12-of-12 from the field in the decisive third quarter of the GEICO Nationals title game that broke it open in favor of the Eagles. Montverde Academy got quality, inside looks from junior center Jalen Duren and back-breaking 3-pointers from Creighton-bound Ryan Nembhard in those eight minutes. It was truly a team effort throughout the year for a program that has now won six mythical FAB 50 national titles in the past nine seasons. Duren (14.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 2.2 bpg) was dominant inside all season long and Nembhard (6.5 ppg, 6.0 apg) emerged as an elite floor general. Michigan-bound Caleb Houstan, the only returning starter from last year's historical unit, (13.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg), shot nearly 53 percent from the field and 40 percent from the 3-point line. Baylor-bound Langston Love (12.7 ppg), the third returning senior along with Nembhard, was one of four double-digit scorers along with junior Dariq Whitehead (10.4 ppg). As a team, the Eagles shot 55.1 percent from the field.

Cade Cunningham

6'7" - PG - 2020

2020 -- Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) (25-0); HC-Kevin Boyle; BIL-- In the preseason, defending FAB 50 champ IMG Academy edged the Eagles for the No. 1 spot by the slimmest of margins. As stated in the preseason, had Montverde Academy not blown a 16-point lead (63-47) to IMG Academy entering the fourth quarter of their GEICO Nationals semifinal contest, Montverde Academy would have started as preseason No. 1. IMG Academy went on to win the game and earn the 2019 FAB 50 No. 1 ranking with a GEICO Nationals championship. With

Jaden Springer back and a host of other talented players, on paper the Ascenders had the talent to play with Montverde Academy, which returned Cade Cunningham and Moses Moody and also had a plethora of available talent on deck. When Scottie Barnes joined the Eagles' roster, it turned a potential juggernaut into a virtual machine, as Montverde Academy ran roughshod through a national schedule with an average winning margin of 39 ppg. When the Eagles and IMG Academy met in the City of Palms Classic title game, the Ascenders gave Montverde Academy its toughest game of the season, falling 63-55 despite no true facilitator and highly-regarded Jalen Johnson not part of the equation. The Eagles opened the season with a 84-51 win over No. 20 Duncanville (Texas), defeated No. 4 DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) 76-56 and beat IMG Academy two more times. In addition, Kevin Boyle's club defeated No. 29 Scotlandville (Baton Rouge, La.) 81-48 and No. 13 Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.) 83-47. In all, the Eagles defeated 12 FAB 50 ranked clubs (at the time of the matchup) and could have potentially faced three more had GIECO Nationals not been cancelled because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Despite not being able to participate at that event, Montverde Academy captured its fifth FAB 50 title in the past eight seasons, and fielded its best overall team in that time frame. Video-centric younger fans will want to compare this team to the 2016 Chino Hills (Calif.) that dominated its playoff competition and produced an average margin of victory of 28.4 ppg, but the all-time great team that is a better comparison is the undefeated 1993 Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) team. The Warriors had a huge front line, had a Mr. Basketball USA talent (Jerry Stackhouse), beat one high school team 96-8 and beat six college teams. Oak Hill's average margin of victory was 37.3 ppg. From the standpoint of producing an all-time great team that also had success at the next levels, this Montverde Academy team may one day be favorably compared to the undefeated 1983 Dunbar (Baltimore, Md.) team. The Poets also had a large winning margin (36.5 ppg) and produced three of the top 22 picks in the 1987 NBA Draft. Similar to Dunbar, this year's Eagles team was incredibly balanced with seven players averaging 8.3 ppg or more led by Cunningham’s 13.9. He also averaged 4.2 rpg and 6.4 apg, while Barnes was third on the team in scoring (11.6 ppg), second in rebounding (6.5), second in assists (4.6 apg) first in deflections (1.7 dpg), and first in steals (1.9 spg). While the average margin of victory stands out, the individual numbers doesn't do this team justice and it will interesting to follow how the players develop on the next levels of the game.

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

6'8" - PF - 2019

2019 -- IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) (31-1); HC-Sean McAloon; BIL-USA.-- In the preseason, defending FAB 50 champ Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) was No. 1, but during the regular season preseason No. 6 La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.) beat the Eagles twice to rise to No. 1. The Lakers remained No. 1 until the final game of the season, when they were defeated, 66-55, by then No. 4 IMG Academy in the GIECO Nationals title game. By virtue of their win over a previously unbeaten No. 1 team, two additional quality victories at GEICO Nationals and six victories over teams that finished in the Top 12, the Ascenders moved up three spots in the final rankings to claim their first ever FAB 50 title. They join Montverde Academy as the only two Florida programs to win a mythical national dating back to 1952, which marks the beginning of the end-of-season National Sports News Service Rankings. IMG Academy defeated Montverde Academy in the GEICO Nationals semifinals, 74-73, after storming back from a 16-point deficit to begin the fourth quarter behind the play of junior guard

Jaden Springer, who averaged 21.3 ppg in the three victories at the event. IMG Academy edges McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) for the FAB 50 crown, as the Indians were No. 2 when they received an invite to GEICO Nationals, then chose not to participate in the event. McEachern, the GHSA Class AAAAAAA champions, had an incredible season, defeating eight teams in the final FAB 50. Only one, however (No. 5 Mountain Brook of Alabama), finished in the Top 10. That was a significant win because Mountain Brook handed IMG Academy its only loss, a 72-67 setback that prevented a McEachern-IMG Academy game during a holiday tournament. The Ascenders were able to overcome that loss by defeating six FAB 50 ranked teams. The main difference between their resume and McEachern's being that all six of those wins came against teams ranked in the Top 12: No. 3 La Lumiere, No. 4 Montverde Academy, No. 8 DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.), No. 10 Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), No. 11 Sunrise Christian Academy and No. 12 University School (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.). IMG Academy defeated Sunrise Christian Academy, 65-50, in the quarterfinals of GEICO Nationals behind Springer's 26 points, the same total he had in the comeback win over Montverde Academy. Had McEachern (which beat Sunrise Christian Academy in overtime) accepted the GEICO Nationals bid, not only could it have potentially met IMG Academy, it could have bolstered its resume to include wins over 11 FAB 50 clubs. As it stands, the quality of IMG Academy's victories, including two over Top 5 teams that went into the game ranked higher, was enough to edge an unbeaten team with the common opponent factor in its favor. In addition to Springer, McAloon's club was led by three McDonald's All-Americans, GEICO Nationals MVP forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (Villanova), wing Josh Green (Arizona) and post player Armando Bacot (North Carolina).

RJ Barrett

6'7" - SG - 2018

2018 -- Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) (36-0); HC-Kevin Boyle; BIL-USA-NPP.-- In the preseason, there was a huge rankings decision to determine if No. 1 should be the Eagles or Memphis East (Memphis, Tenn.). After beating Montverde Academy twice in three games in 2016-17 and finishing with the highest ranking ever for a team from Tennessee (No. 3), it was completely logical to place Memphis East at No. 1. We ultimately went with Montverde Academy because we reasoned it would be difficult for Memphis East to have the ball bounce its way and get the breaks for two consecutive seasons, while also factoring in the Eagles' motivation level after coming up short the previous two seasons. When the dust settled there was no controversy, as Montverde Academy defeated 15 opponents who were ranked or previously ranked in the FAB 50 en route to an undefeated campaign. Memphis East lost three games and ended up ranked No. 4. By defeating No. 2 University School (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) 76-58 in the GEICO Nationals title game, Montverde Academy not only captured its fourth mythical national title in six years, it finished undefeated for the first time since head coach Kevin Boyle took over for the 2011-12 season. In each of those four championship seasons, the Eagles began their season as preseason FAB 50 No. 1. This is the first time MVA did not fall in the rankings and regain the top spot. In 2012-13, the Eagles lost back-to-back games, while the 2013-14 team lost on-court to Curie (Chicago, Ill.) in a game that was later forfeited by the Condors, and rose back to No. 1 after Curie lost on the court. The 2014-15 team lost one game in December (to Wheeler of Marietta, Ga.) before returning to No. 1 in the second poll of January. The ring-leader for Boyle's club this season was Duke-bound left-handed big guard

RJ Barrett, who broke Ben Simmons' all-time GEICO Nationals scoring mark and averaged 26.7 points and 10 rebounds in his team's three victories. Barrett had 25 points and 15 rebounds in the title game win over University, which defeated preseason No. 3 Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) 80-65 in the tournament semifinals to avenge an earlier loss.

2017 -- Nathan Hale (Seattle, Wash.) (29-0); HC-Brandon Roy; BIL-NPP.-- The Raiders played above pre-season expectations and captured the WIAA Class 3A state title with an unbeaten mark. The mythical national crown came into focus after the Raiders defeated preseason No. 9 Sierra Canyon 67-65 to win the Les Schwab Invitational when that team was battling for a legitimate shot at No. 1. By that point in the season, Hale had already defeated Metro League rivals Rainier Beach and Garfield (both of whom started out the season FAB 50-ranked) and went on to defeat Garfield four times, including 68-51 in the state title game.

Michael Porter Jr. grabbed 27 points and 17 rebounds and the Mcdonald's All-American Game MVP finished his senior season with averages of 37.6 ppg, 14.5 rpg, and 5.2 apg. The Raiders edged out La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.) for top rankings billing in a decision that was heightened when Hale was invited but decided not to participate in Dick's Nationals, an end-of-season tournament the Lakers won over a field that included six other FAB 50-ranked teams. Similar to Oak Hill Academy in 2012 when it finished No. 1 but did not play at the event but owned a win over a La Lumiere team that No. 2 Findlay Prep lost to, the common opponent factor became paramount in Hale's championship season. Hale (which also beat Oak Hill Academy of Virginia at the Hoophall Classic) defeated the Sierra Canyon team that La Lumiere suffered its only loss to. Oak Hill Academy was the preseason No. 1 and La Lumiere was No. 2. This was only the second time in the FAB 50 era that the FAB 50, the National Prep Poll and USA Today Super 25 didn't name a consensus national champion, as Hale dropped in the USA Today poll after declining the Dick's Nationals invite to No. 4, one spot behind a Findlay Prep team Sierra Canyon defeated 76-47.

Lonzo Ball

6'6" - PG - 2016

2016 -- Chino Hills (Chino Hills, Calif.) (35-0); HC-Steve Baik; BIL-USA-NPP.-- The Huskies started out as California's No. 1 ranked team, but a national title became in reach after the Huskies defeated preseason FAB 50 No. 1 and three-time defending champion Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) by a point in the quarterfinals of the City of Palms Tournament in Florida and went on to win that tourney title. After that, the Huskies won the Maxpreps Holiday Classic and defeated seven preseason ranked FAB 50 teams after New Year's, including No. 36 Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.) 71-67 in one of California's most anticipated regular-season games in recent memory. In the playoffs, the Huskies were even more dominant against the toughest playoff competition in California, defeating eight opponents by an average of 29 points in the CIF Southern Section and SoCal Open Division playoffs, including Bishop Montgomery 84-62. By winning the CIF Open Division state title, Chino Hills became the sixth public school since 2000 to earn the mythical national title and the first team ever from California's Inland Empire region to earn national No. 1 honors. The last unbeaten team from California to finish No. 1 was Inglewood (29-0) in 1979-80, led by Cal-Hi Sports Mr. Basketball Ralph Jackson (UCLA) and future NBA guard Jay Humphries. By finishing unbeaten with 35 wins, the Huskies tied the state record for most wins by an unbeaten team first set in 2013-14 by Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), according to Cal-Hi Sports. That Mater Dei team finished No. 2 in the FAB 50 behind Montverde Academy. Led by UCLA-point

Lonzo Ball, Chino Hills averaged 98.5 points per game and tied a state record with 18 100-point games.

2015 -- Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) (31-1); HC-Kevin Boyle; GR-USA-NPP.-- For the second consecutive season, the Eagles defeated No. 2 Oak Hill Academy in the finals of the Dick's Sporting Goods National High School Tournament. Senior

Ben Simmons, led the way with 20 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in the 70-61 win over Oak Hill Academy, which fell to 0-4 in Dicks Nationals championship games. Montverde Academy became the first team in the weekly poll era (1976-current) to win three consecutive mythical national titles and only the second program following the legendary McClymonds (Oakland, Calif.) teams of 1958-60 led by future NBA standout and head coach Paul Silas. Simmons was a fixture on all three of Montverde's championship teams and played a different role on each. He was a key reserve as a sophomore, the team's best frontcourt and overall player as a junior and a facilitator and all-around threat as a senior. Montverde was the preseason No. 1 for the third consecutive season and fell from the top spot for one week this season after losing to Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) in the City of Palms Tournament championship game. Wheeler later lost to a West Linn (West Linn, Ore.) team the Eagles defeated 70-58. Oak Hill Academy then took over the top spot for a week before losing to Hamilton (Memphis, Tenn.) in a game that was later overturned in the Warriors' favor via forfeit. Oak Hill and Montverde then met in the last game of the season to decide the mythical national title in the court. In all, Kevin Boyle's club defeated 17 teams that were at some point ranked or included in the final FAB 50.

2014 -- Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) (27-1*); HC-Kevin Boyle; SS-USA-NPP.-- The Eagles defeated No. 3 Oak Hill Academy 71-62 in the finals of the Dick's Sporting Goods National High School Tournament to capture their second consecutive mythical national title. Montverde Academy becomes the first repeat national champion in the FAB 50/National Prep Poll era since Oak Hill Academy in 1993-94. The Eagles' championship at Dick's Nationals capped off a season in which it beat 16 teams that were at some point ranked or included in the final FAB 50. That does not include Huntington Prep of West Virginia, which it defeated in the Dick's Nationals semifinals, or Curie of Chicago, which beat the Eagles on the court only to have that game forfeited later on in the season. As it did the previous season, coach Kevin Boyle lined up a daunting schedule in late December and January and the Eagles came away 10-1 on the court playing around the country against some of the nation's top teams. Montverde Academy also captured the tournament title at the prestigious City of Palms Classic. Boyle's club wasn't as strong on the interior as it 2013 club, but junior Ben Simmons had a breakout campaign. He averaged 20.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game at the Dick's Nationals while McDonalds' All-American shooting guard

D'Angelo Russell often took over point guard duties and led the team in crunch time. In all, Boyle's club carried seven Division I bound seniors.

2013 -- Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) (26-2); HC-Kevin Boyle; SS-USA-NPP.-- The Eagles defeated No. 22 Oak Hill Academy of Virginia (77-71, OT), Prime Prep Academy of Dallas (57-55) and No. 2 St. Benedict’s of New Jersey (67-65) to capture the 2013 National High School Invitational (NHSI) in North Bethesda, Md. to conclude the season. Montverde Academy defeated St. Benedict’s on a last-second 3-pointer by Jalyn Patterson. In the NHSI semis, St. Benedict’s ended the 54-game winning streak of No. 3 Findlay Prep, which beat Montverde Academy at the buzzer at the Hoophall Classic. Montverde’s other loss was also at the buzzer against unranked Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.) two nights before the Findlay Prep game. The Eagles are the first FAB 50 No. 1 team to lose two games in 13 years, but not many teams around the country would have taken on the daunting January schedule coach Kevin Boyle lined up for his teams and both losses came in the game's closing seconds. Montverde Academy started off as the nation’s preseason No. 1 team in the FAB 50, the only credible outlet to start the Eagles at No. 1, and their overall schedule and key wins were enough to overcome the two close losses to become the first ever Florida to finish ranked No. 1 in the nation since the National Sports News Service began end-of-the-season ratings in 1952. It’s also the first ever mythical national title for Boyle, who had two teams at now closed St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) open preseason No. 1 and a few others come within a buzzer beater of the No. 1 ranking.

2012 -- Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) (44-0); HC-Steve Smith; ESPN-USA-NPP.--It was a remarkable comeback for No. 2 Findlay Prep in the championship game of the ESPNHS National High School Invitational, but going to overtime to beat No. 3 Montverde Academy is not what the Pilots needed to create a change at the top of the final POWERADE FAB 50. Oak Hill’s 44-0 record, including a win over the La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.) team Findlay Prep lost to, is the best in school history. It is second-best all-time for a mythical national champion after the 46-0 mark for Kashmere (Houston) in 1974-75. On their way to perfection, the Warriors defeated teams from 13 states, the District of Columbia and Canada, including five FAB 50 ranked teams. Leading the way for coach Steve Smith, now with a 27-year 860-53 record, were 5-foot-11 point guard and McDonald's All-American Tyler Lewis, a North Carolina State commit, plus 6-foot-5 Jordan Adams (UCLA), 6-foot-3 D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (Georgetown) and 7-foot A.J. Hammons (Purdue). For Smith and the program at Oak Hill Academy, this year’s FAB 50 national crown is the seventh since 1993. The Warriors claimed their last one in 2007 with a 40-1 record. Their other No. 1 finishes were in 2004 (38-0), 2001 (33-0), 1999 (31-0), 1994 (30-1) and 1993 (36-0). Oak Hill Academy was invited to play in the NHSI, but declined this year, citing the team’s recent tour of exhibition games in China. The No. 1 team won’t always come as a result of the NHSI championship game, but we won’t always automatically rank an unbeaten club that declines an invite No. 1, or move up a team to No. 1 after it finishes an unbeaten season while turning down an invite to an event it is eligible for. Every situation like this one requires a deep examination of the circumstances.

Kyle Anderson

6'7" - PG - 2012

2011 -- St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) (33-0); HC-Bob Hurley, Sr.; ESPN-USA-NPP.--Montrose Christian felt if it won the end-of-season ESPN RISE National Invitational (NHSI), it would consider itself national champions. No one would deny the Mustangs those feelings and the winner of the NHSI did indeed win a national championship. But it’s not the same as being considered national champion among every state champion in the land and it’s not the same as a mythical national champion based on national rankings. According to criteria that have been used for over 20 years by the POWERADE FAB 50 rankings compilers, Montrose ends at No. 2 in final rankings behind St. Anthony, which did not compete at the NHSI. The Friars capped the school's sixth unbeaten season with their 11^thTournament of Champions state crown and fourth national poll championship. International Basketball Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley, who surpassed 1,000 career wins during the season, won his 24th Non-Public B state crown with a 62-45 win over FAB 50 No. 3 St. Patrick. The Friars' victims also included FAB 50 ranked Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon, N,Y.), Boys & Girls (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Friends Central (Wynnewood, Pa.) plus DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) by a 75-25 margin and Linden (Linden, N.J.), the only team to defeat FAB 50 No. 2 Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.). The Friars were led by 5-foot-9 senior point guard Myles Mack, a Rutgers recruit, and 6-foot-7 junior

Kyle Anderson, who had a terrific game vs. Mr. Basketball USA Michael Gilchrist in the big showdown 62-45 win over St. Patrick.

2010 -- Yates?(Houston, Texas)?(34-0); HC-Greg Wise; ESPN-USA-NPP.--The Lions are the first from Texas to end No. 1 in the nation since 2002 when Lincoln (Dallas) won the Class 4A state title and went 40-0 behind future NBA star Chris Bosh. En route to winning its own Class 4A state crown, Yates set a national record with 15 straight 100-point games and also established a new state record with 170 points in a single outing. Despite the high-scoring antics, Yates didn’t come close to having the best record of an unbeaten team from Houston that finished No. 1 in the nation. That total is 46-0 for Kashmere High, which the National Sports News Service (FAB 50 precursor) named the No. 1 team for 1974-75 in the end of the season poll. In this year’s Class 4A state final, the Lions swamped Lancaster, 92-73, and won their second straight title. They also extended their two-year winning streak to 58 games. A 97-96 victory over No. 2 Neumann-Goretti in the final game at the Iolani Classic in Hawaii wound up being the mythical national title decider. Key players for head coach Greg Wise’s team were senior Joseph Young (Providence), senior Brandon Peters (Western Kentucky) and senior Darius Gardner (Stephen F. Austin).?Wise's team, with depth and a signature full-court defense that never let up, captured its second straight Class 4A title and had an average winning margin greater than 40 points per game.

2009 -- Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) (33-0); HC-Michael Peck; ESPN-USA-NPP.-- The Pilots captured the inaugural ESPN RISE National High School Invitational in North Bethesda, Md., beating previous No. 1 Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), 74-66. Avery Bradley Jr. (20 points) and junior Cory Joseph (18) combined to score 38 points and both were named to the all-tournament team, which Bradley copping tourney MVP honors. A Mr. Basketball USA finalist headed to Texas, Bradley Jr. played lockdown perimeter defense in three victories and veteran Oak Hill Academy coach Steve Smith praised Bradley as the best guard his program has faced. Coach Michael Peck’s two-year old program competed as a team that did not allow postgraduates for the first time and topped No. 5 Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.), 60-43, in the semifinals, as Bradley scored 13 of his game-high 27 points in the first quarter and had 15 points, six rebounds and five assists in a 76-55 first round win over Mountain State Academy (Beckley, W.Va.). The three-day tournament had six ranked teams and two regional ones, playing to packed arenas at Georgetown Prep's Hanley Center. Other big contributors were seniors D.J. Richardson and Victor Rudd.

2008 -- St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) (32-0); HC-Bob Hurley, Sr.; Rivals-USA-NPP.--The Friars capped an unbeaten season with their 10th state Tournament of Champions title. It was the fifth unbeaten season, and third national crown, for 36-year coach Bob Hurley, who guided No. 1 teams in 1989 and 1996. Hurley has a 933-101 career record with 22 of the school's 25 North Jersey Non-Public B crowns. The Friars defeated Science Park, 69-36, in the TOC final after routing Immaculata, 76-41, in the semifinals. During the season, the Friars defeated two Top 25 teams in Utah champion Lone Peak and state rival St. Patrick. The team was led by 6-foot-3 senior guard Mike Rosario, an EA SPORTS All-American candidate and Rutgers recruit. Hurley's son, Danny, coached the No. 2 team in the country at St. Benedict's in nearby Newark. Hurley Sr. was recently elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame, only the second high school coach ever selected following six-time mythical national title winning coach Morgan Wootten of DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.).

2007 -- Oak Hill (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) (40-1); HC--Steve Smith; SS-USA-NPP.--The Warriors captured their sixth national ranking title by recording their second straight 40-1 record season and winning 96 of their last 98 games. This season, Oak Hill defeated six of seven teams ranked in the top 30 of the FAB 50. The Warriors defeated No. 8 Norcross, No. 9 South Medford, No. 13 Mater Dei, No. 22 Liberty Tech, No. 23 Fairfax, and No. 27 Montrose Christian. Oak Hill's lone loss was by 78-75 to No. 5 Simeon in Chicago. Three Warriors will earn All-America honors including McDonald's All-American Nolan Smith, a Duke recruit, who averaged 22 points and 4.5 assists a game. Other A-A honorees are Michigan recruit Alex Legion and Brandon Jennings. Coach Steve Smith has a 22-year record of 684-40 with previous national titles in 2004, 2001, 1999, 1994 and 1993. Why wasn't Oak Hill No. 1 last year despite an identical 40-1 season? Because they lost their last game to Kevin Durant and Montrose Christian plus Lawrence Central of Indianapolis went unbeaten with Greg Oden and Mike Conley and went wire-to-wire as our No. 1 team. The FAB 50 was the only national ranking last year that had that squad No. 1 from the start and considering what that duo is doing this season at Ohio State our rankings look even more credible.

Greg Oden

7'0" - C - 2006

2006 -- Lawrence North (Indianapolis, Ind.) (29-0); HC--Jack Keefer; SS-USA-NPP.--The Wildcats went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 ranked FAB 50 team and stamped itself among the legendary squads in the basketball-rich Hoosier State. As a comparison, USA Today had them No. 5 in its preseason rankings. Lawrence North became only the third state team to win three consecutive state crowns by capturing the Class 4A title with an 80-56 finals' romp over eight-time champion Muncie Central. The other two teams were Marion from 1985-87 and Franklin from 1920-22. The win streak of 45 games ties the state mark set by the Oscar Robertson-led Indianapolis teams of 1955-56 at Crispus Attucks. The average winning margin was 20.3 points and victims included Ohio Division II champion Dayton Dunbar, No. 19 in the FAB 50, and defending Illinois Class AA champion Glenbrook North, No. 30 in the FAB 50. Leading North were two four-year regulars, and Ohio State recruits, who helped teams compile a 103-7 record --

Greg Oden, the 7-foot consensus National Player of Year honoree, and guard Mike Conley. Oden averaged 22 points, 10.5 rebounds and shot 74% from the floor. Conley averaged 16.5 points. Coach Jack Keefer won his fourth state title. North is the first Indiana mythical national champion since Washington of East Chicago captured the 1971 crown.

2005 -- Niagara Falls (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) (28-1); HC--Dan Bazzani; SS-NPP.--Our FAB 50 national championship nod to Niagara Falls is as much a nod to how strong New York teams were this year than any other factor. The Wolverines won their first mythical national championship on the strength of titles at the City of Palms tourney in Florida and the New York Federation state playoff tourney. In Florida, Niagara Falls defeated FAB 50-ranked Arlington Country Day of Jacksonville, Fla., the Florida 2A state champion, and Raines of Jacksonville, a 4A power. On their way to the New York Federation championship, the Wolverines defeated FAB 50-ranked New Rochelle and regionally ranked John F. Kennedy and Xaverian. The only loss for the Wolverines was to FAB 50-ranked Vashon of St. Louis, 69-66, in OT. Leading the way for Niagara Falls was junior wing Paul Harris, arguably the nation’s best on-ball defender who scored 19 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists with a broken thumb on his shooting hand in the state title game. He averaged 19.7 points and 12.6 rebounds while sophomore point guard Johnny Flynn contributed 15.2 points, 5.6 assists and 3.4 rebounds.

Rajon Rondo

6'2" - PG - 2004

2004 -- Oak Hill (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) (38-0); HC--Steve Smith; SS-USA-NPP.--The Warriors claimed their fifth mythical national ranking title by going wire-to-wire as No. 1 and posted the winningest season in team history. Two All-Americans led the way -- Josh Smith (6-8), an Indiana recruit, and

Rajon Rondo (6-1), a Kentucky signee. Smith, who might declare for the NBA Draft, averaged 23 points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots a game and is probably the most athletic player in school history. Rondo set a school record by averaging 12 assists per game, including single-game efforts of 31, 27 and 27 while chipping in 20 points per night. The Warriors defeated teams from 13 states, including FAB 50 No. 7 Mount Vernon, No. 8 Westchester and No. 11 Fairfax. While the legendary 1993 Oak Hill team had more depth than this club, the starting five on this club matches up with any previous team, according to head coach Steve Smith. The closest winning margins were by five points over Dougherty and 10 points versus Moeller (Ohio) and the Warriors claimed titles at Iolani Prep Classic in Honolulu, the GlaxoSmithKline Invitational in Raleigh, N.C., the Mountain State Coal Classic in Beckley, W.Va., and won marquee games at the NIKE Extravaganza in Los Angeles and the Prime Time Shootout in Trenton, N.J. Smith now has an 19-year record of 570-36.

LeBron James

6'8" - SF - 2003

2003 -- St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, Ohio) (26-0x); HC--Dru Joyce, Sr.; SS-USA-NPP; x-forfeit losses not included. --Irish capped unbeaten, on-court season with third state title in four years -- the Division II title this time -- and defeated teams from seven states: California, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Included in those wins were victories over three Top 10 ranked teams -- No. 3 Mater Dei, No. 8 Oak Hill Academy and a dominating 78-52 win over California Division I state champ and No. 4 Westchester of Los Angeles.

LeBron James made a statement by scoring 52 points in the win over the Comets in his first game back with the team after being suspended for two games for accepting two "throwback" jerseys from a local sporting goods store. The Fightin' Irish also made a statement by beating Oak Hill by 20 points on national television, one of the worst losses in the Steve Smith-era for the Warriors. It was a season that wound up even better than expected, if that's possible, with James in the lineup. King James’ team played one of the most ambitious schedules ever and did not lose on the court. The MVP in the McDonald's and EA SPORTS Roundball Classic All-Star games and the probable No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, James averaged 30.6 points for the season and ended with 2,646 career points, third best in Ohio history, while the Irish went 102-5 on the court with four FAB 50 rankings. This team wasn’t just James, either, as the nucleus of the team played together since middle school. Forward Romeo Travis, point guard Dru Joyce Jr., the son of the head coach, and the role players meshed well with James and this team has to be considered among the all-time best considering the teams they beat during an unbeaten season. St. Vincent-St. Mary’s started No. 7 in the FAB 50 (as a comparison the Irish began No. 23 by USA Today) and had it not been upset in the Division II state final in 2002 (James’ only in-state loss in four years) and finished No. 40, this year’s team would have began at No. 3 instead of four spots lower. In our rankings system it goes to show that what a program accomplished prior can affect pre-season positioning and play in role in how fast or high a team can rise in the FAB 50. Obviously with the schedule and results this team played, those four spots became a moot point as that loss fueled the fire more than anything else.

2002 -- Lincoln (Dallas, Texas) (40-0); HC--Leonard Bishop; SS-USA-NPP.--The Tigers won the Class 4A title by routing nationally-ranked and defending champion Beaumont Ozen, 71-51, in the final. Lincoln, led by center Chris Bosh (Georgia Tech recruit) and Bryan Hopkins (Southern Methodist), went unscathed against a schedule that included three other FAB 50 teams besides Ozen. An early-season win over FAB 50 ranked Midwest City (Okla.) vaulted the Tigers into the rankings and they also recorded wins over No. 23 Fort Worth Dunbar and No. 24 Cedar Hill. They took over the No. 1 spot when defending national champion Oak Hill Academy suffered its only loss versus No. 28 Mater Dei in the Golden State. In 2001, Sugar Land Willowridge was an impressive large class state champ from Texas with a perfect record. This year Lincoln did it again, but unlike Willowridge, the Tigers were able to finish No. 1 in the nation instead of No. 2 to become the first Texas boys basketball team in 27 years to claim a mythical national rankings championship. The last Texas team to claim No. 1 honors was the 46-0 record Houston Kashmere team, which was crowned No. 1 in 1975 by the National Sports News Service. Two other Houston teams also captured titles in the 1970s. Legendary coach Jackie Carr guided Wheatley High to top spots with 43-1 and 39-0 records in 1973 and 1970, respectively.

2001 -- Oak Hill (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) (33-0); HC--Steve Smith; SS-USA-NPP.--The Warriors went wire-to-wire as the nation’s No. 1 team and completed its march to the mythical national crown with a 93-79 victory in late February over Notre Dame Academy of Winchester, Va. Steve Smith’s club posted wins over five state champions and beat programs from 11 states overall. Three of those teams -- No. 3 St. Vincent-St. Mary of Akron, Ohio; No. 8 Salem of Salem, Va.; and No. 13 Osseo of Osseo, Minn. -- lost their only games of the season to Oak Hill. There were two close results for a program that has now won 98 of its last 100 games. The first was Billy Edelin's last minute layup that proved to be the winning points in a 79-78 victory over St. Vincent-St. Mary and super sophomore LeBron James on Jan. 13. Three weeks later, DeSagana Diop scored with six seconds left, pushing a Feb. 3 game against Blue Ridge (Dyke, Va.) to overtime, which the Warriors won 76-69. Oak Hill defeated schools from 11 states, including four teams in the final FAB 50 and numerous regionally ranked teams. Oak Hill won five tournaments, including national events in Las Vegas, St. Louis and Raleigh. Seniors Rashaad Carruth (Kentucky), Edelin (Syracuse) and Diop (possibly NBA bound) led the Warriors. This team set school records for field goal percentage (62.1), three-point percentage (45.5) and assists per game (24.5). Diop averaged 14.6 points, 13.1 rebounds (387). Mario Boggan (14.4 ppg), the top junior contributor, shot a staggering 81.6 percent from the field and had 32 points and 12 rebounds in the final win. Edelin, the leading scorer (21.2 ppg), shot 73.6 percent. Rashaad Carruth (18.5 ppg) hit a school-record 118 3-pointers and Justin Gray (10.1 ppg) rounded out the lineup for a program that won the program’s fourth mythical national title since 1993 and set school records for field goal percentage (62.1), three-point percentage (45.5) and assists per game (24.5).

Tyson Chandler

7'0" - PF - 2001

2000 -- Dominguez (Compton, Ca.) (35-2); HC--Russell Otis; Fox-USA-NPP-NSNS.--The Dons took over the No. 1 spot in the FAB 50 after a 60-47 victory in February over defending national champion Oak Hill Academy of Virginia. That 13-point victory avenged an earlier 54-50 loss to the Warriors at the Iolani Classic in Hawaii. The Dons' other loss was in their fourth game in overtime to No. 17 Clovis West of Fresno, which played in the California Div. I state final. They did not avenge that defeat, but beat No. 23 Artesia of Lakewood 72-63 in the finals of the Best of the West Tournament one day after the Pioneers defeated Clovis West in the semifinals, 72-47. The Dons capped their season by winning a fourth state Division II state title in last five years and finished with a 28-game win streak. The ringleader for Dominguez was 7-foot center Tyson Chandler, who dominated state and numerous national opponents as well with athletic play and shot-blocking ability. “The Franchise” scored 18 points in limited minutes against Philadelphia’s Eddie Griffin in a matchup pitting the nation’s best junior (Chandler) versus an elite All-American senior (Griffin) and led Dons to a 21-point win over Roman Catholic. He also had 17 points and defended well in the return win over Oak Hill, which finished No. 2 in the FAB 50, and finished with game norms of 20.1 points, 11.3 rebounds, 4.7 blocks and 3.2 assists while earning National Junior Player of the Year honors. Steve Moore and point guard Micah McKinney were other key players although McKinney missed the state tournament final with a broken hand. "I've said all year that this was a team of great chemistry,” head coach Russell Otis remarked. “I've had some teams before that had better talent, but what separates these guys is that basketball-wise they do whatever it takes to win.”

National Prep Poll Era

1999 -- Oak Hill (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) (31-0); HC--Steve Smith; NPP-USA-NSNS.--The routine was the same almost every week for the Warriors from Oak Hill Academy -- study hard and go to class the first four days of the week. On Fridays, it was time to hit the road, venturing to such places as Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Minneapolis. On every one of its trips this year, the “Road Warriors” came home a winner as they won five tourney titles in five different states, including the 54-team Reebok Holiday Classic in Las Vegas. The team’s closest game of the season was a 61-60 victory over No. 5 Christ The King of Middle Village, N.Y., at the Glaxco-Wellcome tourney. Other close calls came against Minnetonka, Minn., and No. 3 Dominguez of Compton, Calif., 64-60. Six-foot-7 Ronald Slay led Oak Hill in scoring with 16.3 points per game and also collected 6.5 rebounds per game. Slay also was MVP at the Reebok Holiday Classic, where the Warriors rolled past No. 7 Mt. Zion of Durham, N.C., 81-50, in a title match up performance that head coach Smith called ”our best game of the year" against a team Oak Hill beat twice. Travis Watson, also 6-foot-7, set a school single season rebound record with 386 (12.5 per game) and scored at a 15.3 ppg clip. The backcourt also was strong with Jerry Reynolds (12.7 ppg), junior Cliff Hawkins (11.7 ppg) and senior point guard Steven Blake (8.8 ppg, 7.3 apg.). The 31-0 record marked the school’s third undefeated season in the last nine years, following the 29-0 record established in 1989-90 and the 30-0 mark from 1992-93. “To be honest I didn’t think at the beginning of the season we would be as good as we have over the past four or five years,” Smith said. “Talent-wise, it’s not the best we’ve had. But once they got on the floor they were great.”

1998 -- St. John's (Frederick, Md.) (25-0); HC--Stu Vetter; NPP-USA-NSNS.--On Saturday, February 28 at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C., St. John’s at Prospect Hall laid claim to the mythical national title with a 32-25 victory over Oak Hill Academy of Virginia. The game was played without a shot clock and marred by poor shooting, but salvaged by St. John’s tenacious defense and a court-ordered appearance from junior Damien Wilkins, who had previously been suspended from school. He scored eight points and helped neutralize the Warriors’ tall frontline. No. 5 Oak Hill had its 23-game winning streak snapped and besides No. 23 Liberty, Mo., no other top 25 ranked team besides St. John’s finished the season undefeated. All-American Jason Capel iced the game with two free throws with 19.5 second left as the 6-foot-8 Duke recruit led a team that won tournaments in Hawaii, North Carolina and Maryland. The Vikings beat two other top 25 teams and finished the season having won 36 games in a row and 50 of their last 51 games. It was the second mythical national crown for head coach Stu Vetter, as he led Flint Hill Prep of Oakton, Va. to a 23-0 record in 1987 and No. 1 ranking by the National Sports News Service (National Prep Poll precursor) and USA Today.

1997 -- Manual (Peoria, Ill.) (31-1); HC--Wayne McClain; NPP-USA-NSNS.--The Illinois High School Association coined the phrase “March Madness” years ago, but this year the moniker really hit home as the Manual Rams has to survive – and win – three games within a 24-hour period to claim the mythical national title. Manual dropped an overtime game to Carver of Chicago in December and needed some divine intervention to set up a historic Class 2A semifinal showdown with Thornton on Harvey. Defending national champion St. Anthony’s of New Jersey was knocked off in overtime 82-80 by Rice of New York after sophomore Kenny Satterfield drained a 17-footer to send the game into overtime. St. John’s Prospect Hall of Maryland was then moved up to No. 1, but the next weekend they were stunned by St. Francis of Baltimore, 75-74, at the Charm City Classic as All-American pivot Mark Karcher swished a 25-footer with 2.9 seconds left. Manual was in position to claim the mythical national title after that as it beat Chicago Public League champ Whitney Young in the quarterfinals, although a shoulder injury to emotional leader Sergio McClain put a scare in Rams’ fans. In the titanic meeting with No. 14 Thornton before 11,522 fans, the Rams fell behind 18-4 but junior Frank Williams got them back in the game and Manual led 29-26 at halftime. Thornton then took a 37-29 lead but an injured McClain led a 20-0 charge and his team took a 49-37 lead. Amazingly, Thornton made one last push before falling, 65-62. The Rams then beat West Aurora 47-41 in the final, their 24 consecutive victory and 32nd consecutive playoff win that secured a unprecedented fourth straight Class AA state title. The coach’s son led the team with a 18 ppg., but his value really wasn’t measured by stats. In addition to McClain and Williams, McDonald’s All-American center Marcus Griffin contributed to the team’s historic run.

1996 -- St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) (31-0); HC--Bob Hurley, Sr.; NPP-USA-NSNS.--St. Anthony wore a bulls eye on its back every night, but the preseason No. 1 boys basketball team lived up to its billing. The Friars captured the New Jersey Group and overall championships, extending their winning streak to 53 in a row. St. Anthony's 61-57 overtime win over No. 23 Shawnee in the New Jersey TOC was a fitting end to a dominant season in which Garden state teams were the most talk-about nationally. Head coach Bob Hurley Sr. won his 600th game early in the season when the Friars downed Crenshaw of Los Angeles, 90-74, in the finals of the Above the Rim Tournament in San Diego as tourney MVP Ajmal Basit netted 36 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. No. 15 Crenshaw went to win the California Div. I state title and St. Anthony also downed St. Raymond's of the Bronx at Madison Square Garden, No. 6 St. John’s of Prospect Hall, No. 24 St. Patrick of Elizabeth and also recorded a win over a

Kobe Bryant-led Ardmore (Pa.) Lower Merion team. Hurley’s team snuck up on opponents when it won the TOC in 1995 with wins over Paterson Catholic, St. Patrick of Elizabeth, and unbeaten and nationally-ranked Shawnee of Medford, but this team played up to lofty expectations every game. National Junior of the Year Anthony Perry paced the team with averages of 20.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists and has led the Friars team in scoring all three of his seasons on the varsity. Six-foot-5 leaper Ike Williams and 6-foot-3 sharpshooter Mike Frey and Basit also played key roles in St. Anthony’s championship season.

1995 -- St. Augustine (New Orleans, La.) (37-1); HC--Bernard Griffith; NPP-USA-NSNS.--The Purple Knights opened the season unranked in the National Prep Poll Top 25, but climbed to the No. 1 spot during the season and capped their improbable run to the top of the polls with a 57-33 victory over Catholic-Baton Rouge in the Class 5A state title game. St. Augustine lost its second game of the season to in-state rival Glen Oaks and top-notch junior Lester Earl, but won two holiday tournaments and finished the season riding a 36-game winning streak. Bernard Griffith upped his record to 242-36 in his eight seasons at St. Augustine and has been selected district coach of the year six times and was also named Student Sports National Coach of the Year this year. Leading the Purple Knights to their third state title overall was 6-foot-5 forward Maurice Robertson, the Times-Picayune's All-Metro Large Schools most outstanding player who averaged 17.0 ppg. The other bookend forward was 6-foot-7 junior Eugene Edgerson, a no-nonsense type that checked in with norms of 15.9 points and 6.0 rebounds. The preseason No. 1 team, St. John’s of Prospect Hall, finished No. 2 after losing in overtime to Laurel (Md.) Baptist, which received 40 points and six assists from Louis Bullock to pull out a 62-56 victory. Preseason No. 2 Oak Hill Academy lost three times, but beat preseason No. 4 Mater Dei in the finals of the Las Vagas Holiday Classic while preseason No. 3 Farragut of Chicago, led by consensus national player of the year Kevin Garnett and super junior Ronnie Fields, was stunned in the Class 2A state quarterfinals by a Thornton of Harvey team led by Tai Streets.

1994 -- Oak Hill (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) (30-1); HC--Steve Smith; NPP-USA-NSNS.--Oak Hill had the fire power to finish unbeaten for the second consecutive season, but they were stunned 65-48 at the Las Vegas Holiday Prep Classic by Dominguez of Compton, a team that finished regionally ranked at 28-4. Since Dominguez did not win a California Div. II state title, the Warriors needed some help to climb back to the top of the polls and that exactly what they got when previously unbeaten King of Chicago was upset by Westinghouse, 59-58, and Mater Dei of Santa Ana suffered its first and only loss to No. 2 Crenshaw of Los Angeles, 71-67, in a much-anticipated Div. I SoCal Regional final. Those results allowed Oak Hill to finish No.1 after the early loss in Las Vegas. Leading the way for the Warriors was the stellar backcourt of 6-foot-2 Curtis Staples and 6-foot-5 Tarik Turner, both transfers from St. John’s Prospect Hall in Maryland. Staples, a Virginia commit, averaged 24 points and four assists while Tuner will join Mr. Basketball USA Felipe Lopez at St. John’s. Six-foot-11 Mark Blount, 6-foot-6 Tavares Johnson and 6-foot-7 Alex Sanders, holdovers from Oak Hill’s dominant 1993 club, were the leaders up front. Sanders actually was the only returning starter for a club that won the Above the Rim Tournament in San Diego with wins over St. John’s Prospect Hall and Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland as Oak Hill has now won 157 of its last 161 games. No. 2 Crenshaw had a team with a comparable resume and comparable talent to Oak Hill, but they lost to Simon Gratz of Philadelphia, 70-65, and then to Columbia (S.C.) Richland Northeast, 74-65, in the third place game of the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C. when all-state forward Kris Johnson was suspended for violating a team rule.

Jerry Stackhouse

6'6" - SF - 1993

1993 -- Oak Hill (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) (30-0); HC--Steve Smith; NPP-NSNS; Philadelphia, Pa., Simon Gratz (31-0); HC--Bill Ellerbee; USA.--The Class of 1993 produced a ton of quality individual talent and three dominating teams, but when it was all said and done the best team was judged to be Oak Hill Academy. Coach Steve Smith had his first unbeaten club in 1990, when 6-foot-10 Elite All-American Anthony Cade led the Warriors to a 29-0 mark and No. 2 ranking. Despite a No. 3 finish in USA Today’s Super 25, this was clearly Smith’s best team in his eight years as Oak Hill’s head coach. In 1990, Oak Hill played second fiddle to Chicago King, but this season the Jaguars, with twins towers Rashard Griffith and Thomas Hamilton, finished No. 3 at 32-0 behind No. 2 Simon Gratz of Philadelphia, which finished 31-0. Gratz was led by Mr. Basketball USA Rasheed Wallace and was named the third best team all-time in city history by the Daily News, but Oak Hill was simply on another level. The Warriors rolled to the tournament title at the Las Vegas Holiday Prep Classic and tournament director Larry McKay remarked, “It was like men playing against boys as the Warriors dominated a talented field of teams.” In all, Oak Hill beat teams from 11 states and Australia and finished 30-0 against high school competition and 36-0 overall. First team Elite All-American

Jerry Stackhouse, who scored 27 points in the McDonald's All-America Game, averaged 25.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists. Point guard Jeff McInnis set a school record with 303 assists and averaged 17 points and will join Stackhouse at North Carolina. Center Makhtar Ndiaye averaged 10.3 rebounds and 8.1 blocks a game and depth was provided by the likes of guard Jermaine “Sunshine” Smith, center Mark Blount and forwards Alex Sanders and Tavares Johnson. In all, nine players are considered Div. I recruits.

1992 -- Dunbar (Baltimore, Md.) (29-0); HC--Pete Pompey; NPP-USA-NSNS.--The Poets went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team and have won 52 consecutive games. Considering No. 2 Oak Hill Academy finished with two losses, including one to the Poets, there’s no question Dunbar is the top team in the land but ultimately this team is going to be judged against the Poets’ legendary 1983 unit, the club most veteran observers feel is the best high school team of the modern era. "With the '92 team, it was almost like 'now it's my turn to take over the game' with each of the players," explained Sam Davis of the Baltimore Sun, who followed both teams on the prep beat for the Baltimore Sun and traveled to see them play in showcase games. "The 1992 team wasn't always on the same page. They were a free-spirited team with their own goals. (Pete) Pompey is a good coach and a good man, but doesn't have (1983 head coach) Bob Wade's dominant personality." This year’s Poets faced tougher competition overall than the 1983 unit as they won a tournament in Erie, Pennsylvania, played at the KMOX Shootout in St. Louis and also played at the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Dunbar defeated No. 12 Simon Gratz of Philadelphia in the Beach Ball finals after Gratz had defeated No. 7 St. Joseph’s of Alameda, California in the semifinals, 60-53. Jason Kidd and company from St. Joseph’s were edged in the finals of the Great Florida Shootout by St. Raymond’s of the Bronx, but that New York club was no match for Dunbar as they beat the New Yorkers, 93-82, in the semifinals of the Charm City Classic. In finals, Pompey’s club beat No. 14 St. Anthony’s of New Jersey and also embarrassed highly regarded Vashon, 75-49, in front of that school's hometown fans at the KMOX Shootout. Leading the way for Dunbar was a pair of McDonald All-Americans in 6-foot-6 Donta Bright, the National Sophomore of the Year in 1990, and 6-foot-2 Michael Lloyd. 6-foot-6 junior Keith Booth will likely play in the McDonald’s game next year and Davis also points to the play of unsung hero Cyrus Jones as a main reason Dunbar was able to survive its moments of individualism.

1991 -- Simon Gratz (Philadelphia, Pa.) (27-1); HC--Bill Ellerbee; NPP; Detroit, Mi., Southwestern (26-1); HC--Perry Watson; USA-NSNS.--The Bulldogs repeated as the Public League champion with a 47-43 victory over Franklin Learning Center at the Civic Center. A year earlier, Gratz had rolled past Franklin LC, 80-60, as then 6-foot-8 freshman Rasheed Wallace scored 23 points in the easy win. Gratz didn’t seal the win this year, however, until second team all-city guard Levan Alston (11.4 ppg.) sealed the game with two free throws after no-nonsense post presence Wilfred Kirkaldy drew an offensive foul on FLC's Faron "Meatball" Hand with eight seconds left. Alston and National Sophomore of the Year Wallace (13.8 ppg.) were the double-digit scorers in a balanced starting lineup that included forward Andre Griffin, center Calvin Wingfield and junior guard Contrell Scott. The 6-foot-9 Kirkaldy, a Brooklyn native who played his junior season at Oak Hill Academy, actually didn’t start but played the important minutes at center and averaged 14.1 ppg., and the Bulldogs often got a spark off the bench from freshman dynamo Shawn ''Reds'' Smith, a 5-foot-8 guard. Speaking of Oak Hill, the No. 4 Warriors handed Gratz its only loss, 67-59, in the semifinals of the Great Florida Shootout. The Bulldogs, however, won the Beach Ball Classic in South Carolina with a 44-40 victory over St. Joseph’s of Cleveland and were able to move back in front of the Warriors in the polls after Oak Hill suffered an uncharacteristic 28-point loss to a Robert Hughes-coached club at Dunbar of Fort Worth, Texas.

1990 -- King (Chicago, Ill.) (32-0); HC--Landon Cox; NPP-USA-NSNS.--Chicago Public League power Martin Luther King opened up the season as the National Prep Poll's and USA Today's No. 1 ranked team. King, under Landon "Sonny" Cox, then went wire-to-wire as the nation's top team and won the Illinois Class AA state title with a 65-55 victory over cross-town Gordon Tech. In the first all-city final in state tournament history, 6-foot-4 McDonald’s All-American Jamie Brandon netted 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while bruising 6-foot-6 forward Johnny Selvie added 17 points and 11 rebounds. Selvie was a four-year starter as was Brandon, who ended his career with 3,174 points, second on the state's all-time career scoring list and was called the, “Money player every truly great team has,'' by veteran talent scout Bob Gibbons. Although the Jaguars played down to the competition at times, they indeed faced tough teams in the public league and during the Windy City Classic while remaining undefeated despite the distractions of Selvie’s arrest on drug charges. The IHSA also made King forfeit 13 games for using an ineligible player, a ruling that was overturned after an appeal by King. Cox had a senior-oriented team, as five of the top six players were seniors, including Brandon, Selvie, 6-foot-3 guard Ahmad Shareef, 5-foot-10 Fred Sculfield and top sub Damian Porter, a 6-foot-10 center. Sculfield backed up 6-foot-11 Rashard Griffith, the National Freshman of the Year who is expected to help keep King in the national rankings picture over the next three years and also expected to be Chicago’s next great prep player as Brandon departs for the University of Illinois.

1989 -- St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) (32-0); HC--Bob Hurley, Sr.; NPP-USA-NSNS.--The Friars capped an unbeaten season by winning the first state Tournament of Champions with a 62-55 victory over regionally-ranked Elizabeth. Six-foot-7 Jerry Walker, a Seton Hall recruit, was named tourney MVP and 6-foot-4 wing Terry Dehere, also headed to Seton Hall, scored a team-high 20 points in the title game while 6-foot point guard Bobby Hurley Jr., a Duke recruit, adding 16 points for the Friars. St. Anthony had to overcome some adversity throughout the season and came through with flying colors. In the preseason, Bobby’s younger brother Danny, the top player on the junior varsity team as a freshman who was expected to be the top guard off the bench as a sophomore, shattered his finger and missed the season. Later in the season, 6-foot-7 Sean Rooney, the team’s top rebounder, tore ligaments in his ankle during a 64-43 win over All Hollows of the Bronx. Six-foot-6 junior Jose Ortiz stepped in the lineup for Rooney and the Friars didn’t miss a beat, defeating teams from 10 states in addition to winning the TOC and finishing the season riding a 50-game winning streak. Highlighting the regular season was a tournament victory at the Great Florida Shootout and an impressive 64-45 victory, in front of a national television audience, over No. 9 Flint Hill Prep of Oakton, Va. in the finals of the King Cotton Classic in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The Friars even recorded a 68-59 victory over Solesbury Prep of Pennsylvania, a school with post-graduates, to close out the regular season. Rounding out the team’s excellent starting line up is 6-foot-5 freshman Rodrick Rhodes, who edged California phenom Jason Kidd, from St. Joseph’s of Alameda, for National Freshman of the Year honors.

1988 -- Tolentine (Bronx, N.Y.) (30-1); HC--John Sarandrea; NPP-USA-NSNS.-- There was little doubt the Big Apple fielded the best crop of teams nationally among cities known for producing basketball talent this season. Most veteran observers also considered the CHSAA the best league in the country and it was the Wildcats that captured the school’s first CHSAA title since 1982. The season opened on a good note for Tolentine as the Wildcats defeated two-time defending CHSAA champ Archbishop Malloy of Queens, 76-72, before an overflow crowd. Tolentine was led to victory by 6-foot-7 Elite All-American Malik Sealy with 19 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Sealy, New York’s Mr. Basketball, was the ringleader all season as he finished the season shooting 65.4 percent from the field with norms of 21.4 points and 10.2 rebounds and was named tourney MVP of both the CHSAA and state championships. In the CHSAA final, the Wildcats had an expected return match up with No. 8 Malloy. Malloy took a 37-36 halftime lead, but Sealy responded by scoring six straight points to tie the game at 49. He eventually scored 18 of the Wildcats’ final 27 points, including a resounding dunk that gave his team a 63-61 lead, in an eventual 70-65 victory. Tolentine went on to win the Class A state title with a 95-69 win over Our Savior Lutheran of the Bronx as sophomore forward Brian Reese netted 23 points with Sealy adding 21 points. Reese was one of two standout sophomores on Tolentine’s squad, the other being guard Adrian Autry. The CHSAA’s also had a third 10th-grader, Cardinal Hayes’ Jamal Mashburn, considered among the top 10 nationally and two of the 10 best juniors nationally in Malloy's Kenny Anderson and Christ the King’s Jamal Faulkner. Outside the Big Apple, the Wildcats only lost to No. 2 St. Anthony of Jersey City, N.J., 62-58, but that contest was actually played in Hawaii in the championship game of the Iolani Prep Classic. In the semifinals St. Anthony downed Dunbar of Baltimore, 84-71, while the Wildcats mauled No. 17 Flint Hill Prep of Virginia, 97-69, to end that program’s 59-game winning streak. Tolentine was then able to jump back in front of St. Anthony in the polls after the Friars were upset by Ferris of Jersey City after leading by nine points with just under two minutes remaining.

All-Time No. 1's

1987 -- Flint Hill (Oakton, Va.) (23-0); HC--Stu Vetter; NSNS-USA.

1986 -- Camden (Camden, N.J.) (30-0); HC--Clarence Turner; NSNS-USA.

1985 -- Spingarn (Washington, D.C.) (31-0); HC--John Wood; NSNS; Dunbar (Baltimore, Md.) (28-1); HC--Bob Wade; USA.

1984 -- Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) (31-2); HC--Ron Palmer; NSNS; DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) (39-2); HC--Morgan Wootten; USA.

1983 -- Dunbar (Baltimore, Md.) (31-0); HC--Bob Wade; NSNS-USA.

1982 -- Calvert Hall (Towson, Md.) (34-0); HC--Mark Amatucci; NSNS-BW.

1981 -- Quincy (Quincy, Ill.) (33-0); HC--Jerry Leggett; NSNS-BW.

1980 -- Inglewood (Inglewood, Calif.) (29-0); HC--Vince Combs; NSNS-BW.

1979 -- Southwest (Macon, Ga.) (28-0); HC--Don Richardson; NSNS-BW.

1978 -- DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) (28-0); HC--Morgan Wootten; NSNS-BW.

1977 -- West Philadelphia (West Philadelphia, Pa.) (30-0); HC--Joey Goldenberg; NSNS-BW.

1976 -- Dunbar (Washington, D.C.) (29-0); HC--Joe Dean Davidson; NSNS; Canarsie (Brooklyn, N.Y.) (24-0); HC--Mark Reiner; BW.

1975* -- Kashmere (Houston, Texas) (46-0); HC--Weldon Drew; NSNS; Verbum Dei (Los Angeles, Calif.) (28-1); HC--George McQuarn; BW.

1974 -- Verbum Dei (Los Angeles, Calif.) (30-2); HC--George McQuarn.

1973 -- tie: Wheatley (Houston, Texas) (43-1); HC--Jackie Carr; Verbum Dei (Los Angeles, Calif.) (29-2); HC--George McQuarn.

1972 -- Thornridge (Dolton, Ill.) (33-0); HC--Ron Ferguson.

1971 -- Washington (East Chicago, Ind.) (29-0); HC--John Molodet; Schenley (Pittsburgh, Pa.) (25-3) HC--Spencer Watkins.

1970 -- Wheatley (Houston, Texas) (39-0); HC--Jackie Carr.

1969 -- Compton (Compton, Calif.) (30-0); HC--Bill Armstrong.

1968 -- Compton (Compton, Calif.) (32-0); HC--Bill Armstrong.

1967 -- tie: Ambridge (Ambridge, Pa.) (27-0); HC--Charles DeVenzio; Newark (Newark, N.J.) (26-0).

1966 -- DeWitt Clinton (New York, N.Y.) (21-0); HC--Robert Buckner.

1965 -- DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) (28-1); HC--Morgan Wootten.

1964 -- Power Memorial (New York, N.Y.) (30-0); HC--Jack Donahue.

1963 -- Power Memorial (New York, N.Y.) (27-0); HC--Jack Donahue.

1962 -- DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) (29-3); HC--Morgan Wootten.

1961 -- Collinsville (Collinsville, Ill.) (32-0); HC--Vergil Fletcher.

1960 -- McClymonds (Oakland, Calif.) (22-0); HC--Paul Harless.

1959 -- McClymonds (Oakland, Calif.) (22-0); HC--Paul Harless.

1958 -- McClymonds (Oakland, Calif.) (21-0); HC--Paul Harless.

1957 -- Middletown (Middletown, Ohio) (27-0); HC--Paul Walker.

1956 -- tie: Middletown (Middletown, Ohio) (25-0); HC--Paul Walker; Crispus Attucks (Indianapolis, Ind.) (31-0); HC--Ray Crowe.

1955 -- Crispus Attucks (Indianapolis, Ind.) (31-1); HC--Ray Crowe.

1954 -- Pampa (Pampa, Texas) (28-0); HC--Clifton McNeely.

1953 -- Pampa (Pampa, Texas) (26-0); HC--Clifton McNeely.

1952 -- Compton (Compton, Calif.) (32-0); HC--Ken Fagans.

*All selections prior to 1975 by National Sports News Service (unless noted)

National Negro High School Tournament

A national tournament for segregated Black high schools took place from 1929-1967. It was held at Hampton, Va., Institute (now Hampton University), 1929-33; Gary, Ind., 1934-35, Roanoke, Va., 1936-1937, Fayetteville State College (N.C.), 1938-44, Tennessee State (Tenn.), 1945-65, and Alabama State College (Ala.), 1966-67. It was known as the The Southern Interscholastic Basketball Tournament from 1949 until the final year in 1967.

Source: Charles Herbert Thompson, LSU Historial Dissertations and Theses, 1980

1929 -- Armstrong (Washington, D.C.) d. Douglass (Huntington, W.Va.), 20-19

1930 -- Armstrong (Washington, D.C.) d. Douglass (Huntington, W.Va.), 32-23

1931 -- Phillips (Chicago) d. Genoa (Bluefield, W.Va.), 39-14

1932 -- No Tournament

1933 -- Roosevelt (Gary, Ind.) d. Henderson Institute (N.C.), 37-6

*1934 -- Roosevelt (Gary, Ind.) d. Central Colored School (Louisville, Ky.), 39-24

*1935 -- Roosevelt (Gary, Ind.) d. Kelly Miller (Clarksburg, W.Va.), 21-19

**1935 -- Genoa (Bluefield, W.Va.) d. Interurban Heights (Jefferson County, Ala.), 19-17

*1936 -- Roosevelt (Gary, Ind.) d. Kelly Miller (Clarksburg, W.Va.), 37-17

**1936 -- Rosenwald (Harlan County, Ky.) d. Dorchester Academy (Midway, Ga.), 20-19

**1937 -- Avery Institute (Charleston, S.C.) d. Mayo-Underwood (Frankfort, Ky.), 21-20

**1938 -- Xavier University Prep (New Orleans, La.) d. Garnet (Charleston, W.Va.), 12-9

*1939 -- Roosevelt (Gary, Ind.) d. E. E. Smith (Fayetteville, N.C.), 28-21

**1939 -- Booker T. Washington (Tulsa, Okla.) d. Cuyler Beach (Savannah, Ga.), 31-29

*1940 -- Roosevelt (Gary, Ind.) d. Gary District (Gary, W.Va.), 37-24

**1940 -- Lincoln (Evansville, Ind.) d. Cuyler Beach (Savannah, Ga.), 31-29

*1941 -- Morningside (Statesville, N.C.) d. Armstrong (Richmond, Va.), 34-32

**1941 -- Booker T. Washington (Sand Springs, Okla.) d. Booker T. Washington (Seminole, Okla.), 38-24

*1942 -- Sumner Academy (Kanas City, Kan.) d. Garnet (Charleston, W.Va.), 31-26

**1942 -- Booker T. Washington (Tulsa, Okla.) d. Southern Lab (Baton Rouge, La.), 42-19

*Sponsored by the National Interscholastic Athletic Association

**Sponsored by Tuskegee Institute

1943 -- No Tournament (World War II)

1944 -- No Tournament (World War II)

*1945 -- Douglass (Oklahoma City, Okla.) d. Elkhorn (Switchback, W. Va.), 36-33

*1946 -- Booker T. Washington (Cushing, Okla.) d. Middleton (Tampa, Fla.), 44-40

*1947 -- Booker T. Washington (Tulsa, Okla.) d. Middleton (Tampa, Fla.), 51-42

*1948 -- Booker T. Washington (Tulsa, Okla.) d. Don Thompson Vocational (Tampa, Fla.), 52-29

*Sponsored by the National High School Athletic Association

1949 -- St. Elizabeth (Chicago, Ill.) d. Booker T. Washington (Tulsa, Okla.), 57-36

1950 -- St. Elizabeth (Chicago, Ill.) d. Ballard-Hudson (Macon, Ga.), 56-49

1951 -- St. Elizabeth (Chicago, Ill.) d. Booker T. Washington (Cushing, Okla.), 46-40

1952 -- Central Colored School (Louisville, Ky.) d. Wheatley (Houston, Texas), 41-38

1953 -- Western (Paris, Ky.) d. Booker T. Washington (Montgomery, Ala.), 70-41

1954 -- Laurinburg Institute (Laurinburg, N.C.) d. Dunbar (Summerset, Ky.)

1955 -- Central Colored School (Louisville, Ky.) d. Burt (Clarksville, Tenn.), 85-61

1956 -- Central Colored School (Louisville, Ky.) d. Douglass (Lexington, Ky.), 81-61

1957 -- St. Elizabeth (Chicago, Ill.) d. McKinley (Baton Rouge, La.), 61-53

1958 -- Pearl (Nashville, Tenn.) d. Carver (Dothan, Ala.), 68-58

1959 -- Pearl (Nashville, Tenn.) d. Scipio Jones (North Little Rock, Ark.), 76-72

1960 -- Pearl (Nashville, Tenn.) d. Roosevelt (West Palm Beach, Fla.), 74-50

1961 -- Burt (Clarksville, Tenn.) d. Webster (Minden, La.), 73-70

1962 -- Booker T. Washington (Memphis, Tenn.) d. Carter Parramore (Quincy, Fla.), 66-61

1963 -- Pearl (Nashville, Tenn.) d. Jim Hill (Jackson, Miss.), 64-55

1964 -- Parker (Birmingham, Ala.) d. Armstrong (Richmond, Va.), 81-79

1965 -- Lanier (Jackson, Miss.) d. Booker T. Washington (Suffolk, Va.), 58-55

1966 -- Coleman (Greenville, Miss.) d. Dunbar (Lynchburg, Va.), 81-54

1967 -- Booker T. Washington (Montgomery, Ala.) d. Temple (Vicksburg, Miss.), 71-56

National Interscholastic Tournament Finals (at University of Chicago, Bartlett Gym)

1930 -- Athens (Athens, Texas) d. Jena (Jena, La.), 22-16; HC--Jimmy Kitts.

1929 -- Athens (Athens, Texas) d. Classen (Oklahoma City, Okla.), 25-21; HC--Jimmy Kitts.

1928 -- Ashland (Ashland, Ky)., d. Canton (Canton, Ill.), 15-10; HC--James Anderson.

1927 -- Morton (Cicero, Ill.) d. Batesville (Batesville, Ark.), 18-16; HC--H. K. Long.

1926 -- Fitchburg (Fitchburg, Mass.), d. Fargo (Fargo, N.D.), 25-14; HC--Clarence N. Amiott.

1925 -- Wichita (Wichita, Kan.), d. El Reno (El Reno, Okla.), 27-6; HC--A. R. Young.

1924 -- Windsor (Windsor, Colo.), d. Yankton (Yankton, S.D.), 25-6; HC--Joseph E. Ryan.

1923 -- Kansas City (Kansas City, Kan.), d. Rockford (Rockford, Ill.), 43-21; HC--C. W. Corsant.

1922 -- Lexington (Lexington, Ky.), d. Mt. Vernon (Mt. Vernon, Ohio.), 46-28; HC--John Barclay.

1921 -- Washington (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) d. West Lafayette (West Lafayette, Ind.), 43-19; HC--Leo V. Novak.

1920 -- Wingate (Wingate, Ind.), d. Crawfordville (Crawfordville, Ind.), 22-16; HC--Merrill Eaton.

1918-19 -- not staged because of World War I.

1917 -- Township (Evanston, Ill.) d. Freeport (Freeport, Ill.), 27-22, ot.; HC--James W. Bixby.

Note: Head coaches (HC) listed for championship team.

National Catholic Interscholastic Tournament Finals
(at Loyola University, Chicago; Alumni Hall)

1941--Leo (Chicago, Ill.) d. St. Francis Mission (St. Francis, S.D.), 49-41, ot.

1940--Catholic (Fort Wayne, Ind.) d. St. Michael (Santa Fe, N.M.), 35-33.

1939--Catholic (Fort Wayne, Ind.) d. Leo (Chicago, Ill.), 44-37.

1938--St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky.) d. Loyola (Winnetka, Ill.), 31-22.

1937--Fenwick (Oak Park, Ill.) d. Catholic (Joliet, Ill.), 30-27.

1936--De La Salle (Chicago, Ill.) d. St. Mary (Anderson, Ind.), 45-29.

1935--St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky.) d. St. Mel (Chicago, Ill.), 29-24.

1934--Catholic (Joliet, Ill.) d. St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.), 30-17.

1933--Cathedral (Indianapolis, Ind.) d. St. Rita (Chicago, Ill.), 31-10.

1932--St. Patrick (Chicago, Ill.) d. St. Mel (Chicago, Ill.), 22-20.

1931--De La Salle (Minneapolis, Minn.) d. Academy (Jasper, Ind.), 23-21.

1930--De La Salle (Chicago, Ill.) d. Academy (Jasper, Ind.), 25-14.

1929--De La Salle (Chicago, Ill.) d. St. Stanislaus (Bay St. Louis, Miss.), 25-16.

1928--De La Salle (Joliet, Ill.) d. University (St. Louis, Mo), 32-11.

1927--De La Salle (Joliet, Ill.) d. Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.), 26-11.

1926--St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky.) d. Aquinas (Rochester, N.Y.), 18-16.

1925--St. Mel (Chicago, Ill.) d. Marquette Academy (Milwaukee, Wis.), 15-7.

1924--Spalding (Peoria, Ill.) d. Marquette Academy (Milwaukee, Wis.), 21-7.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores

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Noble & Roosh Show: Troy Daniels

Noble & Roosh — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 16:24:15 +0000

Troy Daniels joins the pod to talk about his time with the 2020 champion Lakers and being part of the Nuggets team that came back from 3-1 down twice. Plus, he talks about what it's like to play with great players like Lebron, Jokic, Devin Booker, and what Harden is like as a teammate.

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In The Paint Show: NBA Season Fast Approaching, College Blue Bloods Struggling, HSBB Update!

Devin Ugland — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 21:02:25 +0000

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On Episode 89 of our In The Paint Show, co-hosts Ronnie Flores and Devin Ugland discuss a variety of basketball topics from the NBA's quick offseason, free agency winners and losers, which rookies will make an immediate impact and which teams have the biggest advantage heading into the 2020-2021 season.

Hit the PLAY button below to tune in!

Ron and Dev also breakdown the Houston Rockets situation with James Harden. Should Houston try to move Harden before the season starts? Where does one of the best offensive players the game has ever seen fit best? What should the Rockets expect to get in return for their disgruntled superstar?

Andre Curbelo

6'0" - PG - 2020

The guys also discuss the early themes and surprises of the college basketball season. Why are the "Blue Blood" programs like Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina struggling? Has the balance of power evened out this season among college hoops teams? Which college freshmen have stood out the most? Finally, Ron and Dev break down what the high school sports scene looks like across the country.

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Lakers 2020 Championship Squad What They Were Like IN HIGH SCHOOL! LeBron, AD, Dion Watiers & More!

Arek Kissoyan — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 15:59:48 +0000

Here's what some of the 2020 Lakers championship squad looked like during their high school days! Featuring LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kostas Antetokounmpo, Dion Waiters, Quinn Cook, Talen Horton Hucker, Avery Bradley.

The post Lakers 2020 Championship Squad What They Were Like IN HIGH SCHOOL! LeBron, AD, Dion Watiers & More! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

In The Paint Show: Lakers 17th Title, LBJ's Legacy, NBA Draft Hopeful Precious Achiuwa and More!

Devin Ugland — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 20:28:23 +0000

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On Episode 85 of our In The Paint Podcast, co-hosts Ronnie Flores and Devin Ugland discuss a wide variety of hoops topics, beginning with the Lakers 17th NBA Championship earned with a Sunday win over the Miami Heat in Game 6.

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Ballislife Podcast Network · Ep. 85 - Lakers 17th Title, LBJ's Legacy, NBA Draft Hopeful Precious Achiuwa + More!

Ron and Dev go in-depth on the biggest differences for the Lakers and Heat from Game 5 to Game 6, the high level adjustment by Lakers' head coach Frank Vogel that led to the series-clinching victory and what this title means for LeBron's overall legacy.

The next topic on Episode 85 of ITP is an interview with Precious Achiuwa, a projected first-round pick in the 2020 NBA Draft out of Memphis. Ron, Dev and Precious discuss how his one year of college helped him prepare for the next level, what parts of his game translate well to the NBA, what he's looking to improve on the most and how the COVID-19 shortened season impacted his decision to go one-and-done.

The guys take the final part of the show to dive deeper into LeBron's legacy with his high school coach Dru Joyce and longtime basketball media member Van Coleman, who has seen high school players from the 1960's to now. Joyce breaks down LBJ's laser-focus throughout his youth and high school careers, while Coleman compares and contrasts LeBron's overall career accomplishments with other legendary figures.

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In The Paint Show: Lakers a Win Away From Title 17, Pangos All-South Frosh-Soph Camp Standouts!

Devin Ugland — Wed, 07 Oct 2020 22:46:11 +0000

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On Episode 84 of our In The Paint Podcast, co-hosts Ronnie Flores and Devin Ugland break down games three and four of the NBA Finals. Jimmy Butler's 40-point triple-double catapulted Miami to the game three victory, but the Lakers bounced back in game four with some help from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Click the play button below to tune in to the latest episode of our In The Paint Show!

Ballislife Podcast Network · Ep. 84 - Lakers a Win Away From Title 17, Pangos All-South Frosh/Soph Camp Standouts!

Can Butler recreate is epic performance in game three to keep the Heat's championship hopes alive? Or will LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the rest of the Los Angeles roster close out the series - and the franchises 17th title - on Friday?

Ron and Dev also discuss hoops at the high school level, first the guys fill listeners in on the updated live viewing period dates set by the NCAA for 2021. Ron & Dev explain why these dates are so important and why prospects and parents based in California need to pay special attention to them.

At the end of the show, the guys discuss the top players and under-the-radar players from the Pangos All-South Frosh/Soph Camp last weekend in Texas. Who earned the honors as best guards and best big men in the event which was loaded with talent?

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In The Paint Show: NBA Finals Preview, Clippers Coaching Search and Pangos Frosh-Soph Camp Standouts!

Devin Ugland — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 22:15:39 +0000

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On Episode 83 of our In The Paint Podcast, co-hosts Ronnie Flores and Devin Ugland open the show with an in-depth look at the NBA Finals match-up between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat.

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Ballislife Podcast Network · Ep. 83 - Lakers-Heat NBA Finals Preview, Clippers Coaching Search + Pangos Frosh-Soph Standouts!

Which team has the advantages on offense and defense? What do the Heat need to expose to go punch-for-punch with the Lakers. Does LAL's fate rest on the shoulders of LeBron James and Anthony Davis? Can Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro continue their hot shooting? Who are Ron and Dev crowning as champions.

The guys' next topic is the Clippers parting ways with head coach Doc Rivers after failing to get out of the second round of the playoffs. Was this too much of a knee-jerk reaction from the Clippers' management? Which direction do they go with their next coaching hire? Ron and Dev throw out some names they should consider and names they should stay away from.

The final topic of Episode 83 is all about high school basketball and the Pangos All-West Frosh/Soph Camp. Who were the top players in the event? Which players upped their stock with their performance? Which players should be on the radar for Division I schools in the future? The guys break that down and more on ITP 83!

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In The Paint Show: Clippers' Meltdown, Lakers-Nuggets Preview, Pangos All-West Standouts!

Devin Ugland — Wed, 16 Sep 2020 20:54:02 +0000

On Episode 81 of our In The Paint Podcast, co-hosts Ronnie Flores and Devin Ugland take an in-depth look at what went wrong for the Clippers in the NBA Bubble and why they missed an appearance in the Western Conference Finals for the 50th straight season.

Kawhi Leonard

6'5" - SF - 2009

Who deserves to take the majority of the blame: Kawhi Leonard, Paul George or Doc Rivers? Is this the last time we'll see Doc patrolling the sidelines for LAC? What roster moves, if any, do the Clippers need to make this offseason? Whose legacy took a bigger hit: Kawhi or PG?

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Ballislife Podcast Network · Ep. 81 - Clippers Meltdown, Lakers vs. Nuggets Preview, Pangos All-West Standouts

LeBron James

6'8" - SF - 2003

The second topic of Episode 81 is how the upstart Denver Nuggets matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals beginning Friday. Is the key head-to-head battle between Anthony Davis and Nikola Joki?? Who on the Nuggets' roster can stop LeBron James? Will Jamal Murray continue his dynamic scoring in the next round?

Finally, Ronnie and Devin discuss what they know best: High school hoops. The guys break down the standouts at last weekend's Pangos All-West Camp, including the breakout star of the event, Farmington (UT) shooting guard Collin Chandler. Hit the play button above to hear all of Ron and Dev's takes of the top high school performers at the All-West Camp!

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In The Paint Show: NBA Playoffs, New NCAA Tournament Model, Standouts at Pangos Rocky Mountain Summit

Devin Ugland — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 21:41:45 +0000

On Episode 80 of the Ballislife In The Paint Show, co-hosts Ron and Dev cover the full spectrum of hoops from the NBA down to high school.

The guys start with an update on the NBA Playoffs. How did the Heat outmatch the Bucks? Will Boston be the favorite if it were to make the ECF? Lakers and Clippers have both had missteps, are they still on a collision course for the WCF? is this the last we see of Giannis in Milwaukee?

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Ballislife Podcast Network · Ep. 80 - NBA Playoffs, New NCAA Tournament Model, Standouts at Latest Pangos Event

Ron and Dev then discuss the proposal presented by ACC coaches to create an "All-Inclusive" NCAA Tournament. What would March Madness look like with 353 teams participating? Why does it make sense? Why doesn't it make sense?

Finally, the guys break down the high school standouts at the Pangos Rocky Mountain Summit and discuss the trend of high school players in California making the switch to prep schools for the fall and winter. Paolo Banchero, Nolan Hickman and Kaden Perry showed out for Seattle Rotary, while a handful of Vegas and California-based prospects put their names on the map!

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In The Paint Show: Emoni Bates commitment, Marc Spears on the NBA, Kyle Goon breaks down the Lakers

Devin Ugland — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 22:02:55 +0000

On Episode 71 of our In The Paint Podcast, co-hosts Ronnie Flores and Devin Ugland welcome three basketball industry guests who share their expertise on a variety of topics.

First, Braeden Proctor, a former high school hoops reporter in Michigan and current assistant coach at Sunrise Christian Academy, joins the show to discuss Emoni Bates' commitment to Michigan State and his transfer to Ypsi Prep.

What were some of the main reasons Bates made these moves? Will he ever play a minute in a Michigan State uniform? What will Ypsi Prep's schedule look like next season?

Ballislife Podcast Network · Ep. 71 - Emoni Bates to MSU, Marc Spears on the NBA, Lakers Beat Writer Kyle Goon on the Lakeshow

Our second guest is ESPN senior writer for The Undefeated, Marc Spears. Marc brings his wealth of NBA knowledge to the show and discusses how NBA players, teams and the league will address social justice issues during the Orlando restart. Marc also breaks down the NBA "bubble" protocols and gives an insider's perspective on how players, coaches, and team front office members are feeling about getting back to action.

Our third guest is Lakers beat writer Kyle Goon of the Southern California News Group. Kyle gives our local listeners an idea of how the purple and gold are preparing for Orlando. How big of a hit is the loss of Avery Bradley? Which way is Dwight Howard leaning? What role to the Lakers see for newly-signed guard JR Smith? You can hear all that and more on the latest episode of the In The Paint Show.

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In The Paint Show: Kendrick Perkins on all things NBA restart!

Devin Ugland — Tue, 16 Jun 2020 22:12:28 +0000

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Fourteen year NBA veteran Kendrick Perkins joined Ron and Devin on Episode 70 of the Ballislife In The Paint Podcast to go in-depth on the NBA restart scheduled for late July.

Ballislife Podcast Network · Ep. 70 - Kendrick Perkins joins ITP to Discuss NBA Restart + Kyrie Irving's Stance & More!

Kendrick Perkins

6'9" - C - 2003

Ron, Dev and Perk discuss the NBA's full plan to return to action, how the Coronavirus Pandemic could potentially derail those efforts and the growing faction of NBA players - led by Kyrie Irving - who are concerned about how returning to play could distract from enacting social change in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.

Perk also discusses the steps we as Americans can take to help create real change in our country when it comes to racial injustice and police brutality in the United States.

Ron and Dev also touch on the efforts of Major League Baseball and the NFL to start and finish their seasons during these uncertain times.

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