The List - Best high school athletes Ever

[Bobcat81]

Hope this is not a double post.. My apologies if it is.

ESPN's Top 10 High School Athletes - EVER
The site also has a vote for who you think is the best.


1. Jim Ryun (East High School, Wichita, Kan.)-Track/Distance Runner
2. Tiger Woods (Western High School, Anaheim, Calif.)-Golf
3. LeBron James (St. Vincent-St. Mary, Akron, Ohio)-Basketball- One of the few H/S players to ever make the cover of Sports Illustrated.
4. Lew Alcindor (Power Memorial, New York City)-Basketball
5. Ken Hall (Sugar Land High School, Sugar Land, Texas)-Football (RB)
6. Tim Couch (Leslie County High, Hyden, Ky.)-Football (QB)
7. Lisa Leslie (Inglewood Morningside High, Inglewood, Calif.)-Basketball
8. Wilt Chamberlain (Overbrook High School, Philadelphia)-Basketball
9. Marion Jones (Rio Mesa High and Thousand Oaks High, Thousand Oaks, Calif.)-Track/Athlete
10. Connie Hawkins (Boys High, New York City)-Basketball

Bio's of each player are on the website:
http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/highschool.html

Also receiving votes:

Emmitt Smith (Escambia High, Pensacola, Fla.)-Football (RB)
Kobe Bryant (Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, Pa.)-Basketball
Danny Ainge (North Eugene High School, Eugene, Ore.)-Football (QB)
David Clyde (Westchester High, Texas)-Baseball

[slorch]

surprised to see Ken Hall, as he was the first guy from Texas that i was looking for. Also surprised to see Tiger Woods listed as an athlete, but that's another thread...:rolleyes:

Earl Campbell and Michael Johnson came to mind as well.

[mojotrain]

I would look for one of the cajun posters to mention the absence of Pistol Pete among the top and I would agree with them. As a high schooler was Tiger viewed as better than Nicklus? I know Jack was beaten out by Billy Cotton Dunn for the HS national championship in 55 or 56. But he was pretty good.

[DiamondJ2]

I would add Oscar Robertson to that list. Two consecutive state championships and one runner-up in Indiana.

[Owned05]

2 words..

Vince Young.

[slorch]

2 words..

Vince Young.

In college , for one season, I could support that. Not in high school though...

[Owned05]

In college , for one season, I could support that. Not in high school though...

Did you see him play in high school?

[slorch]

Did you see him play in high school?


Yes, i know what he did at madison. No, I physically never saw him play until college. What he did does not measure up to Ken Hall or Earl Campbell, among others.

[jakerz]

Yes, i know what he did at madison. No, I physically never saw him play until college. What he did does not measure up to Ken Hall or Earl Campbell, among others.

I agree but he should get some honorable mention love at least..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Young#High_school_career

[Owned05]

Yes, i know what he did at madison. No, I physically never saw him play until college. What he did does not measure up to Ken Hall or Earl Campbell, among others.

Ask anyone that physically saw him play wether or not he's in there top 3 best high school athletes.

Katy's old head coach, Coach Johnston, said that there were two players he ever saw that were truly men among boys. Earl Campbell and Vince Young.

[Sicemhorns09]

In college , for one season, I could support that. Not in high school though...

Vince Young and Cedric Benson were two of the best High School Athletes that I have seen in person.

[HUM398]

In college , for one season, I could support that. Not in high school though...

2 rose bowls buddy...one of them being a NC... One season, HA!

and the kid was an outstanding athlete in High school, the best...at his prescriptive position. best ever though...i don't know. He was special no doubt, but his physical ability wasn't what surprised me...it was his demeanor.

[BoomerSooner]

Did you see him play in high school?

Did you see any of the players on the top 10 play in high school?

[BoomerSooner]

Before you guys fellate Vince Young any further, read the biographies of the people they did list. They only had 2 football players, one of which was a quarterback. The quarterback, Tim Couch, set a bunch of national records, and was given consideration for his prowess in basketball as well. So he had better stats in football than Vince Young and was also voted the best basketball player in his state. The other football player has held the national record for yards in a career for 55 years and also held tons of other records only semi-recently broken. Untwist your panties please.

tia

[tayb]

Tiger Woods?

Is flying model airplanes or playing video games going to be considered a sport as well? Chess?

[jakerz]

Before you guys fellate Vince Young any further, read the biographies of the people they did list. They only had 2 football players, one of which was a quarterback. The quarterback, Tim Couch, set a bunch of national records, and was given consideration for his prowess in basketball as well. So he had better stats in football than Vince Young and was also voted the best basketball player in his state. The other football player has held the national record for yards in a career for 55 years and also held tons of other records only semi-recently broken. Untwist your panties please.

tia

He was also a varsity athlete in numerous other sports. In basketball he played as a guard/forward and averaged more than 25 points per game over his career. This allowed him to be a four-year letterman and two-time all-district performer. In track and field he was a three-year letterman and member of two district champion 400-meter relay squads. In baseball he played for two seasons, spending time as both an outfielder and pitcher. He also made the all-state team in football and in track.

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[dada]

Lisa Leslie

[KT2000]

Yes, i know what he did at madison. No, I physically never saw him play until college. What he did does not measure up to Ken Hall or Earl Campbell, among others.

He is the best HS player I will ever see. I know in most cases someone comes along that's even better, but I don't see how it's possible in this case.

And I was critical of Vince after his sophomore and junior years in high school. He is a rare example of an incredibly gifted athlete who actually meets and/or exceeds expectations.

My gold standards for football players at the high school level are Vincent Young (H Madison) and Derrick Johnson (Waco). I can't see either one of those being supplanted at the top of my list any time soon. And I don't expect it.

I hyped both of those guys to no end when they went to college. I take absolutely no credit for that because their success was imminent and obvious based on what I'd seen of them at the HS level. When you see players that gifted, it is definitely not rocket science. I'm glad I was able to witness their progression.

[slorch]

What about guys like Kobe and LeBron, or even Shaq when he was at the 3A San Antonio School? I saw him play in the State tournament, and it wasn't even fair!

There's lots of guys i would put before a golfer...:rolleyes:

[mojotrain]

Did you see any of the players on the top 10 play in high school?

Come to think of it, No.

[pied]

I'll always regret not seeing Ronald Curry play in HS. My dad was dying of cancer and we had plans for me coming out and catching a game. He was too sick and we never were able to do it.

I'd put his career up against anyone's on that list. A dual threat QB/return guy/safety who scored 22 td's off of interception returns. The first Jr. QB USA Today QB. Also led his team to the state title in Basketball as a Jr. and was a McDonald's All American in that sport.

[ktCarl]

If they are real good at just one sport are they considered as 'athlete'?
Earl Campbell was great but was he good at other sports?

[chpanther]

Randy Moss easily

[Bobcat81]

I would have liked to have seen Earl Campbell on this list as well, so i did a little checking into what his high school career looked like. It appears that his only season that would have made much of an impact would have been his senior year.

Earl Campbell was an exceptional running back (& Linebacker), but it took a little pushing to get him going on the right track during his high school days. His junior year was (ok), but not anything close to what it could have been had he taken football seriously. Skipping school..drinking, and smoking got him into some serious issues with his mother over his football future and that, along with becoming closer to God, gave him the incentive to really put forth the effort to allow football to take him somewhere.

I'm thinking his Junior year at John Tyler would have been 1972?..which Tyler JT didn't even make the playoffs. However, in 1973, the team went undefeated and won the state championship. Much of that feat must have been apportioned to Earl's efforts to make a change the year before. As good as he turned out to be in college and in the pro's, i think he waited a little too long to make the type of impact that other players on this high school list have made.

I wasn't able to find any statistical data for his senior season at Tyler JT but i think it'd be interesting to see just how many yards he thumped during the Lions path to the state championship.

Tyler John Tyler Lions 1973 season record: 15-0 State Champions

http://www.kylgrafx.com/lions/season70.htm

Greenville 21-0
Corsicana 26-7
Irving Nimitz 31-0
Texarkana 21-16
Longview 16-0
Marshall 33-0
Lufkin 34-20
Nacodoches 14-7
Palestine 54-0
Tyler Lee 28-3
----------
PLANO 34-0
CONROE 10-7
ARL. HEIGHTS 34-12
ARL. SAM HOUSTON 22-7
AUSTIN REAGAN 21-14

Tyler John Tyler playoff history:
http://www.kylgrafx.com/lions/playoff.htm

[BoomerSooner]

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Tim Couch still performed better in football and basketball, and was his state's best player in both sports. It doesn't mention track or baseball, but I'd be willing to bet he might have played those as well. I just don't see how you can refute a publication like this having never seen anyone other than the person you're promoting (who also happens to be your favorite player for your favorite team).

[78 Spartan]

Before you guys fellate Vince Young any further, read the biographies of the people they did list. They only had 2 football players, one of which was a quarterback. The quarterback, Tim Couch, set a bunch of national records, and was given consideration for his prowess in basketball as well. So he had better stats in football than Vince Young and was also voted the best basketball player in his state. The other football player has held the national record for yards in a career for 55 years and also held tons of other records only semi-recently broken. Untwist your panties please.

tia

Not to "fellate" VY, and I'm sure Couch was great, but let's for a minute consider what Vince Young did, virtually single-handedly.

He took an under-funded inner-city HISD school (one that normally gets knocked out in round 1 by a runner-up SBISD team) to the Texas 5A semifinals in 2001. Can anyone imagine an HISD or DISD school getting that far today?

If anyone saw VY in the Madison/North Shore game that year, they would have no doubt about VY's transcendence. That year, North Shore was stupendous on both sides of the ball. They were ranked #1 in Texas and #5 in the nation. Almost single-handedly (he got some help from Courtney Lewis), VY took over that game and made sure the Marlins won against an OBVIOUSLY superior team. He almost did the same thing the following week against Austin Westlake, again a far more balanced and powerful team than Madison.

It wasn't about his stats, it was about his ability to will his team to victory. That is what he did at UT, and what he seems able to do in the NFL to a lesser extent.

VY also played basketball, baseball and ran track. I won't spout off his stats, but he was definitely a great an all-around athlete as there ever was in Texas.

I've never seen a better high school player, and I have been watching for a long time. To compare Kenneth Hall to Vince Young is like comparing the best rickshaw ever made (perhaps even by a very wide margin, the best rickshaw) to a Maserati.

[Shokkin da wrld]

This is BS...wheres AI....he couldve gone pro in two sports...football and well hes a pro in basketball. Allen's football highlits are sick played both ways and all special teams...can dribble a footballl better than some can dribble a bball

[Favpack]

This is BS...wheres AI....he couldve gone pro in two sports...football and well hes a pro in basketball. Allen's football highlits are sick played both ways and all special teams...can dribble a footballl better than some can dribble a bball

But he doesn't practice. We're talking about practice man.

[Shokkin da wrld]

Practice?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDBR2L5kzI

[BoomerSooner]

Not to "fellate" VY, and I'm sure Couch was great, but let's for a minute consider what Vince Young did, virtually single-handedly.

He took an under-funded inner-city HISD school (one that normally gets knocked out in round 1 by a runner-up SBISD team) to the Texas 5A semifinals in 2001. Can anyone imagine an HISD or DISD school getting that far today?

If anyone saw VY in the Madison/North Shore game that year, they would have no doubt about VY's transcendence. That year, North Shore was stupendous on both sides of the ball. They were ranked #1 in Texas and #5 in the nation. Almost single-handedly (he got some help from Courtney Lewis), VY took over that game and made sure the Marlins won against an OBVIOUSLY superior team. He almost did the same thing the following week against Austin Westlake, again a far more balanced and powerful team than Madison.

It wasn't about his stats, it was about his ability to will his team to victory. That is what he did at UT, and what he seems able to do in the NFL to a lesser extent.

VY also played basketball, baseball and ran track. I won't spout off his stats, but he was definitely a great an all-around athlete as there ever was in Texas.

I've never seen a better high school player, and I have been watching for a long time. To compare Kenneth Hall to Vince Young is like comparing the best rickshaw ever made (perhaps even by a very wide margin, the best rickshaw) to a Maserati.


He was very great, in more than one sport, of that there is no doubt. But just look at the other people mentioned on this thread alone. Read about Randy Moss and how Lou Holtz called him "the best high school player I've ever seen," or Allen Iverson who is one of the 50-100 greatest players to play the game of basketball and was considered a much better football player than basketball player.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGSPihhTWrs

He played quarterback, running back, safety, punt and kick returner. He still holds the state record for interceptions in a game with 7.

By the way, it's not a very good video but this is AI dribbling a football.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyHWyRka8to&feature=related

[spartanwall54]

David Clyde (Westchester High, Texas)-Baseball

Is that THE westchester... :notworthy

[LoneRocket]

Erin Grant of Mansfield High 4 time 5A state champion Girls Basketball.

[Bobcat81]

Is that THE westchester... :notworthy

THE one and only..;) At least in Texas anyway

[SV61]

Earl Campbell was something, no doubt.

The Other MEN among boys that come to mind:

Eric Dickerson. (saw him in person; dang)
Billy Sims.
Edwin Simmons.

Before I get chastised, I am talking soley about High School Football players.

[mojotrain]

Hayden Fry the Odessa high QB of the 46 state champs claims that his running back Byron Santone Townsend was the greatest he's ever seen. He led their win over San Antionio Jefferson 21-14. In view of 43,000 paid, 47,000 actual fans in the cotton bowl. Fry said this at a recent class reunion. He and three of his buddys would get together and go enter any track meet. Byron would enter 5 events and his friends would form a relay team and win the track meets.

Hayden might know about high school kids as for SMU and Iowa.

Of those I've seen maybe, Joe Bob Bizzell a All Stateselection from Permian in 1970, 1971 and 1972 would be my pick. The list of High School kids making All State three years in a row in big class Texas football is fairly short.

[unbiasedobserver]

If you put Tiger on this list then it is for more than just H.S. accomplishments.
How do you leave off Mary Lou Retton...
The Gold medal skater from Sugarland (name escapes me)

[twcpfan1]

If you put Tiger on this list then it is for more than just H.S. accomplishments.
How do you leave off Mary Lou Retton...
The Gold medal skater from Sugarland (name escapes me)

Tara Lipinski.

Might as well add Laura Wilkinson (diving gold medalist and Woodlands resident)