ESPN RISE counts down the top 50 high school basketball players of all time.

[dmbrhs]

The problem with this list is that it is skewed based on the availability of information and video on these players today. I mean, we watched Lebron in highschool on ESPN. To compare, when Larry Bird played in the national title game in 1979, it was the first time most of the country had even seen him, and thatwas his last year in COLLEGE. And then there's the whole "oh man, if 'player x' hadn't been a bum and gotten into drugs, gangs, etc."aspect, where we romanticize the abilities of players that fizzled out, which means this list is based on achievements after high school, rather than just highschool stats, because nobody's putting some no-name bum on this list who didn't do jack after high school.

 

[darthska]

*Lisa Leslie being mentioned in the Top Ten Prep Athletes posted by PRETTYPLAYA appreciation*

I'm good.

 

[sylvestermcgrizzly]

Originally Posted by f3DJam

Yo any chance of Earl Manigualt being on there. I mean he is a hs legend, dropping mad points in the nyc public school league back with kareem

Nope...didn't play enough ball to be on the list wit these dudes. I mean if Tiny aint make it, then Goat shouldn't either...he should be honorablemention tho...and cheryl was an absolute monster in high school...if not in the top 20 then thats a shame...

 

[seymore cake]

Originally Posted by AirAnt23

YO! I'm reading names... Felipe (St. John's over UNC?

), Wags, LBJ, Lew

But no one...

Not a single person...

mentions:

Mr. Fields?

DF!!!

You get a major salute for this one bro

 

[gtownballer23]

Former UF guard Teddy Dupay probably won't make the list but he was a bad boy back in the day. All time leading scorer in Florida high school basketballhistory and averaged 42 ppg his senior year - which led the nation. Scored over 50 points a few times in the first half of games his senior year.

 

[pdoggy85]

Originally Posted by PRETTYPLAYA

[table][tr][td][/td] [td]
7. Lisa Leslie (Inglewood Morningside High, Inglewood, Calif.)
In Leslie's last home game as a senior in February 1990, she went 37-for-56 from the floor and sank 27 free throws. Then the first half ended, with her team leading South Torrance, 102-24. She had scored 101 points. The game was over -- literally. South Torrance didn't come out for the second half.

That was an incredible display, but more to the point, Leslie led Morningside to two straight state titles, and as a senior averaged 27 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocked shots a game. USA Today recently picked her as the top girls high school hoopster of the past 20 years.

Leslie went on to star at USC and is one of the best players in the WNBA, named the league MVP in 2001.
[/td] [/tr][/table]

seems like espn page 2 put lbj over lew.

tiger at 2 and lbj at 3 ... pretty good company
Good to see my former high school is known for something. That performance was the stuff of legends man. They still talk about it to this day. Andwe were on the receiving end.

 

[eight2one]

Originally Posted by show time 96

What about marcus maurice taylor from Michigan state dude hype was crazy word to Magic johnson

fixed

 

[biggie62]

Originally Posted by PRETTYPLAYA

Originally Posted by yungmatt

Originally Posted by Al3xis

Kenny Anderson has to be in the top 3.

He wont be...These ESPN lists are always way off

no way kenny is top 3. espn list is better than nt list mostly.

Kenny is considered by many the best HS basketball player ever. And this is not just from NY natives. Do some research before you criticize people. Hedidn't live up to that hype. But when he was at Archbishop Molley it was no joke. Everybody and their grandmother wanted a piece of him.

 

[Retroballer]

i wonder how they rate the High School players hyped that failed in the league like Cooke compared to ones that did.

 

[jmause3]

Originally Posted by eight2one

Originally Posted by show time 96

What about marcus maurice taylor from Michigan state dude hype was crazy word to Magic johnson

fixed

Naw he had it right it was Marcus Taylor from Waverly. I saw him a lot in high school, and dude was good but i don't think that he was upthere with any of the people on this list. But dude was a beast in high school. Shoulda stayed one more year at State and i think he would have been a playerin the league

 

[yungmatt]

Originally Posted by jmause3

Originally Posted by eight2one

Originally Posted by show time 96

What about marcus maurice taylor from Michigan state dude hype was crazy word to Magic johnson

fixed

Naw he had it right it was Marcus Taylor from Waverly. I saw him a lot in high school, and dude was good but i don't think that he was up there with any of the people on this list. But dude was a beast in high school. Shoulda stayed one more year at State and i think he would have been a player in the league

From what I can remember about Taylor, 3 more years at State wouldnt have mattered.... Son was trash

 

[seymore cake]

Originally Posted by yungmatt

Originally Posted by jmause3

Originally Posted by eight2one

Originally Posted by show time 96

What about marcus maurice taylor from Michigan state dude hype was crazy word to Magic johnson

fixed

Naw he had it right it was Marcus Taylor from Waverly. I saw him a lot in high school, and dude was good but i don't think that he was up there with any of the people on this list. But dude was a beast in high school. Shoulda stayed one more year at State and i think he would have been a player in the league

From what I can remember about Taylor, 3 more years at State wouldnt have mattered.... Son was trash

Naaaah he was actually alright fam, he had game, he definitely needed more time under izzo tho. Speaking of, how come nobody really mentions that his playersrarely do anything in the L, minus Jason. People are quick to say that about Duke and K but I've never heard that about MSU and Izzo.

 

[yungmatt]

Originally Posted by Seymore CAKE

Originally Posted by yungmatt

Originally Posted by jmause3

Naw he had it right it was Marcus Taylor from Waverly. I saw him a lot in high school, and dude was good but i don't think that he was up there with any of the people on this list. But dude was a beast in high school. Shoulda stayed one more year at State and i think he would have been a player in the league

From what I can remember about Taylor, 3 more years at State wouldnt have mattered.... Son was trash

Naaaah he was actually alright fam, he had game, he definitely needed more time under izzo tho. Speaking of, how come nobody really mentions that his players rarely do anything in the L, minus Jason. People are quick to say that about Duke and K but I've never heard that about MSU and Izzo.

Yea I know dude was solid... But he never did ANYTHING at State that warranted him going to the draft that year... Its not like he was the 32nd pick

Sonwent like 53 or some $%*#... I never saw his game translating to the league anyway.

Also, I agree with you on Izzo. Besides Zach and JRich, he only produces solid collegiate players

 

[youngcfromthad]

Originally Posted by jville819

Originally Posted by nnarum

I bet I know who's number 1...

Dajuan

 

[scottyhoward42]

to depast who said chris paul wasn't heavily recruited and under the radar, he was the #1 rated point guard in his class, some services #2 behind Shakurbut either way that's hardly under the radar, he had offers from UNC, UCONN, Wake.....list goes on, but yea as usual the list will be highly debatable ,the whole dwight howard over bassy thing, i mean i think anyone that remembers 2002-2004 it was all about lebron and bassy, it wasn't through the fire withdwight howard was it

 

[abeautifulhaze]

Lew Al better be #1.

Bron should be in the top 10.

Bassy shoulda cracked top 25

If Kenny and Wags ain't on there that list is a joke.

 

[darthska]

To all you guys talking about Kenny Anderson: really? He had it like that in HS?

I'm not doubting any of you. I'm genuinely asking, because I don't know. I wasn't aware he was such a HS phenom.

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

Originally Posted by 23ska909red02

To all you guys talking about Kenny Anderson: really? He had it like that in HS?

I'm not doubting any of you. I'm genuinely asking, because I don't know. I wasn't aware he was such a HS phenom.

Yes.

 

[abeautifulhaze]

Originally Posted by 23ska909red02

To all you guys talking about Kenny Anderson: really? He had it like that in HS?

I'm not doubting any of you. I'm genuinely asking, because I don't know. I wasn't aware he was such a HS phenom.

As a 16-year-old high school sophomore, the LeFrak City,Queens[sup][1][/sup] native who attended academic and athletic powerhouse Archbishop Molloy High School in Briarwood, was considered one of the best basketball prospects inAmerica.[sup][2][/sup] Anderson was considered so special in his childhood that there were recruiters at his sixth-grade games and he wason the front page of the New York City sports section when he was 14.[sup][3][/sup] By the end of his high school career, he was athree-time Parade All-American, a feat not accomplished since LewAlcindor and the first player to be named All-City four times. In addition, he was a McDonald's All-American, Gatorade's high school Player of the Year and Player of the Yearby the New York State Sportswriters Association, and was named Mr. Basketball by the New York State Coaches Organization.[sup][4][/sup] Despite his coach, Jack Curran, benching him for the first quarter of all of his games during his freshman yearat Molloy, Anderson set the all-time state record for scoring in New York, with 2,621 points. This record stood until 2004, when Lincoln High School guard Sebastian Telfair eclipsed the mark late in his senior season.



Kenny was that guy in East Coast HS circuits. He was the Bron before Bron. Everyone expected him to be a top 10 player in the league.

 

[eightysbaby]

 

[mjs24chicago]

Vince Carter was cold in high school

 

[Bonafide]

Jason Kidd better be up there some where

 

[babyface34]

Diesel, anyone?
KG
Shawn Kemp
'Zo
ray allen

 

[slickrick916]

 

[southsidechi773]

Originally Posted by Seymore CAKE

Originally Posted by AirAnt23

YO! I'm reading names... Felipe (St. John's over UNC?

), Wags, LBJ, Lew

But no one...

Not a single person...

mentions:

Mr. Fields?

DF!!!

You get a major salute for this one bro

This almost brought a tear to my eye.