Somebody had to start it so I guess it will be me.

 

Here goes. Keeping to Guru's formula of 3, and only 3 -

 

Sam Burke: '62 AA State Champions. Great career at Georgia Tech with Bobby Dodd as coach.

 

Chris Jones: Parade All-American in High School in '77. Signed with UK over Oklahoma and Switzer. Led all Freshmen in the SEC in rushing yards. Destoyed his knee as a Sophomore and never played again.

 

Donnie Redd: Won AA titles in '87 and '89. Awesome HB in the wishbone, special teams and then switched to QB his Senior year to help the team out with a glut of Running Backs and no experienced QB. He could change a game anytime he touched the ball. Went to UK but never got out of Bill Curry's dog house.

 

Lots more we could name: David McAfee, Elmer Jackson, Joel Grey, Chester Ford, Ben Kinley, Jimmy Baughman, Jeremy Britt, Kelvin Turner and many, many others.

 

Make a case for them.

They always have had impressive talent.

I would say:

 

Chester Ford

Jeremy Britt

Take your pick from the Kinley brothers (I would take Ben) & Kelvin Turner

 

I don't go back very far.

Picking the top 3 for Danville is about like picking a top three for Highlands, Mayfield, Male, etc...not sure that it can be done, but one name I'm going to throw out there is the late Kinte Bess. He was was a pivotal member of the 91-94 run that Danville had (winning it all in 91, 92 and 94 going I think 57-2 over that time).

Most of the Danville folks I know say Jimmy Baughman was the either the best or one of the best ever. I'll ask some at work tomorrow and see what they say.

Most of the Danville folks I know say Jimmy Baughman was the either the best or one of the best ever. I'll ask some at work tomorrow and see what they say.

 

I was covering the Admirals then. Baughman was very special and it was toss up for me between he or Donnie Redd. The difference maker was 2 titles to 1.

 

Baughman started as Freshman in '83. As a Sophomore he was the leading rusher on what I think is one of the best Admiral squads ever. Explosive and had all the tools. His Senior year Duffy changed from the traditional wishbone to a more lone back/broken bone with Baughman as the lone back. He made personal mistakes after his Senior year and lost his "ride" to an education but he was awesome all four years of his time at Danville.h

Picking the top 3 for Danville is about like picking a top three for Highlands, Mayfield, Male, etc...not sure that it can be done, but one name I'm going to throw out there is the late Kinte Bess. He was was a pivotal member of the 91-94 run that Danville had (winning it all in 91, 92 and 94 going I think 57-2 over that time).

 

Kinte was a stud. Those Danville teams were so deep in that run that I tend to put the '92 team ahead of the '84 squad just because of the difference in depth. ('84 team only had 27 total players on varsity so depth was there, just not in numbers. :lol2:)

 

hh

They always have had impressive talent.

 

I agree. I haven't even mentioned Leonard Coulter who went on to a great career at Morehead in basketball but was just as great in football.

 

Or Norman "Scrapper" Letcher who was a great RB in the early 70's. I think he too went to Morehead. Can't recall.

 

Chase Harp? Jaggers? Roger Turner? Jim Donlon? So many other linemen and Linebackers.

Danville has enjoyed many great players over the years and it is hard to compare players from different eras. Two of those that come to mind are Dopey Phelps who went on to play for the Cleveland Browns and Jim Poynter who to me was one of the best players I had a chance to see at Danville. There are many others that have been very very good from some of the earlier years as well.

Jeremy Britt

 

My only knock on Britt was that he was only at Danville for one year. He did, however, basically carry that team (that wasn't real good) to the state final, where they lost to Caldwell County. They had close playoff losses the two previous years to Boyle ('96) and Lexington Catholic ('97), and it makes you wonder if Britt had been there, would those results have been different?

 

But he was a great player!

My only knock on Britt was that he was only at Danville for one year. He did, however, basically carry that team (that wasn't real good) to the state final, where they lost to Caldwell County. They had close playoff losses the two previous years to Boyle ('96) and Lexington Catholic ('97), and it makes you wonder if Britt had been there, would those results have been different?

 

But he was a great player!

 

Like you, I had a hard time "including" him but he spent his Senior campaign there and thought he was worth a mention. Kind of like James Fletcher is remembered by most for his Junior and Senior seasons at Somerset but I remember he looked like a stud when playing for Wayne County his Sophomore year.

Nathan Fuqua was an OL/DL on the '98 Runner Up team and was a 1st Teamer CJ and AP All State at DL.

 

^^^That, though was just the tip of the iceberg.

 

Fuqua went onto 1-AA power Wafford College where he was a 3 time All American. I rember reading one year after one of their annual games with South Carolina that Lou Holtz essentially called out both UK and UL for screwing up in not recruiting/offering him, as well as every other KY school (WKU, EKU, Murray, etc.)

 

He has since remained in Spartanburg, SC as the Terriers OLB coach.

Chris Jones has to be on this list. IMO one of the best players ever to come from this area.

Donnie Redd

Chester Ford

 

For as of Burke, I just do not remember him as he was before my days.

Chris Jones has to be on this list. IMO one of the best players ever to come from this area.

Donnie Redd

Chester Ford

 

For as of Burke, I just do not remember him as he was before my days.

 

 

Sammy was well before my time as well but I felt safe in the reputation.

 

Can't go wrong with your list at all Rebel.

Chester Ford was a beast!!