All Decade State Tournament Team (1990's)

[JokersWild24]

They were dominant. Probably deserve a couple of guys on this team instead of just Brown. Maurice Morris was good, as was Carlos Turner. That team was loaded.

 

Definitely so, I just didn't know where anyone else played in college.

[Plato]

Jermaine Brown went to Tennessee and then transferred to Georgetown... led them to an NAIA runner up finish in 1996

Carlos Turner signed with South Carolina and on that same day stabbed his girlfriend and himself. I don't know if he ever ended up playing.

Maurice Morris played college ball at Southern Miss. His son is former UK football player Maurice Grinter.

 

They were the big 3 but that Fairdale team had some other kids who could also play. They were fun to watch.

[Randy Parker]

^ I forgot that about Carlos Turner. Wasn't he a lefty?

[Sandman]

You have to pick a roster of 9 players, all who played in the State Tournament from 1990-1999, to play in a top national AAU tournament. Who do you take and why?

 

If you want, assume you are in a time machine and have to take the player as they were then.

 

Definitely so, I just didn't know where anyone else played in college.

 

 

Good thread. But I'm a little confused. Is this pick the best players as they were in high school, or pick the best players with significance placed on what they did after high school?

 

You seem to contraindicate yourself with the first bolded, and then posts mentioning collegiate or pro careers.

 

FWIW, some of the best players at the high school level either didn't play collegiately, or played at a smaller level after high school for whatever reason. A few obvious examples:

 

Jenkins from MC, as we've both said best player on that team at the high school level.

 

Turner from Fairdale, probably the best player on those teams (certainly was by the 91 title).

 

Smith from Highlands, pretty dominate player during his era, but he played football in college.

 

And I'll throw Burton from Dunbar (and then UC) out there again as a guy that should be hard to leave off any list.

[JokersWild24]

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Good thread. But I'm a little confused. Is this pick the best players as they were in high school, or pick the best players with significance placed on what they did after high school?

 

You seem to contraindicate yourself with the first bolded, and then posts mentioning collegiate or pro careers.

 

FWIW, some of the best players at the high school level either didn't play collegiately, or played at a smaller level after high school for whatever reason. A few obvious examples:

 

Jenkins from MC, as we've both said best player on that team at the high school level.

 

Turner from Fairdale, probably the best player on those teams (certainly was by the 91 title).

 

Smith from Highlands, pretty dominate player during his era, but he played football in college.

 

And I'll throw Burton from Dunbar (and then UC) out there again as a guy that should be hard to leave off any list.

 

 

Thanks.

 

I was meaning the best players at the time.

 

Since there were so many, I was using where they first went to college as a baseline because it showed that college coaches were interested in them. For guys like Barbour that went JUCO, but not necessarily because of talent, I tried mentioning where they ended up. The only years I really knew much about were 1998 and 1999. I didn't know about Turner and the South Carolina offer, so he'd qualify. A guy like Jenkins, I'm going to guess he probably had some offers to play football or basketball. Even if a guy didn't end up playing, but had legitimate D1 interest, then I'm fine with counting them.

 

The team would be limited to 9 guys, so it's hard to make a case for a guy who ended up at say, Lindsey Wilson or Campbellsville, when it means leaving off a guy who went to a D1, BCS program. Doesn't mean they weren't good high school players, just that they probably weren't going to be on an All-Decade team where a few of the guys like Langhi and Buckner ended up in the NBA and a guy like Bender had the talent to. The 6'4 power forward or 6'6 center who is a really good high school player is probably going to struggle at an AAU tournament in an All-Star setting.

[Smallhoops]

^ I forgot that about Carlos Turner. Wasn't he a lefty?

 

I think he was. As I remember, he was the best pure shooter of the three. But they all three were outstanding players.

[King of the Bluegrass]

Carlos Turner had a great career at Coffeyville Junior Colleg and Jesuit College. Carlos scored 17 consecutive points in the Championship game when Morris and Brown were on the bench. He is do great today…graduated, has a leadership job in Ohio near Dayton. I may be the only person that know the "real story" and it's not what people think. I will say no more. Terry Jenkins (90) signed FB with UL, Tony Wheat (90) BB at Murray. Tyran Scroggins (90) FB UL, (Central HS FB coach 3 State championships),Timmy Comstock (91) FB AT WKU, Jeff Thompson (91) BB St. Catherine, Chris Kelso (93) FB UL, Leland Taylor FB UL and NFL, David Hicks (93) Baseball ?, Jason Gardner (91) manager UL BB. Rayshawn Morris (94) 94 - State Tournament MVP - Sullivan College National Champions - All Tournament. Every athlete got a scholarship in some sport.

[King of the Bluegrass]

Remember…ONLY 4 teams since 1918 have won back-to-back State Championships: Ashland, Male, Seneca and Fairdale.

 

Brown - Fairdal

Morris - Fairdale

Turner - Fairdale

J. R. Van Hoose - Paintsville

Anthony Epps - Marion Co.

DeJuaan Wheat - Ballard

Ricky Jones - Corbin and Scott Co.

Darnell Burton - Dunbar

Daren Horn - Paul Dunbar

Alternate: Rayshawn Morris - Fairdale

[Plato]

^ I forgot that about Carlos Turner. Wasn't he a lefty?

 

Jermaine was a lefty. I don't remember if Carlos was or not.

[King of the Bluegrass]

Brown and Morris were both leftys…Turner was not. Rayshawn Morris, 94 MVP was also a lefty.

[JokersWild24]

Greg Buckner played at Clemson, where he started every game in his four year career and led Clemson in scoring every year. His defense was better than his offense. Played in the NBA for 10 years, and now is an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets.

 

Buckner was a couple years ahead of University Heights' best remembered teams, which featured Lamont Barnes (Temple), Isiah Victor (Tennessee) and Harold Swanagan (Notre Dame). As I remember, Barnes and Victor were seniors in 1996 but did not play in the state tournament that year, as Christian County beat University Heights in the Second Region that year.

 

 

Doing some research on Greg, I found out where the discrepancy I had came in. Greg played at Clemson, younger brother Andre played at Duke when Jay Williams and company were there.

[JokersWild24]

Brown and Morris were both leftys…Turner was not. Rayshawn Morris, 94 MVP was also a lefty.

 

Where did Morris play in college?

[JokersWild24]

Jermaine Brown went to Tennessee and then transferred to Georgetown... led them to an NAIA runner up finish in 1996

Carlos Turner signed with South Carolina and on that same day stabbed his girlfriend and himself. I don't know if he ever ended up playing.

Maurice Morris played college ball at Southern Miss. His son is former UK football player Maurice Grinter.

 

They were the big 3 but that Fairdale team had some other kids who could also play. They were fun to watch.

 

I've heard tons of people talk about how good those Fairdale teams were and being one of the few schools to repeat proves how good they were. To do that, especially as a Louisville school, has to be tough.

 

Most of why I didn't include them was just because I hadn't seen them and didn't know the exact names, where they went to college, etc.

 

The sheer number of people bringing them up on here shows how special they were though.

[JokersWild24]

Thanks to everyone for all of the updates and inclusions. I've added some names to the original list in Post #1 so it's more comprehensive and everyone has an idea of who we're picking from and what they're up against.

 

Some names added to the list since the time of the original post:

 

Brown, Turner, & Morris of Fairdale, Darrin Horn, Greg Buckner, Darnell Burton, Marquis Estill, & Kenneal Jenkins.

 

I know Turner didn't play at South Carolina, but being signed by them shows the kind of talent he had.

 

Jenkins was a kid who, to the best of my knowledge, didn't wind up playing in college, but legitimately had the talent to be a D1 football or basketball player and is one of those names that comes up on some of the "what if..." and "most talented" lists.

 

If there's anyone that I've left off, please try to bring them up, and include where they started playing college ball, where they ended up playing, or some type of verification that they were talented enough to get serious D1 looks and I'll be glad to add them.

[JokersWild24]

Right now, 4 of my starting 5 are probably:

 

G - Greg Buckner

G - DeJuan Wheat

F - Dan Langhi

C - Brandon Bender

 

 

That's three guys who made it to the pros and one guy who had the talent to make it there. That's the foundation of a really good AAU team.