All Decade State Tournament Team (1990's)

[dawgs83]

Brown was back to back state tournament MVP. Originally signed with UT. Played two years and finished at Georgetown college. Morris was a two time member of all tournament team, played two years at Sullivan Jr. College and finished at Southern Miss. Turner made the most of a second chance and played and graduated from Jesuit college. I think it's in West Virginia. The 94 team was lead by Rashawn Morris and Eric Martin a kid no one has mentioned. These two led Sullivan Jr. College to a national championship. Martin signed with Oklahoma and led the Big 8. In three point shooting his senior year. He has played pro ball in Mexico and is now coaching a pro team there.

[JokersWild24]

Brown was back to back state tournament MVP. Originally signed with UT. Played two years and finished at Georgetown college. Morris was a two time member of all tournament team, played two years at Sullivan Jr. College and finished at Southern Miss. Turner made the most of a second chance and played and graduated from Jesuit college. I think it's in West Virginia. The 94 team was lead by Rashawn Morris and Eric Martin a kid no one has mentioned. These two led Sullivan Jr. College to a national championship. Martin signed with Oklahoma and led the Big 8. In three point shooting his senior year. He has played pro ball in Mexico and is now coaching a pro team there.

 

Awesome. Thanks for the update on Martin as well. He'll definitely be someone I add to the list (as will Morris). Sounds like Fairdale was quite the power in the early 90's. I knew they were good, like really good, but I didn't realize they were as dominant as they seem to be.

[Sandman]

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.

 

Appreciate you taking the time to clarify what you are looking for. IMO the quoted has some flaws in it. But, it's your thread and it's a good one, so these are your rules.

[Sandman]

Nice discussion. Let me chime in just a bit.

 

Fairdale in 90 and 91 was truly one of the best teams in Kentucky history. I'd contend the best, and you can pick the year. Had this team come along a decade later, they'd have had the chance to play in more national type events and that would have been fun. As it was, this team was almost men against boys good. Loaded with nice players and role guys, but Turner was a true stud on the floor.

 

Jenkins from MC had committed to UK as a wide out in football prior to his explosion as a senior in basketball. He was not only DI good, but he was SEC good. Not sure what sidelined him, but as a high school athlete he was on another level.

 

I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned any players from the Eastern title team of 97. I think they went unbeaten against Kentucky teams that season, and were ranked nationally by USA Today at season's end. Strictly going on memory here though.

 

I'd caution folks to get too caught up in the where were they recruited world, if we're talking about high school performances. Remember opportunities after high school often have more to do with size and potential, than actual performance. Sometimes they go hand in hand, sometimes they do not.

 

I'd love to see some numbers for high school performances from some of the guys named.

[mexitucky]

I'm not going to be as up on this one as I usually am in other discussions because I was too young to remember some of the early 90s and teams.

 

 

Some names from the later years, or ones I do know:

 

 

1991:

 

Jermaine Brown - Fairdale, Tennessee

Darrin Horn - Tates Creek, Western Kentucky University

Maurice Morris - Fairdale, Southern Miss

Carlos Turner - Fairdale, South Carolina

 

 

1992:

 

Greg Buckner - UHA, Clemson, Dallas Mavericks

Darnell Burton - Dunbar, Cincinnati

Shannon Hoskins - Clay County, South Carolina

DeJuan Wheat - Ballard, Louisville, Los Angeles Lakers

 

 

1993:

 

Anthony Epps - Marion County, Kentucky

Elton Scott - Marion County, West Virginia

Jason Osborne - Male, Louisville

 

 

1994:

 

Eric Martin - Fairdale, Oklahoma

Rashawn Morris - Fairdale 94 S16 MVP, JUCO Natty (Leading Scorer)

 

 

1995:

 

Dan Langhi - Marshall County, Vanderbilt, Dallas Mavericks

Dayemon Fishback - Greenwood, Auburn

 

 

1996:

 

Charles Thomas - Harlan, Minnesota

 

 

1998:

 

David Graves - Lexington Catholic, Notre Dame

Shawn Fields - Lexington Catholic, Georgia

Nathan Popp (Jr.) - Lexington Catholic, UNC-Greensboro

JR Reynolds - Muhlenburg North, Purdue

Todd Tackett - Paintsville, Kentucky

JR VanHoose - Paintsville, Marshall

 

 

1999:

 

Tim Barnes - Henderson County, Iowa State

Brandon Bender (So.) - Ballard, Louisville

Marquis Estill - Madison Central, Kentucky

Josh Graham - Fleming County, VCU

Mike Griffin - PRP, Florida A&M

AW Hamilton - Scott County, Wake Forest

Kenneal Jenkins - Madison Central, D1 Football & Basketball Interest

Rick Jones - Scott County, Vanderbilt

Duane King - PRP, Penn

Derek Smith - Highlands, UK Football

Kevin Paschel - PRP, Murray State

 

Where does Lamont Barnes fit in from UHA? He was a 4 year starter at Temple. They had another really tall kid back then that played DI.

[King of the Bluegrass]

Eastern ('96/'97) won the King of the Bluegrass but lost in the LIT. Fairdale is the ONLY team to win the King of the Bluegrass, LIT and Swet Sixteen "89/'90 and '93/'94. (Remember the KOB is in December and the Sweet Sixteen is in March)

[Sandman]

Eastern ('96/'97) won the King of the Bluegrass but lost in the LIT. Fairdale is the ONLY team to win the King of the Bluegrass, LIT and Swet Sixteen "89/'90 and '93/'94. (Remember the KOB is in December and the Sweet Sixteen is in March)

 

So this Eastern team lost two games all year, and one in-state game, is that correct? Again, I'm just going off memory here.

 

Eastern was really good that year, but they couldn't have touched the Fairdale teams of 90 and 91.

[JokersWild24]

Where does Lamont Barnes fit in from UHA? He was a 4 year starter at Temple. They had another really tall kid back then that played DI.

 

Added Barnes into the list.

[JokersWild24]

Nice discussion. Let me chime in just a bit.

 

Fairdale in 90 and 91 was truly one of the best teams in Kentucky history. I'd contend the best, and you can pick the year. Had this team come along a decade later, they'd have had the chance to play in more national type events and that would have been fun. As it was, this team was almost men against boys good. Loaded with nice players and role guys, but Turner was a true stud on the floor.

 

Jenkins from MC had committed to UK as a wide out in football prior to his explosion as a senior in basketball. He was not only DI good, but he was SEC good. Not sure what sidelined him, but as a high school athlete he was on another level.

 

I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned any players from the Eastern title team of 97. I think they went unbeaten against Kentucky teams that season, and were ranked nationally by USA Today at season's end. Strictly going on memory here though.

 

I'd caution folks to get too caught up in the where were they recruited world, if we're talking about high school performances. Remember opportunities after high school often have more to do with size and potential, than actual performance. Sometimes they go hand in hand, sometimes they do not.

 

I'd love to see some numbers for high school performances from some of the guys named.

 

 

Thanks for the confirmation on Jenkins. And agree that there's tons of different ways to name the guys, and not really a way of knowing which would be the best.

 

If there's anyone else you'd like to add or mention, then definitely feel free to because a kid like Jenkins illustrates that some of the "can't miss" talents don't always end up panning out for whatever reason.

 

Definitely agree that there's a kid like Van Hoose who is maybe a better high school player than someone like Estill, and there's probably a really good case for taking him over him at that point in time. As the Travelers have proven over the last week, size and athleticism alone won't win you games. It definitely won't hurt, but it's not all that matters.

[JokersWild24]

Eastern ('96/'97) won the King of the Bluegrass but lost in the LIT. Fairdale is the ONLY team to win the King of the Bluegrass, LIT and Swet Sixteen "89/'90 and '93/'94. (Remember the KOB is in December and the Sweet Sixteen is in March)

 

So this Eastern team lost two games all year, and one in-state game, is that correct? Again, I'm just going off memory here.

 

Eastern was really good that year, but they couldn't have touched the Fairdale teams of 90 and 91.

 

 

Who did Eastern have, and/or where did some of the kids end up? Let me know and I'll update the original list (it'd be awesome if it could be used for reference in later threads when things like this come up for debate, so the more info, the better).

 

1997 was the last year I didn't go to the Sweet 16 before I started a streak that lasted over a decade. I've heard how good they were, just didn't know who any of their players were. I know they made it back the next year, but got knocked out early against Highlands and I'm not really sure if it was the entire team back.

[Sandman]

Who did Eastern have, and/or where did some of the kids end up? Let me know and I'll update the original list (it'd be awesome if it could be used for reference in later threads when things like this come up for debate, so the more info, the better).

 

1997 was the last year I didn't go to the Sweet 16 before I started a streak that lasted over a decade. I've heard how good they were, just didn't know who any of their players were. I know they made it back the next year, but got knocked out early against Highlands and I'm not really sure if it was the entire team back.

 

Eastern went 35-2 in 97. I really don't remember their players all that well, they had a lot of guys who were good. Seems like a kid named Coward and a kid named Olinger were the best players. Olinger (sp) may have gotten DI looks/offers.

 

Eastern did return to the Sweet 16 the next year, but they did not play Highlands. They won a first round game against North Hardin and then were beaten in the quarterfinals by Fleming County.

 

Another name I'll throw out there is VonDale Morton from LexCath. I think he was the best player on their 92 team that lost in the state finals to U Heights.

[JokersWild24]

Eastern went 35-2 in 97. I really don't remember their players all that well, they had a lot of guys who were good. Seems like a kid named Coward and a kid named Olinger were the best players. Olinger (sp) may have gotten DI looks/offers.

 

Eastern did return to the Sweet 16 the next year, but they did not play Highlands. They won a first round game against North Hardin and then were beaten in the quarterfinals by Fleming County.

 

Another name I'll throw out there is VonDale Morton from LexCath. I think he was the best player on their 92 team that lost in the state finals to U Heights.

 

 

 

Good call on that one. You are 100% correct on Eastern beating North Hardin then losing to Fleming County. I was a kid then and didn’t look it back up when I was going on about it and had the wrong “blue teams”. Highlands beat Graves County (mystery blue team). The Birds got knocked off by Scott County in the semis. My mistake on that one for sure. I think I was getting a lot of it confused because Eastern had actually beaten Highlands in the finals the year before.

 

 

One of the toughest things about findings records too far back then (if you can call 1996-1997 that) is that the Internet hadn’t really taken off (so Google searches don’t turn up tons, and when they do, if it’s from a smaller town, they are usually just scanned in versions of print that you can’t word search. KHSAA.org only goes back to 1998 as well.

 

Definitely intrigued by the Eastern team now, and again, thanks for correcting me on the Eastern/Highlands one, because that one was way off (they weren’t even on the same side of the bracket).

 

I’ll try to look up more on Morton, Coward, and Olinger, then post what I find later on.

 

 

Just a quick glance through an older program says that Eastern’s Trent Coward was the 1997 tournament MVP. Eastern’s Ashley Olinger and Antwan Taylor were also named to All-Tounament Team as well.

 

Here’s a quip from USA Today ranking the Eagles 20th in the nation to conclude the season:

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/basketba/skb97.htm

[Smallhoops]

I recall being so impressed with that Eastern team not because of overwhelming talent but because of how well they played as a team. An extremely well-coached athletic team that wore out the opposition.

[JokersWild24]

I recall being so impressed with that Eastern team not because of overwhelming talent but because of how well they played as a team. An extremely well-coached athletic team that wore out the opposition.

 

Those will do it.

[mexitucky]

People aren't giving Smith from Highlands enough credit. The guy played that the NIKE camp when that was THE main show.