Ohio's Greatest High School Player Ever

Who was the best player in high school?

  • Total voters
    109
  • Poll closed .
tcgobucks said:
Lol....you're kidding right? They played a national schedule junior and senior year They never saw a D2 or D3 Ohio team until they started their tourney run. It's Lebron and it's not close
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“Lol....No, I am not kidding.” Jerry Lucas and it is not close. Public school through the pros. He never whined to get traded to a team with better players nor demanded more all-stars got signed to win the championship. The Phil Jackson of players.
 
HardCorps said:
“Lol....No, I am not kidding.” Jerry Lucas and it is not close. Public school through the pros. He never whined to get traded to a team with better players nor demanded more all-stars got signed to win the championship. The Phil Jackson of players.
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To be fair, Lucas turned pro in 1962. The NBPA was in its infancy and fighting for things like per diems! There was no such thing as free agency. Players had next to no voice. And when players tried to speak up (even someone as supremely talented as Oscar Robertson), they were labeled as troublemakers. Lucas was a class act, to be sure. But they were different times.
 
Irish60 said:
To be fair, Lucas turned pro in 1962. The NBPA was in its infancy and fighting for things like per diems! There was no such thing as free agency. Players had next to no voice. And when players tried to speak up (even someone as supremely talented as Oscar Robertson), they were labeled as troublemakers. Lucas was a class act, to be sure. But they were different times.
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Agreed.
 
Raymar Morgan should get some mention:

Averaged 24.4 points and 9.0 rebounds as a senior at Canton McKinley High School
Led McKinley to 2006 Division I state title, being named Most Outstanding Player of the all-tournament team for the second straight season
Named 2006 Ohio Division I Player of the Year, 2005 Ohio Division I second team
Finished his career as McKinley's all-time leading scorer with 1,553 points
The Bulldogs were 73-7 with Morgan in the starting lineup during his three years and never lost a home game
In 2005, Led McKinley to a 26-1 record and a Division 1 state championship
 
TCSoup said:
Matter of opinion i know but Nick Weatherspoon wasn't even the best player in the State that year possibly. Ed Ratliff and Bo Lamar were pretty darn good also.
Neither Witherspoon or Ratliff had stellar NBA Careers , Nick RD 1 Pick 13 and Ratliff RD 1 Pick 6 in 1973.
Ratliff had the more stellar College Career : nick was 1st Team all Big Ten while Ratliff was a consensus 2x 1st Team All American.
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TCSoup,

I definitely agree with you regarding Ed Ratleff and Dwight " Bo" Lamar from Columbus East. Although Lamar only played
his senior year at East, having transferred from Columbus North, Ratleff and Lamar, along with Nick Conner formed the best trio I have yet seen in following Ohio HS basketball since the early sixties.

Ed Ratleff and Bo Lamar were the first two HS teammates from the same HS class to become consensus First Team All-American college players and they both did it in two consecutive years in college in the 71-72 and 72-73 seasons. In addition Bo Lamar also was the leading scorer in the nation in the 72/73 season. Nick Conner the third member of that Columbus East trio was a starter at Illinois along with the "other" Nick you mentioned, Nick Weatherspoon from Canton McKinley.

I'm not suggesting that Ed Ratleff or Bo Lamar are better choices for best player in Ohio HS history. I'll go with LeBron James and Jerry Lucas as the two best in my opinion, but your recognition of Ratleff and Lamar as being worthy of mention as a couple of the best would get my support as well.

JB
 
TCSoup said:
Matter of opinion i know but Nick Weatherspoon wasn't even the best player in the State that year possibly. Ed Ratleff and Bo Lamar were pretty darn good also.
Neither Witherspoon or Ratleff had stellar NBA Careers , Nick RD 1 Pick 13 and Ratliff RD 1 Pick 6 in 1973.
Ratleff had the more stellar College Career : Nick was 1st Team all Big Ten while Ratleff was a consensus 2x 1st Team All American.
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FWIW:

Weatherspoon and Ratleff both were named 1st team All-Ohio in both the AP & UPI selections

They split Player of the Year honors:
POY-AP: Weatherspoon
POY-UPI: Ratleff

:>---

SALT
 
my2sense said:
Raymar Morgan should get some mention:

Averaged 24.4 points and 9.0 rebounds as a senior at Canton McKinley High School
Led McKinley to 2006 Division I state title, being named Most Outstanding Player of the all-tournament team for the second straight season
Named 2006 Ohio Division I Player of the Year, 2005 Ohio Division I second team
Finished his career as McKinley's all-time leading scorer with 1,553 points
The Bulldogs were 73-7 with Morgan in the starting lineup during his three years and never lost a home game
In 2005, Led McKinley to a 26-1 record and a Division 1 state championship
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Phil Hubbard from Canton McKinley was one heck of a player also.
 
TCSoup said:
Phil Hubbard from Canton McKinley was one heck of a player also.
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It's tough for a McKinley player to be considered the best in Ohio since, no matter who you are talking about, there is a strong argument that he isn't even the best from his school! I'd suspect that if you made a list of the Top 20 players in Ohio HS basketball history a convincing argument could be made that at least half of them went to McKinley!
 
Irish60 said:
It's tough for a McKinley player to be considered the best in Ohio since, no matter who you are talking about, there is a strong argument that he isn't even the best from his school!
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ohiopup said:
FWIW:

Weatherspoon and Ratleff both were named 1st team All-Ohio in both the AP & UPI selections

They split Player of the Year honors:
POY-AP: Weatherspoon
POY-UPI: Ratleff

:>---

SALT
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And East easily beat McKinley in 69 finals
 
Alvin Robertson from Barberton. He had a stellar career with the Magics before moving on to star at Arkansas at the collegiate level then with the San Antonio Spurs and Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA. Again, not one or two, but certainly worthy of being in any discussion of the best players Ohio has produced.

Plus, he is one of one five NBA players to record a quadruple double! (At the end of this clip, note the talent in his NBA draft class that is listed. Wow!)

 
Last edited:
Anyone know Bret Walkers stats? What year is he? He cam from Wayne, correct? I seen him play in middle school.
 
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