Best High School Player Seen

#351
#351
SuzyVol said:
Interesting post. I wondered what happened with Terry Russell after he left UT. But I disagree with your assessment of Kent Hollenbeck's playing style.
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Do not misunderstand my appreciation for Kent's career, he would work real hard, especially away from the ball, to get in position to receive the ball and score, around the rim or with a quality jumper. With the target he had on his back he had too. He smoothly was a great defender on the other end. But my eyes did not see the kind of aggressiveness that guys achieving what he did typically displayed. My view may have been skewed by a conversation I had with one of his friends from his West Hills Elementary days, who shared that he and others had to push Kent to even go out for their team. It ended with a quote in response to those trying to explain to him he could be a great scorer. He told me that Kent's response was simply that he would not take a shot he did not expect to go in. He was the least cocky great athlete I ever encountered.

To contrast, the other guy we discussed, Terry would gladly break your arm for one more rebound or would gladly apply a hard foul if needed. His achievements were more influenced by drive and aggressiveness when the clock was running. Would love to have access to total fouls by each in their HS careers, bet it is not close. To wrap up this wordy clarification, I would compare Kent's basic game and mindset to a different Fulton/UT guy Ron Widby, and Terry's to Howard Bayne. Different games but loved them both. But I put Ron in the passive category and Howard obviously not. Odd that a 3 sport AA could be in that category, but that is how I viewed his classy greatness.
 
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#352
#352
VolMack——————$ said:
Not football….But I had the pleasure of watching Dwight Doc Gooden…Derek Bell…Vance Lovelace…Play while going to Hillsborough high school….Oh Dwight’s nephew a few years later came out of the same school….Gary Sheffield…..Also the same school that produced the GREAT STEVE KINER !
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I got to watch Gooden play for the Kingsport Mets in 1982
 
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#353
#353
GUNTERSVOL said:
Do not misunderstand my appreciation for Kent's career, he would work real hard, especially away from the ball, to get in position to receive the ball and score, around the rim or with a quality jumper. With the target he had on his back he had too. He smoothly was a great defender on the other end. But my eyes did not see the kind of aggressiveness that guys achieving what he did typically displayed. My view may have been skewed by a conversation I had with one of his friends from his West Hills Elementary days, who shared that he and others had to push Kent to even go out for their team. It ended with a quote in response to those trying to explain to him he could be a great scorer. He told me that Kent's response was simply that he would not take a shot he did not expect to go in. He was the least cocky great athlete I ever encountered.

To contrast, the other guy we discussed, Terry would gladly break your arm for one more rebound or would gladly apply a hard foul if needed. His achievements were more influenced by drive and aggressiveness when the clock was running. Would love to have access to total fouls by each in their HS careers, bet it is not close. To wrap up this wordy clarification, I would compare Kent's basic game and mindset to a different Fulton/UT guy Ron Widby, and Terry's to Howard Bayne. Different games but loved them both. But I put Ron in the passive category and Howard obviously not. Odd that a 3 sport AA could be in that category, but that is how I viewed his classy greatness.
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Don't misunderstand. I did not perceive your comment as disparaging Kent. But my recollection is different from yours. Kent went to the game; he didn't wait for the game to come to him. He was the most aggressive guy on the court in any game he played, at least in high school. I think Jimmy England/Ron Widby is a closer comparison.
 
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#357
#357
SuzyVol said:
Don't misunderstand. I did not perceive your comment as disparaging Kent. But my recollection is different from yours. Kent went to the game; he didn't wait for the game to come to him. He was the most aggressive guy on the court in any game he played, at least in high school. I think Jimmy England/Ron Widby is a closer comparison.
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Yep, different strokes..... Kent would work tirelessly to get to a spot to receive the ball, but without using contact to do so, that would provide him a lane to the goal or the opportunity to pull up and take a good short-range jumper (gone from today's game). He would defend in a manner to try and avoid every foul, not manage his 5 fouls. Less risk was key in his decision processes on both ends. Avoiding misses on one end, fouls on the other. Maximized the physical tools he brought to the game. Other 6'4" guys had different games.
 
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#358
#358
peaygolf said:
I like Trey. Great guy. But not even the best player from USJ/Old Hickory
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Trey was a great player on some loaded teams. Urban Garrett (Mr. Football), and James Kirkland and Doug Haltom (both All State), among others. Franklin Payne came later along with a young man whose name I can't remember, but he played at Fordham. Then there's Trey Smith. I went to HS with Trey's mother. She was an amazing person.
 
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#359
#359
GUNTERSVOL said:
Yep, different strokes..... Kent would work tirelessly to get to a spot to receive the ball, but without using contact to do so, that would provide him a lane to the goal or the opportunity to pull up and take a good short-range jumper (gone from today's game). He would defend in a manner to try and avoid every foul, not manage his 5 fouls. Less risk was key in his decision processes on both ends. Avoiding misses on one end, fouls on the other. Maximized the physical tools he brought to the game. Other 6'4" guys had different games.
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He didn't average 35 or 36 ppg by playing offense in a manner to avoid missing shots. He aggressively created opportunities and made shots. My recollection is that he was a strong defender. Whatever, we both believe he was great. As an aside, I was in the stands at Holston when he matched up with Jimmy England. Actually, I don't remember much about that particular game. Holston probably won. As the teams took the court for warmups, a college scout took a seat near me and asked if I knew which player was Kent. I told him Mike Penland's number and he started making notes. I made it a point to change seats before the game started.
 
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#364
#364
SuzyVol said:
He didn't average 35 or 36 ppg by playing offense in a manner to avoid missing shots. He aggressively created opportunities and made shots. My recollection is that he was a strong defender. Whatever, we both believe he was great. As an aside, I was in the stands at Holston when he matched up with Jimmy England. Actually, I don't remember much about that particular game. Holston probably won. As the teams took the court for warmups, a college scout took a seat near me and asked if I knew which player was Kent. I told him Mike Penland's number and he started making notes. I made it a point to change seats before the game started.
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never saw any of Bearden's game with Holston, I probably saw mpre of Gary England's games while reporting in Huntsville Was at school in NC while Kent played for Wildcats
 
#366
#366
Vol_sanity said:
Andy Kelly and Shazzon Bradley, I was a freshman so I saw some great games. Best player I actually shared the field with in a meaningful game was Shawn Summers
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I was a freshman that got to play against both those guys. When i was younger a friend of mine's older brother played against some kid name Reggie White, he played for Howard High School out of Chattanooga
 
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#370
#370
Football- Reggie Grimes. Went to Bama from my high school. Cup of coffee in the NFL, but he was a beast in highschool...

Bonus: I played against RA Dickey in high school. We lost.
 
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#371
#371
Phil Clabo who was a giant at our HS whose Dad was HBC and he went on to play at UT. And Craig Colquitt. But I remember Craig best as an opposing pitcher in 13-14 yr old baseball. He had a no-hitter going against our crummy team into the 6th when I stroked a grounder into right field. The high point of my career as an athlete.
 
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#373
#373
Orangepantsforever said:
Played against John Henderson in high school. He was good, but Pearl Cohn was full of college talent. He’s 6’-8”, so he couldn’t help but stick out.
Played head up against John Finlayson. He was a standout size and talent from our small area.
Best player I ever saw play personally in high school was a guy named Robbie Locklear. Went to Memphis for a couple of years, but I don’t think he had his head on quite right back then and didn’t last. He was the most talented guy on the field every Friday night in ‘93-‘94.
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Well give a compliment then throw some shade! Did you know Robby personally? Did you ever speak to him while he was at Memphis? I’m jus curious. I mean if you can’t spell his name right, I very seriously doubt you knew him personally. Maybe he had an injury, maybe he was lied to from coaches, maybe he got burnt out!
 
#374
#374
Brandon Stewart
Jevan Sneed
Kevin Kolb
Kendall briles
Adrian petersen
Greg McElroy
Quinn Ewers

Moved to Florida
Derrick Henry
Tebow
Brian maurer
 
#375
#375
WestTnVol28 said:
Well give a compliment then throw some shade! Did you know Robby personally? Did you ever speak to him while he was at Memphis? I’m jus curious. I mean if you can’t spell his name right, I very seriously doubt you knew him personally. Maybe he had an injury, maybe he was lied to from coaches, maybe he got burnt out!
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I do know him. Didn’t mean to throw shade. Sorry. That’s just what I heard some people closer to him than me say. I played with him and always liked him. I was younger than him and he always treated me well. Didn’t mean to offend anyone. I rooted heavily for him and hated to see his time cut short at Memphis for whatever reason. Didn’t mean to offend anyone in any way. I thought my statement was fairly innocuous, but my apologies.
And sorry about misspelling his name. I have a name that people often misspell and mispronounce. I don’t like that either.
 
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