Best high school hoops players of past 35 years

Just because the lists on this page highlight basketball, that doesn't mean a curveball can't be thrown.

All together, I have covered city high school hoops for 37 seasons, two at the long-gone Bulletin and 35 at the good, ol' Daily News.

Thirty-five. Sounds like a good number, right?

With the idea of focusing solely on the DN era, I have deleted the stars from the 1976 and '77 seasons, some of whom were very prominent on previous lists, and fashioned 35-year teams that include only players from the '78 through 2012 seasons.

As always when doing such projects, and while acknowledging that such discipline is difficult to achieve, I have tried to make decisions strictly based on what players accomplished in high school.

That means holdovers from previous lists have not switched positions. Of course, some guys have moved down (or disappeared) to make way for more recent studs.

Since the last time these kinds of lists were published, in 2005 (those did include the Bulletin years), three guys are out of the Top 10 because they haven't played in the last 35 years - West Philadelphia's Gene Banks (No. 1), West Catholic's Michael Brooks (No. 5) and Overbrook's Lewis Lloyd (No. 9). Sorry, guys. Don't curse me out all at once.

The new kingpin is Gratz' Rasheed Wallace. The fantastic Episcopal Academy tandem of '06 grads Wayne Ellington and Gerald Henderson can be found at Nos. 6-7 and Roman Catholic's Lonnie McFarlan has been promoted from No. 11 to 10.

This time, you can also find lists of each school's top five players over the 35 seasons.

In the Public League, 24 schools are included. Twenty-one go back all the way to '78 while three others that have been particularly successful during the 35-year period. Top-shelf guys are included on two extra lists - Other Regular Schools and Charter Schools.

One thing to remember, and to emphasize one last time: These lists cover 35 seasons. Many great players won't be on them.

Thank you for paying attention, whether it has been for all 35 DN years or barely one.

Thumbnail sketches of the Golden Five . . .

RASHEED WALLACE, Simon Gratz, 6-10, 1993: Incredibly athletic for his size; even ran track. Regarded as the best tall prospect to come out of Philadelphia since Wilt Chamberlain (Overbrook '55). Led Bulldogs to three Public League championships in 4 years ('90, '91, '93) and a 110-9 overall record. Three times made first-team All-City. Accumulated 1,690 career points, 1,573 rebounds and 661 blocks. Made second-team All-America in second and final season at North Carolina. Played 15 NBA seasons and won a title with Detroit in '04.

EDDIE GRIFFIN, Roman Catholic, 6-9, 2000: Smooth and talented. Parade magazine was one of numerous media outlets to name him the national player of the year in 2000. Like Wallace, he was twice the Daily News' City Player of the Year. Spurred the Cahillites to the '00 Catholic League title while averaging 25.4 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks. Scored 1,656 career points. Was named national freshman of the year at Seton Hall, then entered the NBA. Progress was sidetracked by personal problems. Died in August 2007 of injuries suffered in an automobile accident.

LIONEL SIMMONS, Southern, 6-6, 1986: Talented, heady and unselfish with the heart of a lion. Led Rams to Public League title in '86. Made second-team All-City as a junior. Made first team as a senior when he averaged 32.8 points and 17.5 rebounds. Scored 1,539 career points (game high of 56). Consensus national college player of the year in 1990 at La Salle, where he scored 3,217 career points. His NBA career was limited to seven seasons by knee miseries.

JEROME "POOH" RICHARDSON, Ben Franklin, 6-1, 1985: Quintessential point guard. Almost always made the correct decision and competed like crazy. Franklin went 66-6 in his 3 years as a starter and won the Public League title in '84. Averaged 17 points and 11 assists as a senior, 15 and nine for his career. Twice made first-team All-City and was the Player of the Year in '85. Starred at UCLA. Played 10 NBA seasons.

MAUREECE RICE, Strawberry Mansion, 6-0, 2003: "The Scorelord" dislodged '55 Overbrook grad Wilt Chamberlain (2,206) as the leading point producer in city history (2,681) and thrice led the Public League in points per game. Starter for Pub champs in '00 and '02. As a senior, he averaged 29.1 points, five rebounds, four assists and 3.3 steals. Co-Player of the Year as a senior. Also a first-teamer in '02 and a second-teamer in '01. Played his college ball at George Washington. Has continued his career in minor league ball.

ALL-CITY TEAMS

Key: *-transferred after junior year

#-transferred after sophomore year

+-one season remaining

GOLDEN FIRST FIVE

C Rasheed Wallace, Simon Gratz, 6-10, 1993

C Eddie Griffin, Roman Catholic, 6-9, 2000

F Lionel Simmons, Southern, 6-6, 1986

G Jerome "Pooh" Richardson, Ben Franklin, 6-1, 1985

G Maureece Rice, Strawberry Mansion, 6-0, 2003

OTHER FIRST-TEAMERS

G Donnie Carr, Roman Catholic, 6-4, 1996

G Wayne Ellington, Episcopal Academy , 6-4, 2006

F Gerald Henderson, Episcopal Academy , 6-5, 2006

F Clarence "Eggy" Tillman, West Phila., 6-7, 1978

F Lonnie McFarlan, Roman Catholic, 6-5, 1980

SECOND TEAM

G Reggie Jackson, Roman Catholic, 6-4, 1978

G Lynn Greer, Engineering & Science, 6-1, 1997

C Dallas Comegys, Roman Catholic, 6-9, 1983

C Rodney Blake, Monsignor Bonner, 6-8, 1984

C Rico Washington, Ben Franklin, 6-5, 1983

C *Brian Shorter, Simon Gratz, 6-7, 1986

F Greg "Bo" Kimble, Murrell Dobbins, 6-4, 1985

C Eric "Hank" Gathers, Murrell Dobbins, 6-6, 1985

F Rasual Butler, Roman Catholic, 6-8, 1998

G Horace "Pappy" Owens, Murrell Dobbins, 6-4, 1979

THIRD TEAM

C Jason Lawson, Olney, 6-10, 1993

G Alvin Williams, Germantgown Academy, 6-4, 1993

G Sean Singletary, Penn Charter, 6-0, 2004

G Maalik Wayns, Roman Catholic, 6-0, 2009

G Chip Greenberg, La Salle, 6-3, 1982

G Maurice "Doo-Wop" Watson, Boys' Latin, 5-9, 2012

G Martin Ingelsby, Archbishop Carroll, 6-0, 1997

C Tony Costner, Overbrook, 6-10, 1980

C Tyrone Weeks, Franklin Learning Center, 6-6, 1993

G Kareem "Rab" Townes, Southern, 6-3, 1991

--

ALL-PUBLIC TEAM

FIRST TEAM

C Rasheed Wallace, Gratz, 6-10, 1993

F Lionel Simmons, Southern, 6-6, 1986

G Jerome "Pooh" Richardson, Franklin , 6-1, 1985

G Maureece Rice, Mansion, 6-0, 2003

F Clarence "Eggy" Tillman, West, 6-7, 1978

G Lynn Greer, Engineering & Science, 6-1, 1997

C Rico Washington, Franklin, 6-5, 1983

C *Brian Shorter, Gratz, 6-7, 1986

F Greg "Bo" Kimble, Dobbins, 6-4, 1985

C Eric "Hank" Gathers, Dobbins, 6-6, 1985

SECOND TEAM

G Horace "Pappy" Owens, Dobbins, 6-4, 1979

C Jason Lawson, Olney, 6-10, 1993

G Maurice "Doo-Wop" Watson, Boys' Latin, 5-9, 2012

C Tony Costner, Overbrook, 6-10, 1980

C Tyrone Weeks, Franklin Learning Center, 6-6, 1993

G Kareem "Rab" Townes, Southern, 6-3, 1991

F Faron "Meatball" Hand, Franklin Learning Center, 6-6, 1992

G Aaron McKie, Gratz, 6-4, 1990

G Tyrone Garland, Bartram , 6-1, 2010

F Omar Thomas, Mansion, 6-5, 2000

THIRD TEAM

G Howard Evans, West, 6-1, 1984

G Michael Anderson, Engineering & Science, 6-0, 1984

C *Carlin Warley, Frankford, 6-7, 1989

F Paul "Snoop" Graham, Franklin, 6-6, 1985

G Doug Overton, Dobbins, 6-3, 1987

G Randy Woods, Franklin, 5-11, 1988

G Anthony Chennault, Frankford, 6-3, 1981

G Rasheed Brokenborough, University City, 6-4, 1995

C Jerrell Wright, Dobbins, 6-8, 2011

C Savon Goodman, Constitution, 6-7, 2012

CATHOLIC LEAGUE

FIRST TEAM

C Eddie Griffin, Roman, 6-9, 2000

G Donnie Carr, Roman, 6-4, 1996

F Lonnie McFarlan, Roman, 6-5, 1980

G Reggie Jackson, Roman, 6-4, 1978

C Dallas Comegys, Roman, 6-9, 1983

C Rodney Blake, Bonner, 6-8, 1984

F Rasual Butler, Roman, 6-8, 1998

G Maalik Wayns, Roman, 6-0, 2009

C Rick Jackson, Neumann-Goretti, 6-9, 2007

G Chip Greenberg, La Salle, 6-3, 1982

SECOND TEAM

G Martin Ingelsby, Carroll, 6-0, 1997

F Mark Stevenson, Roman, 6-5, 1985

F Steve Benton, Neumann, 6-4, 1985

G Tony Chennault, Neumann-Goretti, 6-3, 2010

F Bernard Jones, Roman, 6-5, 1991

G Marty Campbell, Neumann, 6-4, 1980

C Marc Jackson, Roman, 6-10, 1993

F Mark Zoller, SJ Prep, 6-5, 2003

C Lari Ketner, Roman, 6-10, 1995

G Kyle Lowry, Dougherty, 6-0, 2004

INTER-AC LEAGUE

FIRST TEAM

G Wayne Ellington, Episcopal , 6-4, 2006

F Gerald Henderson, Episcopal , 6-5, 2006

G Alvin Williams, Germantown Academy , 6-4, 1993

G Sean Singletary, Penn Charter, 6-0, 2004

F Matt Walsh, Germantown Academy , 6-6, 2002

G Eugene Burroughs, Episcopal , 6-0, 1990

G Brian Grandieri, Malvern, 6-4, 2004

G Mike Edelman, Haverford School, 6-2, 1978

G Gary Duda, Malvern, 6-0, 1988

C Steve Goodrich, Penn Charter, 6-9, 1994

--

THE BEST, BY SCHOOL

PUBLIC LEAGUE

BARTRAM

Tyrone Garland '10

Jason Cain '03

Richard Francis '02

Reggie Isaac '86

Ed Wallace '78

BOK

Kevin Beaford '79

Fred Warrick '94

Sharif Brown '97

Frank Bagley '81

Willie Bright '92

CENTRAL

Craig Wise '91

Scott Rodgers '05

Gary Bennett '82

Calvin Dixon '79

Jonathan Jones '85

DOBBINS

Greg "Bo" Kimble '85

Eric "Hank" Gathers '85

Horace "Pappy" Owens '79

Doug Overton '87

Jerrell Wright '11

EDISON

Anthony Robinson '83

Joe Jefferson '87

Steve Martin '05

James "Slurp" Gambrell '80

Omar Logan '96

ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE

Lynn Greer '97

Michael Anderson '84

John Cox '99

Will Chavis '98

Marcus Brown '09

FRANKFORD

*Carlin Warley '89

Anthony Chennault '81

Petrick Sanders '96

Kevin "Cat" Compton '80

Arthur "Yah" Davis '96

FRANKLIN

Jerome "Pooh" Richardson '85

Rico Washington '83

Paul "Snoop" Graham '85

Randy Woods '88

Vic Alexander '81

FRANKLIN LEARNING CENTER

Tyrone Weeks '93

Faron "Meatball" Hand '92

Rasiheed "Noot" Arnold '94

Denzel Yard '09

Michael Robinson '94

GERMANTOWN

Ernest "Pop" Lewis '83

Gerald Johnson '78

Andrew Marshall '83

Dan "Money" Rumph '76

Marcus Owens '84

GRATZ

Rasheed Wallace '93

*Brian Shorter '86

Aaron McKie '90

Rondell Turner '98

Marvin O'Connor '97

KING

Dawan Robinson '00

Wayne Marshall '03

Greg Jacobs '83

Roland Houston '78

Malik Moore '96

LINCOLN

Rick Dennis '79

Craig McCollum '80

Sam Brown '97

Garry Mills '01

Wykeen Kelly '98

MASTBAUM

Timmy Brown '82

Kevin Benton '90

Darren Keith '82

Warren Hawthorne '85

Ray Thompson '78

NORTHEAST

Willie Oliphant '80

Randy Dukes '99

Antoine Brockington '93

Steve Smith '01

Chris Blocker '83

OLNEY

Jason Lawson '93

Ronald Barnett '82

Jesse "Booge" Morgan '09

Brian Graves '88

Anthony "T-Bone" McFadden '83

OVERBROOK

Tony Costner '80

Ricky Tucker '79

Malik Rose '92

*Nurideen Lindsey '08

Na'im Crenshaw '97

PENN

Henry Jackson '85

Anthony "Hubba Bubba" King '82

Greg Dixon '79

Jerome Brisbon '83

Adam Brown '98

ROXBOROUGH

Dahliek Powell '02

Marcus Washington '82

Clayton Brothers '08

Sean Lloyd '86

Bernard Allen '78

SOUTHERN

Lionel Simmons '86

Kareem "Rab" Townes '91

Nate Blackwell '83

Ramone Moore '07

Kevin Broadnax '78

STRAWBERRY MANSION

Maureece Rice '03

Omar Thomas '00

Kevin "Buzzy" Forney '98

Devonte' "DJay" Newbill '10

Dwayne Davis '08

UNIVERSITY CITY

Rasheed Brokenborough '95

Vincent "Butter" Smalls '86

James Glass '87

Kenny Moore '07

Marcus Rosser '99

WASHINGTON

Max Blank '84

Ellis McKennie '86

Corry Appline '89

Harold Mobley '87

Dominique Curry '05

WEST PHILADELPHIA

Clarence "Eggy" Tillman '78

Howard Evans '84

Mik Kilgore '88

Henry Smith '84

Kevin "Rock" McCray '79

OTHER REGULAR SCHOOLS

Andrew "Scootie" Randall, Comm. Tech '08

Dionte Christmas, Fels '04

Savon Goodman, Constitution '12

Abdul Taylor, Audenried '96

Troy Daniel, Lamberton '84

CHARTER SCHOOLS

Maurice "Doo-Wop" Watson, Boys' Latin '12

Rodney Green, Prep Charter '06

Marcus Morris, Prep Charter '07

Markieff Morris, Prep Charter '07

Ameen Tanksley, Imhotep '11

CATHOLIC LEAGUE

BONNER

Rodney Blake '84

Brian Daly '88

Jeff Jones '07

Ivan "Pick" Brown '86

Walt Fuller '82

CARROLL

Martin Ingelsby '97

Rafal Bigus '95

Barry Bekkedam '86

Juan'ya Green '11

DJ Irving '10

CONWELL-EGAN

Joe McEwing '90

Jamal Nwaniemeka '12

Mike Stock '86

Ike Robinson '10

John Jekot '86

DOUGHERTY

Kyle Lowry '04

Cuttino "Cat" Mobley '92

Chris Williams '89

DeSean White '04

*Shane Clark '04

JUDGE

Mike McIntyre '79

John Luciano '81

Jim Reeves '98

Sean Tait '95

Mike Cummiskey '85

KENRICK/KENNEDY-KENRICK

Brian Leahy '84

Jim Bolger '81

Dave Duda '84

Amarildo Matos '04

Pat Beacham '91

LA SALLE

Chip Greenberg '82

Craig Conlin '85

Eddie Mitchell '11

Joe Meade '97

Chris O'Brien '81

McDEVITT

John O'Connell '88

Aaron Ervin '89

Eric Ervin '84

Ryan Presson '97

Wayne Bishop '00

NEUMANN/NEUMANN-GORETTI

Rick Jackson '07

Steve Benton '85

Tony Chennault '10

Marty Campbell '80

Tyreek Duren '10

NORTH CATHOLIC

Jim Schultice '88

Joe Harvey '93

Lenny Young '10

Velton Jones '10

Matt Comey '93

O'HARA

Eddie Malloy '89

Jeff Randazzo '99

#Adonal Foyle '92

Alex Sazonov '98

Bill Mitchell '80

ROMAN

Eddie Griffin '00

Donnie Carr '96

Lonnie McFarlan '80

Reggie Jackson '78

Dallas Comegys '83

RYAN

Chris Mooney '90

Steve Senko '79

Joe Zeglinski '06

Andrew Rogers '08

Ed Mostak '80

ST. JOE'S PREP

Mark Zoller '03

Reggie Redding '06

+Stephen Vasturia '13

Chris Clark '04

Vince Curran '87

WEST

John Rankin '85

Monroe Blakes '88

Angelo Reynolds '78

John Ashmore '98

Marshall Taylor '04

WOOD

Joe Getz '11

Mike Spadafora '02

Matt Spadafora '05

Tim Whalen '99

Tom Martin '86

INTER-AC LEAGUE

CHESTNUT HILL/SCH

Paul Burke '91

Tim Whitworth '99

Mike Gizzi '94

Mark Burke '86

Tom Whitworth '98

EPISCOPAL

Wayne Ellington '06

Gerald Henderson '06

Eugene Burroughs '90

Jerome Allen '91

Charles Hickman '81

GERMANTOWN ACADEMY

Alvin Williams '93

Matt Walsh '02

Ryan Ayers '05

Lee Melchionni '02

Chris Krug '98

HAVERFORD SCHOOL

Mike Edelman '78

Doug Fairfax '99

Charlie Miller '78

Dy Cameron '96

Damien Blair '91

MALVERN

Brian Grandieri '04

Gary Duda '88

Brendan Kilpatrick '12

Jim Rullo '89

Gordy Bryan '78

PENN CHARTER

Sean Singletary '04

Steve Goodrich '94

Rob Kurz '04

Sammy Zeglinski '07

Tim Krug '92

Contact Ted Silary at silaryt@phillynews.com.