All throughout my 38-year career of covering sports in the St. Louis metro area, the one question that I am probably asked more than any other is who are the best basketball players to come out of the area.
For our special 95th Anniversary issue, I am going to do something a little different. Here is a group of some of the area’s best players as listed by height.
5’7” – Daryl “Pee Wee” Lenard (Central ’81): The dynamic point guard orchestrated Central’s high scoring offense that scored more than 100 points a game. He played collegiate basketball at Georgia and Saint Louis U.
5’7” – Niele Ivey (Cor Jesu ’96): The prep All-American led the Chargers to the Class 4A state championship in 1995. She helped lead Notre Dame to the NCAA national championship in 2000.
5’8” – Joel Shelton (Vashon ’00): The outstanding guard was a four-year standout for the Wolverines. He led Vashon to the Class 4A state championship in 2000. He also had his number retired at Vashon.
5’10” – Jackie Joyner-Kersee (East St. Louis Lincoln ’80) – The Greatest Woman Athlete was a star basketball player at Lincoln, where she led the Tigerettes to the IHSA Class AA state championship in 1979. Although she was known for her track brilliance, she attended UCLA on a basketball scholarship.
5’11” – Grayling Tobias (McCluer ’75) – An outstanding point guard who led the Comets to back to back state championships in 1974 and 1975. He was also an outstanding baseball player who was drafted by the Montreal Expos.
6’0” – Marshall Rogers (Sumner ’71) – A former Public High League standout who was an ace sixth man of the Bulldogs’ state championship team in 1969. He led the NCAA in scoring at 36 points a game at Pan-American University in 1975.
6’1” – Napheesa Collier (Incarnate Word ’14): A McDonald’s All-American who led IWA to three consecutive state championships. She was a star collegiate player at UConn and currently plays for the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA.
6’2” – Kristin Folkl (St. Joseph’s ’94); A star two-sport athlete who led the Angels to four consecutive state championships in basketball and volleyball. She also helped lead Stanford to the NCAA Final Four in both sports as well.
6’3” – JoJo White (McKinley ’65): A former star player in the Public High League who was an All-American at Kansas, a gold medalist in the 1968 Olympics and a Hall of Fame guard for the Boston Celtics in the NBA.
Tina Hutchinson (East St. Louis Lincoln ’83) – An incredible talent who scored more than 3,000 points in her high school career. She was the USA Today National Player of the Year in 1983.
6’4” – Bradley Beal (Chaminade ’11): A McDonald’s All-American who led the Red Devils to a state championship in 2009. After playing one year at Florida, he has been a star player for the Washington Wizards for the past 11 seasons. He is on the verge of becoming the franchise’s all-time leading scorer.
6’5” – Larry Hughes (CBC ’98) – The McDonald’s All-American led the Cadets to the Class 4A state championship in 1997. He was National Freshman of the Year at Saint Louis U. in 1998. He went on to have a 13-year career in the NBA.
6’6” – Cuonzo Martin (East St. Louis Lincoln ’90) – The former Lincoln star helped lead the Tigers to back to back IHSA Class AA state titles in 1988 and ’89. He helped lead Purdue to three consecutive Big 10 Conference championships.
6’7” – Anthony Bonner (Vashon ’86) – The standout forward led the Wolverines to the Class 4A state championship. He went on to have a great career at Saint Louis U. where he is still the school’s career leader in scoring and steals. He went on to have a seven-year career in the NBA.
6’7” – David Thirdkill (Soldan ’78) – A former PHL standout who went on to lead Bradley to the championship of the NIT and also a berth in the NCAA Tournament. He was a first-round draft choice by the Phoenix Suns in 1982. He was a member of the Boston Celtics’ NBA world championship team in 1986.
6’8” – Jayson Tatum (Chaminade ’16) – A McDonald’s All-American who led the Red Devils to the Class 5 state championship in 2016. After one year at Duke, he is now one of the top players in the NBA with the Boston Celtics as well as being an Olympic gold medalist.
6’9” – LaPhonso Ellis (Lincoln ’88), Darius Miles (East St. Louis ’00) – This pair of East Side greats were both McDonald’s All-Americans. Ellis led the Tigers to back-to-back state championships in 1987 and 1988. After a great career at Notre Dame, he went on to play for the Denver Nuggets in the NBA. Miles was a dominant player at East Side for two Final Four teams. He was drafted No. 3 out of high school by the Los Angeles Clippers.
6’10 – Rick Suttle (Assumption) – A former metro east standout who went on to have an excellent collegiate career at Kansas, where he helped the Jayhawks reach the NCAA Final Four in 1974. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA and San Antonio Spurs of the ABA.
6’11” – Steve Stipanovich (DeSmet ’79) – The star center was a McDonald’s All-American after leading the Spartans to back to back state championships. He led Missouri to four consecutive Big 8 championships. He played for the Indiana Pacers in the NBA.
7’0” – David Brent (Sumner ’70) – The talented big man was the center of Sumner’s Class L state championship team in 1969 that was one of the best high school teams ever assembled.
7’1” – Loren Woods (Cardinal Ritter ’96) – The talented big man was a McDonald’s All-American who led the Lions to back to back Class 2 state championships in ’95 and ’96. He helped lead Arizona to a berth in the NCAA national championship game in 2000.
See the entire St. Louis American’s 95th Anniversary Special section.
