Best Player Played Against

[BigMac]

5 hours ago, Blake Munroe said:

Morton is the head coach of Eastland HS, fyi. Been there a long time. 

Yeah I an aware.  I've coached against him in a scrimmage.  The result was quite different than back in the day.

[Forrest Eldridge]

13 hours ago, goattalk100 said:

Dez in 7on7 seems a tad unfair lol.

It felt that way. lol 

[MarkInAustin]

In the Summer of 1960 I was an almost 17 YO recent HS grad in NJ, destined to go off to Rice on academic scholarship in the fall.  I was then 6-2, 172#, and the best guys I ever played against were not in baseball in HS but at night in pick up basketball at the gym in Demarest School.  You may never have heard of these guys but they were all pro athletes at some point, a couple were stars.  

Gary Cuozzo, later Fran Tarkenton's backup QB at Minnesota; Willie Naulls then of the Knicks who would only do shoot arounds; Wally Lamb, later a Giants LB [practice squad, not starter, Jersey guy who went to Purdue]; Dick Lynch, starting CB for the Giants [scored the TD for ND that broke OU's 47 game win streak], and Sherman White, former All American wing barred from the NBA by a college gambling scandal. 

I never had to directly guard any of them except Lamb.  Once, I had White blow by me in the air [on a switch] for a dunk.  I was up as high as I could get, figure my hand just a bit above the rim;  White tucked his legs as he flew by and I swear his red shoelaces went by my nose. 

But my worst experience repeated.  Lynch would slide over and just take the ball away from me.  Every time. I had to get rid of the ball before he got to me. Dick told me that his reaction time had been tested as twice as fast as that of a normal human, and that it allowed him to play corner against guys who were a half-step faster.  He could break on a pass as fast as the WR and his hands were faster than anyone's. On the basketball court you just could not see his hands coming.

I think he led the league in interceptions while I was in college.

 

[Alex Butler]

Houston Street was the last pitcher I faced my sr year in HS. He was a junior, claim to fame: hit a double to right center off him. 

[CJ Vogel]

Just now, Alex Butler said:

Houston Street was the last pitcher I faced my sr year in HS. He was a junior, claim to fame: hit a double to right center off him. 

That's a fun story to tell

[Alex Butler]

Just now, CJ Vogel said:

That's a fun story to tell

For sure!! 2-1 slider! I’m sure he remembers it as clearly as I do haha. Also played against Kelly Johnson multiple times. 

[Adam Lane]

On 6/20/2024 at 5:10 PM, NothinButDaHorns34 said:

I remember i had a match up set to play on the defensive line against matt nader at westlake before he had his unfortunate cardiac arrest on the sideline. Crazy that matt went onto work in the medical field and in particular a heart hospital where he still has his defibrillator and lives the jobs he works. 

Wow!

[TylerHornFan]

Patrick Mahomes in middle school BASKETBALL. 

[southpaw]

On 6/23/2024 at 8:00 AM, Jack Lala said:

Bit older than most of you. For me it was a running back John Harvey who DKR said was the best athlete he ever saw. And DKR coached a few good ones as I recall. 

John Harvey who went to Tyler JC and UT Arlington and played in the CFL and WFL?  He passed away less than a month ago, on May 30.  RIP.

[southpaw]

Best played against:  Terry Tausch

Best played on same team with:  Bruce Scholtz

[Jack Lala]

6 hours ago, southpaw said:

John Harvey who went to Tyler JC and UT Arlington and played in the CFL and WFL?  He passed away less than a month ago, on May 30.  RIP.

That's John. I was at Tyler when he was there. I used to drive him back and forth to Austin. Really good guy. Amazing athlete.

[MarkInAustin]

2 hours ago, Jack Lala said:

That's John. I was at Tyler when he was there. I used to drive him back and forth to Austin. Really good guy. Amazing athlete.

John Harvey story reminds me of the last [old] Anderson HS athlete, Billy Brooks.  By 1968 I was Travis County's Juvenile Court Prosecutor.  I and the male probation officers would go  to Doris Miller Auditorium on Thursday nights to play pick up basketball with Julius Gordon's probationers.  Gordon had played ball at Prairie View and back in the day he supervised the black probationers.  He would have a group of them come to Doris Miller on Thursday nights and mainly sit in the bleachers where we would take turns helping them with their homework or listening to their problems.  Like everyone else, we and Gordon's kids would rotate into games.  

I never played against Billy Brooks, but I played on the same five with him in a game to eleven [does that count?]. He was not a probationer, but he was the best young three sport athlete in Austin, and the local star at Doris Miller.  He moved from [old] Anderson to the now defunct Johnston HS, where he finished up.  Brooks, at 15, was then about 6-1 and a chiseled 185# or so.  As an OU All American and NFL All Pro wide receiver he was fully grown and bigger, and while a couple of us wanted him to go to Texas and told him so, he was pretty sure he wouldn't.

Six years later he beat Texas for OU on a long end around run.  He won a Natty for OU [maybe two?].  I wished we could have convinced him to come to Texas.  DKR was about to take his first black player in 1968, but Brooks knew that he could go anywhere if he left home, and not have to be a pioneer.  Still, by the time Brooks beat us with that end around Texas had some damned good black ball players on the roster [Campbell, Leaks, Clayborn...].

He was a likable and smart kid at 15 and I watched his career blossom with interest.  

 

[Jack Lala]

33 minutes ago, MarkInAustin said:

John Harvey story reminds me of the last [old] Anderson HS athlete, Billy Brooks.  By 1968 I was Travis County's Juvenile Court Prosecutor.  I and the male probation officers would go  to Doris Miller Auditorium on Thursday nights to play pick up basketball with Julius Gordon's probationers.  Gordon had played ball at Prairie View and back in the day he supervised the black probationers.  He would have a group of them come to Doris Miller on Thursday nights and mainly sit in the bleachers where we would take turns helping them with their homework or listening to their problems.  Like everyone else, we and Gordon's kids would rotate into games.  

I never played against Billy Brooks, but I played on the same five with him in a game to eleven [does that count?]. He was not a probationer, but he was the best young three sport athlete in Austin, and the local star at Doris Miller.  He moved from [old] Anderson to the now defunct Johnston HS, where he finished up.  Brooks, at 15, was then about 6-1 and a chiseled 185# or so.  As an OU All American and NFL All Pro wide receiver he was fully grown and bigger, and while a couple of us wanted him to go to Texas and told him so, he was pretty sure he wouldn't.

Six years later he beat Texas for OU on a long end around run.  He won a Natty for OU [maybe two?].  I wished we could have convinced him to come to Texas.  DKR was about to take his first black player in 1968, but Brooks knew that he could go anywhere if he left home, and not have to be a pioneer.  Still, by the time Brooks beat us with that end around Texas had some damned good black ball players on the roster [Campbell, Leaks, Clayborn...].

He was a likable and smart kid at 15 and I watched his career blossom with interest.  

 

Great memories,  and I thank you for helping those kids. DKR wanted John to come to Texas but he couldn't qualify academically. He also wanted Don Baylor, but Don signed to play pro baseball as you might remember. Brooks was an awesome athlete.

[whereiend]

Grew up playing basketball against AJ Abrams and he completely dominated everyone. Seeing him be good, but a role player all the way at the college level helped me understand just how insanely good these players are.

Edited June 27, 2024 by whereiend

[harveycmd]

I never played against any great players, including me. I dunked and thought I was good, but truth is we all sucked.