The 50 Greatest High School Point Guards of All Time: A Tribute to Legends

From LeBron to Magic, Kenny Anderson to Aquille Carr, we spotlight the most electrifying and impactful point guards to ever grace the high school hardwood

LeBron James (center) was already a household name as a high school basketball player at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio. / Phil Masturzo / USA TODAY NETWORK

Ranking the best high school boys basketball point guards of all-time, in order, would be an impossible task. Unless you were able to secure a time machine and actually see these guys and their teams matching up with one another, assigning them a definitive rank would be insincere.

But putting together a list of the greatest floor generals ever on the prep level is more manageable. 

Qualifications to land on this list have absolutely nothing to do with a player’s college or pro accolades, it’s strictly limited to the skills, electricity, talent, achievements, impact and accomplishments running the point in high school.

Unfortunately, when compiling lists like this, a deserving candidate is always going to be left out and somebody’s feelings are going to get hurt. It happens. Get over it. With that being said, let’s get to it. 

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50 Greatest High School Point Guards of All Time

Jason Kidd, St. Joseph Notre Dame High School, Alameda, California 

Kidd, a two-time winner of the California Player of the Year Award, led his squad to back-to-back state championships and was the ultimate stat sheet stuffer while averaging 25 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and seven steals per game as a senior. 

The powerful 6-foot-5 point guard had remarkable strength in his soft hands to go with his x-ray vision and preternatural passing ability. Those quick hands stripped many opposing point guards and his intangibles were simply immeasurable. 

Jason Kidd, now the head coach of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, was a two-time California Player of the Year in the high school, where he won two straight state titles at St. Joseph Notre Dame High School. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

A smaller, more athletic version of the great Magic Johnson with a comparable 

off-the-charts hoops IQ, Kidd impacted the game in ways that a stat sheet could never fully measure.

He’s the all-time prep leader with 1,155 assists and California’s seventh-highest career scorer ever with 2,661 points.

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Kenny Anderson, Archbishop Molloy High School, Queens, New York

There are only two players in the history of high school basketball who were named a First Team Parade Magazine All-American four times. One is the great Lew Alcindor, the Harlem native later known as Kareem Abdul Jabbar. The other is Kenny Anderson. 

His Hall of Fame coach Jack Curran didn’t believe in starting freshman, so as a ninth grader, Anderson entered every game at the start of the second quarter. Despite that, he went on to become New York State’s all-time leading scorer at the time with 2,621 points. 

Kenny Anderson is one of only two high school basketball players to ever be named a First-Team Parade All-American four times. Lew Alcindor (aka Kareem Abdul Jabbar) was the other. / Kenny Anderson

Kenny was a certified legend in New York City by the time he was 10. His first college recruiting mail started arriving at his LeFrak City apartment when he was in the sixth grade. As a senior at Archbishop Molloy, he averaged 35 points per game and was the Big Apple’s most prized recruit since the aforementioned Big Lew.

“In my eight years as a coach and four as a player he is far and away the best player I've ever seen in high school,” John Sarandrea, a University of Pittsburgh assistant coach once told the Associated Press. “He isn't outstanding in just one area; he is the best in all of those areas...That's why people say he is the best player to come out of New York City since Kareem.” 

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Curtis Jones, Northwestern High School, Detroit, Michigan

Ask any hoops historian from the Motor City and they’ll break it down for you. When I once interviewed George “The Iceman” Gervin, a Detroit native and one of the most remarkable talents the game has ever produced, he told me the 6-foot Jones was the greatest player he’d ever seen. 

“He was every bit the player that Isiah Thomas was as a point guard,” Gervin told me. 

Legendary Pershing High School coach Will Robinson, whose monster 1967 team that featured Spencer Haywood took their only loss that year behind Jones’ brilliant play, once told the Detroit News, “Curtis wasn’t just a good basketball player – he defined that position of lead guard; I never saw another kid in his class. Not only could he have played in the pros, he’d have been outstanding. Curtis had that type of talent.” 

Jones unfortunately succumbed to mental illness, addiction and homelessness and thus the world was never blessed to experience his incandescence.

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Earl “The Goat” Manigault, Benjamin Franklin High School, New York, New York

Don Cheadle is a remarkable actor, but whoever cast his non-basketball playing self to play the lead role in Rebound: The Legend of Earl “The Goat” Manigault  needs to be slapped like Jake did Evelyn Mulwray in Chinatown.

Kareem Abdul Jabbar once called Manigault, “The best basketball player in the history of New York City. At the time there weren’t a whole lot of people who could do things with the basketball that Earl Manigault could do.  He was so agile, so quick.  He used to make so many innovative moves to the hoop.  Basketball was his total means of expression. He reminded me a lot of David Thompson. He could really explode above the rim.”

Earl "The Goat" Manigault at the "Happy Warrior Playground" also known as "Goat Park" where he reigned on Amsterdam Avenue and West 99th Street in Manhattan New York City. / Charlie Samuels

Known for his ability to get buckets and his Space Jam-type leaping ability, “The Goat” averaged 24 points and 11 rebounds per game during his tenure at Ben Franklin. 

He played his senior year at Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina where he averaged 31 points and 13 boards. But, unfortunately like the aforementioned Curtis Jones from Detroit, he was among the greatest to never make it due to a debilitating heroin addiction. 

But his legacy remains intact. “Back then, I had a gift that no one else had,” Manigault told Slam in 2010. “I was a little man, but I could fly with the big men. We used to do all the things that Michael Jordan and the rest of those guys do today, except they were called different names. The 360, we used to call that the Around The World.  The Tomahawk dunk, well, that was the Goat Dunk.”

With a breathtaking 50-inch vertical, Earl stunned crowds with his dunking and shot-blocking performances, soaring majestically like the most beautiful bird you ever saw fly. 

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Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Everett High School, Lansing, Michigan

Earvin earned the “Magic” nickname from a local Lansing sportswriter when he posted a preposterous 36 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists in one game during his sophomore season. During his three years running the show, Everett went 73-5.

A 6-foot-8 point guard with his superfluous skills had never been seen before on the high school level. His junior season ended with a loss in the state semifinals. As a senior in 1977, he led Everett to a 27-1 record and a state championship while averaging 28.8 points and 16.8 rebounds per game.

Earvin "Magic" Johnson with his high school coach George Fox at Lansing Everett High School. / Bob Scott via Imagn Content Services, LLC

A two-time All-State selection, Magic was a Parade, McDonald’s and Capital Classic All-American and widely considered not only the greatest player ever from the state of Michigan, but perhaps the greatest ever on the prep level alongside Kareem, LeBron and Kenny Anderson. 

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LeBron James, St. Vincent-St. Mary, Akron, Ohio

I can already hear the haters screaming, “LeBron wasn’t a damn point guard!” 

Newsflash buddy, Bron played every position in high school, including point guard. So deal with it. 

As a 6-foot-2 freshman, he averaged 18 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, leading the Fighting Irish to a 27–0 record and a state title. The next Fall on the gridiron, he was named First Team All-State while receiving football scholarship offers from the likes of Notre Dame. To this day, he is considered the greatest wide receiver prospect to ever come out of the state of Ohio. But I digress…

His hoops talent was so immense, so implausible, that many of his sophomore games were held at local college arenas in order to meet the overwhelming fan demand. That year he averaged 25.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.7 steals with a 26-1 record en route to being named Ohio’s Mr. Basketball as St. Vincent-St. Mary repeated as state champs. The prevailing consensus opinion holds that had he been allowed to enter the NBA Draft at that time, he would have been the overall #1 pick right then and there. 

As a 6-foot-7 junior, he became the first prep basketball underclassman to ever appear on the prestigious cover of Sports Illustrated. Bron averaged 28 points, 8.9 rebounds, six assists, and three steals, and was again named Ohio’s Mr. Basketball. He became the first junior ever to win the Gatorade National Player of the Year award.

And how’s this for an encore season - he averaged 30.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.9 steals per game as a Senior, was named Ohio’s Mr. Basketball and selected to the USA Today All-USA First Team for an unprecedented third consecutive year. Oh, and he was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. 

Sounds like a compelling resume to be considered the greatest prep basketball player ever. 

(The Bron haters just contemptuously closed this link to drool over Michael Jordan’s 63-point game in the ‘86 playoffs against the Celtics)

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Randy Livingston, Isidore Newman High School, New Orleans, Louisiana

The top ranked player in the Class of 1993 ahead of Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace, Livingston is widely regarded as the greatest high school player in Louisiana history. 

A two-time Parade Magazine National Player of the Year, he led Newman to a 114-15 record and consecutive state championships in ‘91, ‘92 and ‘93 playing with a teammate better known for another sport, future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning. Livingston scored 3,429 points during his career and averaged 26.6 points per game. 

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Calvin Murphy, Norwalk High School, Norwalk, Connecticut

He might have been undersized at 5-foot-9, but longtime New England basketball observers will unequivocally tell you that the two best high school players to ever come out of that region are Patrick Ewing from Cambridge Rindge and Latin in Massachusetts and Connecticut’s sensational Calvin Murphy. 

Calvin Murphy, now a commentator for the Houston Rockets, joins Patrick Ewing as the two greatest high school players ever to come out of New England. / Thomas B. Shea-Imagn Images

At Norwalk High, he averaged 25.6 points as a sophomore, 31.8 points as a junior, and 40.3 points while leading the school to a state championship as a senior. 235 colleges afford him a scholarship. 

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Mike Conley, Lawrence North, Indianapolis, Indiana

Veteran journalist and sportswriter Dave Krider, who covered prep basketball for 50 years and was the first high school writer inducted into the U.S. Basketball Writers Hall of Fame, called Conley “Indiana’s best-ever point guard.”

Big man Greg Oden, his prep teammate, got most of the accolades as the nation’s  top ranked player and the National Player of the Year, but Conley was a true gem, leading Lawrence North to three consecutive state championships and an overall record of 103 wins and seven losses during his four years as the starting point guard. 

A McDonald’s and Parade Magazine All-American, he finished his career with 45 straight wins.

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Kyle Macy, Peru High School, Peru, Indiana

Named Indiana’s Mr. Basketball and a Parade All-American as a senior at Peru in 1975, Macy, who was also one of the top ranked high school tennis players in the nation, scored 2,137 points during his prep career. 

The son of a high school coach, his fundamentals were as sound as they come, with little wasted motion and fanfare. He could score, run an offense and play some tough defense. He averaged 35.3 points as a senior, 31.9 per game for his career, and scored 40 or more points 14 times in high school.

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Marcus Smart, Edward S. Marcus High School, Flower Mound, Texas

Smart’s stats weren’t eye opening, averaging 15.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.8 steals, 1.3 blocks and 5.0 assists as a senior, but his impact on every aspect of the game was undeniable.  A 6-foot-3 guard with a 6-foot-9 wingspan, he was built like an NFL linebacker and a menacing defensive bulldog that played both backcourt spots. 

Marcus Smart has had a 12-year NBA career, but he won 115 games and a Texas state championship as a high school quarterback while also becoming a McDonald's All-American in 2012. / Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

A two-time 5A state champion in Texas, he quarterbacked a squad that went 115-6 during his three years as a starter and shot 66.9% from the floor during his final season. 

Smart was a McDonald’s All-American, a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Texas and a finalist for the Gatorade National Player of the Year in 2012.

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Dejuan Wagner, Camden High School, Camden, New Jersey

Wagner was a scoring machine at Camden who averaged 27.3 points per game as a freshman, 35.3 as a sophomore, 31.9 as a junior and 42.5 as a senior. One of the greatest players to ever come out of the state of New Jersey, he compiled a state record 3,462 points. 

Wagner’s father Milt starred at Camden prior to winning a national championship at Louisville and his son DJ is also a Panthers alum who’s currently running point for John Calipari at Arkansas. DeJuan blazed for 25 points in the 2001 McDonald’s All-American Game, but he’s best known for scoring 100 a few months prior, connecting on 42 of his 60 shots while banging ten 3-pointers, in a 157-67 victory over Gloucester Tech.

How much excitement did the 6-foot-3 point guard cause while at Camden? So much so that Allen Iverson, the NBA’s leading scorer at the time with the Philadelphia 76’ers, took numerous trips over to South Jersey to watch the young phenom in person.

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Teddy Dupay, Mariner High School, Cape Coral, Florida

One of the most decorated players in the history of Florida prep basketball, the diminutive Dupay averaged 20 points and 11 assists as a freshman. As a sophomore he led Mariner to a 32-2 record and an appearance in the state championship game while averaging 25.3 points per game. 

Junior year, he poured in 28.9 points per game. As a senior, he scored 70 points in a state playoff game and led the nation in scoring with 1,284 points, an average of 41.5 per game. 

The all-time leading scorer in Florida prep history with 3,744 points, the McDonald’s All-American was the state of Florida’s Mr. Basketball during the 1997-98 season. Dupay was the first recruit to sign with new head coach Billy Donovan at the University of Florida when he was merely a sophomore.

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Stephon Marbury, Lincoln High School, Brooklyn, New York

The lofty expectations on Marbury began way before his freshman year as the starting point guard at Lincoln, when he averaged 20.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists while also being featured in Darcy Frey’s award-winning book, “The Last Shot.” 

Those projections of stardom began in the Marbury apartment in the Coney Island housing projects. His oldest brother Eric was an All-City player at Lincoln who played his college ball at the University of Georgia with future Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins. Eric was drafted by the San Diego Clippers but didn’t stick in the NBA. 

The pride of Lincoln High School and Coney Island, Stephon Marbury went on to stardom at Georgia Tech and the NBA. / RVR Photos-Imagn Images

Another brother, Don, averaged 19.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists at Texas A&M, but the NBA dream eluded him as well. Older brother Norman played D-I ball as well, but Stephon was seen as the Golden Child, the one who’d attain NBA glory and untold millions to lift the struggling Marbury clan out of poverty. 

Steph averaged 26 points, 8.5 assists and 3.5 steals as a junior, dazzling spectators with his remarkable speed, passing, outside shooting, ballhandling, insane hops and a maturity in his game that was diametrically juxtaposed with his young age. And as a senior in 1995, he posted 27.4 points, 8.3 assists and 3 steals per game while being named New York State’s Mr. Basketball and led Lincoln to a PSAL title. 

New York City’s best and most gifted point guard since Kenny Anderson, Marbury, a Parade and McDonald’s All-American, scored 28 points in the 55-52 state championship game victory over Christ the King, delivering Lincoln its very first state title. 

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“Pistol” Pete Maravich, Broughton High School, Raleigh, North Carolina

Maravich played his first high school varsity game at Daniel High School in South Carolina when he was merely a 12-year-old eighth grader. As the starting point guard, led them to a state championship. 

He played the next three years at Broughton High in Raleigh, North Carolina where he acquired the nickname “Pistol” because of his scoring prowess and unorthodox shooting form, with the shot’s motion and low release point beginning at his hip as if he was holding a revolver.  

A statue of the Pistol Pete Marovich outside the Peter Marovich Center at LSU, is a tribute to the legend from NC's Broughton High. / The Daily Advertiser-USA TODAY N

He played his final prep season at Edwards Military Academy in Salemburg, North Carolina and scored a record 47 points in the state high school all-star game. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest creative offensive talents, most prolific scorers and best ball handlers ever. 

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Damon Bailey, Bedford North Lawrence, Bedford Indiana

When Bailey was an eighth grader, legendary Hoosiers coach/bully Bob Knight watched him play and remarked, “Damon Bailey is better than any guard we have right now. I don't mean potentially better, I mean better today.” 

As a freshman at Bedford North, he averaged 23 points per game, led them to the state Final Four and was named First Team Indiana All-State, an accolade that he would also achieve over the next three years. 

He led them to the Final Four again as a sophomore. As a senior in 1990 he led them to the state championship, scoring 30 points, including the last 11, in the title game victory in front of over 41,000 fans at the Hoosier Dome. 

Bailey finished with a state-record 3,134 points, was named Indiana's Mr. Basketball in 1990, and was a McDonald’s and two-time Parade Magazine All-American.

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Chauncey Billups, George Washington High School, Denver, Colorado

Widely regarded as the greatest player to ever come out of the state, Billups, a varsity starter as a freshman who was known by the nickname “Smooth”, was a four-time All-State first team selection. 

He was named Colorado’s Mr. Basketball three times and the Colorado Player of the Year as a sophomore and a junior. 

A McDonald’s All-American as a senior in 1995, he was a two-time Class 5A state champion and a two-time Parade Magazine All-American. Billups averaged 23.8 points per game over his four year career.

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Dwayne “Pearl” Washington, Boys and Girls High School, Brooklyn, New York

When he was in the sixth grade and would show up to play ball at the Brownsville Recreation Center during the summer, NBA Player World B. Free (Best NBA Name EVER!) would pick Pearl ahead of college and pro players to run the point for his squads. That’s how remarkable he was. So imagine what he looked like in high school! 

His asphalt honed shake-n-bake repertoire included the killer crossover that later inspired Tim Hardaway, Allen Iverson and countless others. Ask anybody from New York City who saw him get busier than a horny rabbit while destroying his prep rivals: future NBA pros Mark Jackson at Bishop Loughlin and Kenny Smith at Archbishop Molloy. 

The nation’s most sought after recruit as a senior at Boys and Girls in 1983, Pearl averaged 35 points and 10 rebounds per game, in addition to handing out more assists than welfare, earning Parade All-American honors. 

In his final game as a high school student, he was named the MVP of the prestigious McDonald’s All-American game.

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Scott Skiles, Plymouth High School, Plymouth, Indiana

Skiles scored 39 points as a senior in the 1982 state championship game when Plymouth, an undersized, underdog team that did not feature a single starter taller than 6-foot-2, beat the talented Gary Roosevelt Panthers in double overtime. Skiles was named the state tournament MVP.  In that title game victory, he scored 25 points in the fourth quarter and in both overtimes. 

In the previous semifinal he scored 30 to lead Plymouth past heavily favored Indianapolis Cathedral 62-59. He led the state in scoring that year with an average of 30.2 points per game and was the school's all-time career scoring leader with 1,788 points, a record that would stand for close to 25 years. 

When arriving back in Gary after the huge upset loss in the state championship game, Roosevelt head coach Ron Heflin was peppered with questions about how his team, considered the best in all of Indiana, could lose to Plymouth. His constant reply was, “Man, that fat white kid could play!”

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Allen Iverson, Bethel High School, Hampton, Virginia

One of the most ridiculously gifted prep athletes ever, he led Bethel to an insane double-double during his junior year in 1992, winning a Group AAA title in both football and basketball. He was named the Group AAA Player of the Year in both sports by the Associated Press. 

Do you know what’s crazier than Annie Wilkes in Misery? Most people considered Chuck (His momma called him Chuck, I’ma call him Chuck) to be less talented in hoops than he was on the gridiron! 

In naming him its football player of the year, the Daily Press wrote, “Iverson the quarterback passed for 1,423 yards with 14 touchdowns. Iverson the runner gained 781 yards with 15 touchdowns. Iverson the kick returner scored five touchdowns, four on punts. Iverson the defensive back intercepted eight passes.” 

But I digress. On the hardwood, he was beyond electric. He scored 1,704 points during his three years as a varsity starter (Iverson didn’t play as a senior due to legal difficulties). Word of his exploits travelled throughout the national prep hoops community like blown dandelions. He did things that made people jump out of the bleachers as if they’d caught the holy ghost at a southern Baptist tent revival. 

And today’s nutritious diets be damned. His legendary AAU coach Boo Williams once told me, “All Allen needed was a hot dog and a soda and he could play all day long!”

Naming him its hoops player of the year, the Daily Press wrote, “Maybe the nation's best high school point guard, the first team Parade All-American led the Bruins to their first state, Eastern Region and Peninsula District titles. ... He is at the top of the list when players having the complete package of skills are discussed. He has explosive quickness, great leaping ability and NBA 3-point shooting range.”

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Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Gulfport High School, Gulfport, Mississippi

The artist formerly known as Chris Jackson during his prep and college days at LSU before converting to Islam, Mahmoud was an undersized basketball marvel, a talent of prodigious proportions. 

He led his Gulfport team to back-to-back state championships in ‘87 and ‘88, set numerous state records, and is still considered by many to be the greatest player to ever come out of the state of Mississippi. A McDonald's, Parade and Dapper Dan First-Team All-American, he averaged 29.9 and 5.3 assists per game during his senior season.

“At Gulfport High School, Abdul-Rauf would emerge as an athletic prodigy,” wrote Court Zierk in a 2014 Bleacher Report feature story. “In a city where circumstances often seemed bleak, he quickly became the city’s darling and its beacon of hope. He led his Gulfport High School team to multiple state championships, set numerous state records, and is still considered by many to be the greatest player to ever come out of the state of Mississippi.”

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Steve Alford, Chrysler High School, New Castle, Indiana

One of the most ballyhooed guards ever from the state of Indiana, Alford averaged 37.7 points per game as a senior in 1983 when he was named Indiana’s Mr. Basketball. And this was prior to the implementation of the three-point line!

Named All-State during his last two prep seasons, he scored a career-high 57 points in a 1983 state semifinal game against Connorsville, which is the second highest individual scoring total in Indiana’s prestigious state tournament history.

Alford scored 1,078 points as a senior, which ranks second in state history for a single-season.

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Raymond Lewis, Verbum Dei, Los Angeles, California

Lewis is another of those stories plucked from “The Greatest to Never Make It” archive. He received approximately 250 scholarship offers during a remarkable high school career, where he led Verbum Dei to an overall record of 84-4, winning consecutive CIF titles in 1969, ‘70 and ‘71. 

The greatest high school guard in Southern California history (It’s not even debatable), his lightning quickness and range still, to this day, leaves those who witnessed it speechless. 

“His signature crossover, stepback jumper was as great as the story of him dropping 52 points on a group of L.A. Lakers in a summer league game -- while still in high school,” wrote Ronnie Flores for ESPN. 

“Raymond Lewis was one of the greatest players I've ever seen ... nobody can change my mind about that," legendary high school grassroots impresario Sonny Vaccaro told Flores. 

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Felipe Lopez, Rice High School, New York, New York

Lopez, a native of the Dominican Republic who moved to New York at the age of 14, was one of the most sought after recruits in the history of high school basketball. A lithe 6-foot-5 with freakish speed and athleticism, there was a buoyancy and spark to his game that knocked people bowlegged the first time they saw him play. He could handle the rock with aplomb and soar into rarefied air, giving the illusion of actually levitating while grabbing rebounds and blocking shots way above the rim.

The biggest prep hoops sensation in America during the ‘90s, he graced the prestigious cover of Sports Illustrated at the tender age of 17. Heading into the tenth grade in 1991, Felipe was ranked above Allen Iverson as the No. 1 player in the country. His popularity in basketball circles, and specifically within the Dominican immigrant communities of NYC’s Five Boroughs, approached Jordanesque levels . 

On game nights, the hottest ticket in the city wasn’t for games at Madison Square Garden. The promised land was the Rice gym, because everyone wanted to get a peek at the legend during its formative stage, to say that they saw it live, to be a participant in the rise of Felipe Lopez. 

After winning a state championship at Rice to cap off a spectacular career that saw him score more than 2,400 points, he was named the MVP of the McDonald’s All-American game with a 24-point performance. As a senior, he averaged 27 points and 10 rebounds per game. A two-time, First-Team Parade All-American, he was named Mr. Basketball USA and honored as Gatorade National Player of the Year. 

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John Wall, Word of God Academy, Raleigh, North Carolina

Simply put, Wall was one of the most gifted, athletic prep point guards ever. With elite size at 6-foot-4, he was a blur in the open court and a nightmare to defend due to his exceptional speed, vision and passing ability. A monster in transition with otherworldly hops, he finished above the rim with some of the most vicious, spectacular in-game dunks ever witnessed on the high school level. 

Due to his speed, length and lateral quickness, he suffocated opposing point guards on the defensive end. The consensus top prospect in the Class of 2009, Wall averaged 19.7 points, nine assists, and over eight rebounds and led Word of God to the state 1A championship game. 

A Jordan Brand All-American, Wall’s high school mixtape still elicits awe and wonder.

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Cade Cunningham, Montverde Academy, Montverde, Florida

The catalyst for one of the greatest high school teams ever, Cunningham led Montverde, whose average margin of victory was an absurd 39 points, to a 25-0 record and a national championship as a senior. 

As a freshman, the Arlington, Texas native averaged 15.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game, helping Bowie High School reach the District 6A Region I final. 

As a sophomore, the smooth, versatile 6-foot-6 floor general averaged 18.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists and was named the District MVP. After his junior year at Monverde, he earned MVP honors on Nike’s hyper-competitive EYBL circuit playing against the cream of the national crop, averaging 25.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game for the Texas Titans.  

And this is where a stat sheet can be more deceiving than Tom in The Talented Mr. Ripley. As a senior, Cunningham averaged 13.9 points, 6.4 assists and 4.2 rebounds. But because Montverde was so dominant, he only played a little more than two quarters. Among his many accolades were being named Mr. Basketball USA, the Naismith and MaxPreps National Prep Player of the Year.

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Shaun Livingston, Peoria Central High School, Peoria, Illinois

As a 7th-grader, Livingston was regularly embarrassing grown men during pickup games at Concordia Lutheran, which went 87-0 during his middle school years. He transferred to Peoria Central after his sophomore year at Richwoods High School, leading them to consecutive Class AA state championships in 2003 and 2004. 

Standing 6’7” with a 6’11” wingspan, his exceptional passing ability, court vision and innate understanding of the nuances and rhythm of the game conjured up comparisons of a young Jason Kidd and Magic Johnson. 

The scouting report prior during his senior year on nbadraft.net says it all: “He will not blow by you with blinding speed, but his basketball IQ is so high he can maneuver around defenders using his wonderful sleight of hand, deft changes in speed and long and fluid strides. A wonderful athlete he can crash the boards great from the guard spot. With his great vertical leap and long arms, he will snatch rebounds out of midair only to glide up the court, flowing through defenders to eventually lay the ball into the hands of a teammate for an easy bucket after he’s looked off the any defenders.” 

A McDonald’s All-American who was named the state of Illinois 2004 Mr. Basketball, Livingston averaged 18.5 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists per game as a senior while also being honored as a Parade All-American and the state Gatorade Player of the Year.

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Chris Paul, West Forsyth High School, Clemmons, North Carolina

While most players on this list were identified as future phenoms while still in elementary school, that wasn’t the case with CPIII. As a high school freshman and sophomore, he ran the point for West Forsyth’s junior varsity. But that wasn’t a bad thing, because he refined his ability to command both ends of the court as a floor general supreme, compiling an overall record of 39-1. 

By the time he dressed for the varsity, it was on like hot cheddar popcorn. 

“Kids go up to varsity all quick as freshmen or sophomores and they sit on the bench,” Paul once told ESPN Rise. “You’re not getting better. You’re watching the game. You’re not getting that in-game experience. So by the time I got to be a junior, I had that confidence.”

As a junior, he averaged 25.0 points, 5.3 assists and 4.4 steals, leading West Forsyth to the state semifinals. The next year, now ranked among the premier players in the country in addition to being the Senior Class President, he scorched for 30.8 points, 9.5 assists, 5.9 rebounds, and a remarkable 6.0 steals per game! 

He drew national attention after scoring 61 points against Parkland High in homage to his beloved grandfather who was murdered during a robbery at the age of 61. Two years after playing JV, Chris Paul was a McDonald's, Parade Magazine and Jordan Bran All-American and named North Carolina's Mr. Basketball.

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Scott “Teen Wolf” Howard, Beacontown High School, Beacontown, Nebraska

Congratulations! If you’ve made it this far, you are unlike 99% of Americans who have the attention span of a flea and refuse to read anything longer than a tweet. 

Teen Wolf may have been a 5-foot-4 fictional character in a terrible movie who played for a laughably atrocious team, but had he been real, he would’ve been the greatest high school point guard that ever lived! 

The only player I’d feel confident matching up with him would be the maniacal Russell Westbrook.

But I digress once again…Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

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Lou Williams, South Gwinnett High School, Snellville, Georgia

The All-Time leading scorer in state high school history, Lou was a four-time All-State selection and named Georgia’s Mr. Basketball as a junior in 2004, winning a state title along the way. He repeated as Mr. Basketball the next year as well. 

Ludacris, Chipper Jones, Michael Vick and other Atlanta-area sports celebs were regularly seen in the stands watching his games. 

Sweet Lou averaged 27.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game as a senior. The McDonald’s, Parade and Jordan Brand All-American was also named the Naismith Prep Player of the Year.

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Jerome “Pooh” Richardson, Benjamin Franklin High School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

A certified Philly legend, the terrific 6-foot-1 ball handler, passer and smooth scorer led Ben Franklin to the 1984 Public League championship with a memorable 17-point title game performance against a monster Dobbins Tech squad that featured Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble. 

A Parade and McDonald’s All-American after his senior year in 1985, his exploits in the Sonny Hill Summer League are still spoken of with a reverence reserved for Philadelphia’s greatest talents ever.

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David Rivers, St. Anthony’s High School, Jersey City, New Jersey

Standing a wiry 5-feet-11 and weighing in at a sleight 155-pounds, Rivers possessed a gazelle’s quickness and a creativity with the ball in his hands that rivaled the rapper Eminem’s verbal gymnastics. He was the first true superstar and foundational piece in coach Bob Hurley’s powerhouse St. Anthony’s program. 

The third youngest of 15 siblings, Rivers, a magician with the ball who made the most difficult passes look easy, elevated out of Jersey City’s notorious Marion Gardens projects to win three state championships. 

The first McDonald's All-American to play under Hurley, he was the standard by which every Friar who came behind him was measured.

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Monta Ellis, Lanier High School, Jackson, Mississippi

Ellis’ squads appeared in the state championship game during every one of his four seasons, winning it all in 2002 and 2005. His team’s overall record was 129-16 and as a senior, he averaged 38.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 4.5 steals. 

Highlights included two monster games against Greenwood High where he scored more than Wilt Chamberlain at the Playboy Mansion, with 65 and 72 points respectively. He also banged Oak Hill in the head for 46. 

He walked away having scored 4,167 career points for an average of 28.7 per game. 

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Jay Williams, St. Joseph High School, Metuchen, New Jersey

The 6-foot-2 honor roll student not only excelled in hoops, he was the New Jersey State Volleyball Player of the Year as well. He also earned that honor on the basketball court. 

A four-year starter, Jay was a Parade, USA Today and McDonald’s All-American who averaged 19 points, 7.0 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 steals a game as a senior. 

He also won the Morgan Wooten Award and left St. Joseph as the school’s all time leader in points and steals.

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Aquille Carr, Patterson High School, Baltimore, Maryland

No one in the history of high school basketball has ever had a better nickname than the jet-quick, athletic marvel, Aquille Carr. During his exploits at Patterson, members of the Baltimore City Police Department dubbed him “The Crimestopper” because they noticed a sharp decline in activity on notorious East Side drug corners whenever he played. 

That’s a true story. But he not only fought crime, he also challenged Newton’s  Laws of Motion and Universal Gravitation, along with Speedy and Tyrone’s Laws of Gravitivity and Polarity. 

Many of his games were moved to Morgan State University and crowds approaching 500 people were still stranded outside because the gym had filled to capacity an hour beforehand.

“Small in stature, large in legend,” the Washington Post’s Josh Barr wrote during Carr’s sophomore year in 2011. “And the latter is only growing…Perhaps the best known Carr story came last year, when he delivered what is now known as the “dunk heard around Baltimore.” On a fast break, Carr dribbled down the court, with his sights set on dunking the ball. Nick Faust of City College High, who this past fall signed a letter-of-intent to play for Maryland, went up for the block only to have Carr - giving up at least eight inches - slam it home.”

One of the first high school YouTube phenoms, Aquille’s insane mixtape highlights made him an instant national sensation with a rabid following.

As a freshman, he averaged 25.5 points, 8.0 assists and 5.3 steals, including an undressing of the highly touted Josh Selby and his Lake Clifton squad to the tune of 39 points and 19 assists. Yes, you read that correctly! 

During his sophomore campaign he averaged 31.3 points, 5.6 assists, and 4.5 steals, including a monster 57-point game against Forest Park, and led the Clippers to the state championship game. He won the state title the following year. 

A few months after scoring 28 points and dishing out eight assists in the state championship game victory, he played for the U.S. team in the Junior International Tournament in Milan, Italy, leading the team to a gold medal while averaging 40.0 points per game. 

In the city of Baltimore, Aquille will never have to pay for a takeout chicken box as long as he lives.

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Tyreke Evans, American Christian Academy, Aston, Pennsylvania

The 6-foot-6 Chester, Pennsylvania native was being compared to Tracy McGrady as a 15-year-old sophomore while averaging 25.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 3.8 steals a game. 

He was featured in the documentary film, Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot as a 16-year-old, alongside other prep standouts Michael Beasely, Kevin Love, Brandon Jennings and Lance Stephenson.

The No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2008, the First-Team Parade All-American averaged 32.1 points per game during his senior season. Evans scored 21 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and dished out four assists en route to MVP honors at the McDonald's All-American Game. 

He took home another MVP trophy after scoring 21 points, grabbing seven rebounds and handing out another four assists at the Jordan Brand Classic.

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Jacque Vaughn, John Muir High School, Pasadena, California

Born to run a high-octane offense and stomping opponents into the ground (like Loc Dog and crew did Toothpick’s homie in “Don’t Be a Menace…”) with a frenetic fast break, Vaughn would take your breath away with the ball in his hands in the open floor. His speed, agility and unselfishness was unrivaled

As a senior in 1993, he averaged over 21 points and 19 assists per game. 19 assists! Per Game!!! The First-Team Parade All-American put a punctuation on his spectacular season by setting the assists record in the McDonald’s All-American game by handing out 13, earning MVP award accolades. 

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Ernie DiGregorio, North Providence High School, Providence, Rhode Island

Ernie D was a baaaaaaad mother (Shut yo’ mouth) back in the day. A scoring and assists machine, he led North Providence to a state championship in 1968. 

As a 5-foot-5 freshman, he averaged 26 points per game. The beatings he administered from there only got more vicious, pumping in 37 a game by the time he’d grown to 6-feet as a senior. 

A shooter, playmaker and ballhandler supreme with a savage work ethic and  tenacity who honed his game growing in a working class, close-knit Italian home in the smallest state in the union, DiGregorio was the real deal.

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TJ Ford, Willowridge High School, Houston, Texas

Ford’s record as a starting high school point guard (75-1 including a 62-game winning streak) was as close to perfection as Jamie Foxx’s performance in the movie “Ray”. 

Both had similar subtleties and nuances that define greatness, a remarkable consistency, and a depth of rare skills that resonated. They both left lasting impressions on those who witnessed their craft, making observers in gymnasium bleachers or movie theaters alike think, feel, and connect with their performance on an emotional level. 

The 6-foot floor general led Willowridge to back-to-back state titles as a junior and senior. The Parade, McDonald’s and Jordan Brand All-American was named the Texas Gatorade Player of the Year in 2001. 

When describing the concept of soul, the great Ray Charles once said, “It’s like electricity…it’s the force that can light a room.” 

He could have said the same in describing the basketball brilliance of TJ Ford.

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Jrue Holiday, Campbell Hall High School, Studio City California

The 6-foot-4 Holiday was blessed with some excellent hoops genes: his mom Toya was the 1982 Pac-10 Player of the Year at Arizona State. 

An outstanding defender, Jrue competed with a drive and consistency that stretched across the court’s full 94-feet. A crafty ballhandler with a deceptive first step and shifty quickness who could finish at the rim with both hands, he delighted old heads with his mastery of the mid-range game, intense defensive ball pressure and an ability to weave through opposing defenses at top speed prior to flicking textbook passes to his teammates.

A Parade Magazine, McDonald’s and Jordan Brand All-American, Holiday was the 2008 Gatorade National Player of the Year. 

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Rod Strickland, Oak Hill Academy, Mouth of Wilson, Virginia

Today, Oak Hill  is known as a juggernaut that dominated the prep landscape for over 30 years until the Montverde’s and IMG’s stepped on the scene. And there was one player who’s responsible for establishing their legacy, a wondrous point guard from the Bronx named Rod Strickland.

As a junior, Rod led Truman High School to a state championship in 1984 before transferring to Oak Hill. 

“Back then we had some good teams with three or four guys who were going to play Division I basketball,” Oak Hill’s Hall of Fame coach Steve Smith once told me. “The rest of the guys were role players. No one really knew who Oak Hill was. That changed when Rod Strickland got here. We got a call from Steve Lappas, his high school coach, along with Lou D’Almeida, who ran the Bronx Gauchos program. There wasn’t any internet or YouTube clips back then, so we called Bob Gibbons and Tom Konchalski, two of the best scouts around, and they told us how good he was.”

When I asked Rod a few years back how he wound up leaving Truman, he said, “I didn’t know anything about Oak Hill. I had slacked up on my books and needed to get out of the Bronx to get my academics together. I remember getting on the plane, not sure what was going on, and then taking this long drive up this winding road. I’m coming from Mitchel Projects in the Bronx, and I’m looking out the window seeing cows and mountains. We were passing these little stores and it looked like I was in Mayberry, the small town in the Andy Griffith Show.”

About 20 college assistant coaches had assembled to watch the guys play some pickup games. When Frank Merino, a NYC native who was on the staff at the University of Detroit, heard that Strickland was coming, Smith noticed his excitement. “When that kid walks in here, he’s going to own this gym,” Merino told him.

“I was thinking, ‘Yeah right. We’ve got some pretty good players, five or six guys that were going D-I,” Smith told me. “I thought he’d be on the same level as the rest of them. And sure enough, from the minute he started playing, Frank was right. Rod owned that gym. He was incredible, on an entirely different level than anyone else. That guy could get anywhere he wanted to on the court with the ball in his hands. He was an exceptional scorer, passer, ball-handller and floor general…he just dominated.”

Right then and there, the Oak Hill aura was established, its legacy built on later by the likes of Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Jerry Stackhouse and countless others.

When Rod was inducted into the Oak Hill Hall of Fame, Smith said, “Of all the great point guards to play at Oak Hill, Rod tops the list.”

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Danny Ainge, North Eugene High School, North Eugene, Oregon

Ainge’s resume as a prep athlete is impeccable. He’s the only person in history to be a high school First-Team All-American in football, basketball and baseball. It’s never been accomplished before or since.

One of the top recruits in the state of Oregon as a wide receiver, the 6-foot-5 guard led the Highlanders to consecutive AAA state basketball titles in 1976 and ‘77, earning All-State honors both years. 

The 1977 Parade All-American in hoops actually went on to play Major League Baseball with the Toronto Blue Jays before playing for the NBA’s Boston Celtics.

That’s a pretty special athlete right there.

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Bobby Hurley, St. Anthony High School, Jersey City, New Jersey

Hurley’s four-year record as a starting point guard was 115-5, leading the Friars to four consecutive state championships. 

Long before becoming a college head coach, Bobby Hurley led St. Anthony's in New Jersey to four consecutive state championships. / Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The 6-foot lead guard compensated for his lack of strength with remarkable stamina, deceptive speed, extraordinary vision and a blue collar fighter’s mentality.

He averaged 20 points, eight assists and three steals as a senior as St. Anthony went 32–0, captured the school's first Tournament of champions crown and the mythical national championship. 

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Sebastian Telfair, Lincoln High School, Brooklyn, New York

The media hype that followed LeBron James in high school quickly shifted toward Stephon Marbury’s little cousin Sebastian once the kid from Akron took his Hummer to the NBA. And with the glare of the spotlight squarely on his shoulders, Telfair played his senior season with a level of celebrity previously unknown to a 5-foot-11, 160-pound point guard no matter how gifted they were. 

Jay Z, Derek Jeter and Spike Lee were seen regularly in the Lincoln gym on Coney Island to watch the next player in line as one of the city’s greatest prep point guards.

A high school contemporary of Lebron James, Sebastian Telfair was just as famous and nearly as legendary as "King James" in those days. / Russ Isabella-Imagn Images

He’d previously averaged 29 points, seven assists and three steals in leading Lincoln to the PSAL championship and the state semifinals as a sophomore. With LeBrton sitting out that summer’s Adidas ABCD cap with a broken wrist, all eyes were on Telfair as he won camp MVP honors.

“Telfair has that rare synthesis of flare and fundamentals,” wrote  Rob Bodenburg in ESPN Rise. “Crossovers. Pull-up J's. Runners in the lane. An improved 3-point shot. Sometimes a flashy behind-the-back pass, sometimes a good old-fashioned bounce pass -- whichever is necessary under the circumstances.”

The top ranked point guard in the nation as a junior, he posted an outstanding 28.7 points and 8.6 assists per game in leading the Railsplitters to a 31-4 record en route to First Team All-City and All-State accolades while winning another PSAL crown and a state championship.

And Bassy didn’t disappoint during his senior campaign, becoming New York’s All-Time leading scorer with 2,785 points while having a documentary crew following his every move for the film, “Through the Fire” along with Author Ian O’Connor doing the same while writing the book, “The Jump: Sebastian Telfair and the High-Stakes Business of High School Ball.”

(Lance “Born Ready" Stephenson, another Lincoln product who stardom latched on to in junior high school, would surpass the all-time scoring mark a few years later). 

The two-time Parade All-American averaged 33.2 points, 9.2 assists and 3.7 rebounds while leading Lincoln to its third consecutive PSAL championship as a senior in 2003, scoring 17 of his 25 points in the second half of the Railsplitters 74-65 victory over Cardozo High School. 

Telfair was named New York State’s Mr. Basketball, finished as the runner-up for the Naismith National Player of the Year Award to Dwight Howard and wrapped up his stellar prep career by dishing out a game-high 11 assists in the McDonald’s All-American game. He became the first high school player 6-feet-and-under to skip college and make the jump directly to the NBA. 

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Derrick Rose, Simeon Career Academy, Chicago, Illinois 

When Derrick Rose arrived at Simeon, his older brothers insisted that he play on the JV team despite him already receiving college recruiting letters. They wanted him to incubate for one more year before stepping into the glaring spotlight that being the best point guard in Chicago, and in the entire nation, would bring.

Rose led the JV squad to the city championship, averaging 18.5 points, 6.6 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.1 steals. 

He chose to wear the No. 25 in honor of the late, great Ben Wilson, the Simeon legend ranked No.1 in the country who was murdered during his senior year. 

In his varsity debut, he scored 22 points, grabbed seven rebounds and swiped five steals, ultimately leading the Wolverines to a 30–5 record while averaging 19.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 2.4 steals. That sophomore season concluded with him being named a Parade All-American.

As a junior, he led Simeon to a 33-4 record, a top-20 national ranking, a Chicago Public League title and the first state championship since Ben Wilson’s squad won it all in 1984. With the score tied and 11 seconds remaining in that title game, Rose stole the ball, drove the length of the floor and cashed in the game-winning jumper with one second remaining. He earned another Parade All-American nod while also being named to the EA Sports All-American team. 

In front of a national television audience, Rose dazzled against prep powerhouse Oak Hill Academy and their talented point guard Brandon Jennings, scoring 28 points, delivering nine assists and grabbing eight rebounds in a 78–75 win that was aired live by ESPN. The Wolverines would go on to repeat as city and state champs. No other Chicago Public League school had ever won back-to-back state championships. 

Standing a sculpted 6-foot-3 with blinding speed, he visually intoxicated longtime Chicago hoops observers with his dazzling, powerful dunks, alien athleticism, exceptional jump shot, relentlessness on defense, crisp handles, ligament-snapping crossovers, pass-first mentality, rebounding acumen, vision in the open floor and refreshing humility

As a senior, he averaged 25.2 points, 9.1 assists, 8.8 rebounds, and 3.4 steals per game, with Sports Illustrated ranking the 33-2 Simeon squad as the nation’s best. The best point guard to come out of Chicago since the incomparable Isiah Thomas, Rose won 120 games during his three varsity seasons. He again earned First Team All-State honors, was Illinois’ Mr. Basketball and was named a Parade, Jordan Brand, McDonald’s and USA Today All-American. 

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Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, Treadwell High School, Memphis, Tennessee

If you never saw him play in high school, you’re going to think the following statement is sacrilege, but it’s 100 percent true. Penny Hardaway was created in a laboratory by a mad scientist who combined the best physical and mental attributes of Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. 

You just read that on the internet, so you know it’s gotta be true!!!

The 6-foot-7 floor general was being compared to Magic at an early age because of his size and exceptional ability to handle and pass the ball. The likening to Jordan arose because of his defensive prowess and his ability to fly. Prior to the conclusion of his prep career, he was already being called the greatest talent ever from Memphis, and like Jordan and Magic, he could excel at a number of positions. He was one of those players whose hype preceded him. But when you saw him play, his skills actually exceeded the hype.

As a high school basketball player, Penny Hardaway resembled a combination of the best qualities of Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. / Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

As a freshman, he averaged 17.4 points per game and followed that up in his sophomore campaign while going for 22.8. 

He led Treadwell to the state championship game as a junior while scorching for 32.2 points per outing and establishing a state record for the most points scored in a single season with 1,289.

And his senior season was otherworldly. He averaged 36.6 points, 10.1 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 3.9 steals, and 2.8 blocks, finished his career with 3,039 total points and was named the Parade Magazine National Player of the Year.

I don't know what his mom was thinking about when she put Anfernee on his birth certificate. She should have named him MicMagic. Or Magichael. 

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Isiah Lord Thomas III, St. Joseph High School, Westchester, Illinois

On the Mount Rushmore of the greatest players ever to hail from Chicago, the 6-foot point guard never let his height define what he could accomplish on the basketball court. A deadly shooter, clever playmaker and unbelievable passer with roadrunner speed, his intelligence, toughness and court savvy all combined to make him a gift from the game’s gods.

Growing up in the harshest of circumstances on the bleak West Side of the city, he was the youngest of nine children. The family sometimes went without heat, food and water, with some of the kids having to sleep on the floor.

Rick Majerus, an assistant coach at Marquette who tried to recruit him out of high school once said,, “You talk about abject poverty, human failing, suffering — they had all that in Isiah’s neighborhood. You’d go in there and here was this young guy who’s got this big smile. He was unbelievably optimistic for someone who had gone through all the misfortune that has occurred in his family. He was very focused.”

One night, when neighborhood gang members showed up on her porch to recruit her sons, Mary Thomas emerged from the house holding  a sawed-off shotgun, saying, “There’s only one gang here, and I lead it. Get off my porch or I’ll blow you off it!” 

Is there any wonder why the boy with the magnetic smile was so tough on the basketball court?

As a junior at St. Joseph, he led the school to the state championship game in 1978. After his senior season in ‘79, he was named a Parade and McDonald’s All-American and the Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year.

How good was Isiah back then? He was the only player on the Gold Medal-winning Team USA squad at the 1979 Pan Am Games in Puerto Rico who was still in high school. That team went 9-0 in the tournament with Thomas drawing gasps with his playmaking and scoring.

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Tommy Amaker, W.T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, Virginia

Amaker earned a starting position on the varsity squad as a 5-foot-7, 108-pound freshman, despite the bottom of his jersey dangling out of his cookie-cutter shorts, tickling his thighs and bony knees. His mom custom-tailored his jersey, shortening and hemming it at the shoulders so that referees could see his number 10.

After one summer league game against the famed DeMatha High School program, where he scored 36 points and dished out 12 assists, Red Auerbach, the legendary coach and executive with the Boston Celtics, called him the best high school point guard he’d seen in ten years.

Amaker averaged almost 18 points, eight assists and four steals per game over his four-year prep career, earning Parade and McDonald’s All-American honors. He was honored as the Wooden Defensive Player of the Year in 1983. 

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Lonzo Ball, Chino Hills High School, Chino Hills, California

Lonzo’s Chino Hills squad his senior year, playing alongside brothers Melo and Gelo, was one of the most entertaining displays ever in the annals of prep hoops. 

Lonzo averaged 25 points, 11 rebounds, 9.1 assists, 5 blocks, and 5 steals the season prior, but his final year was pure ridiculousness as he averaged a triple-double - 23.9 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 11.7 assists per game - for the nation’s consensus No. 1 team that finished 35-0.

The magnificent 6-foot-6 point guard was the Naismith, Morgan Wooten and USA Today National Player of the Year while also being named Mr. Basketball USA.

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Raymond Felton, Latta High School, Latta, South Carolina

The top ranked point guard in the Class of 2002, Felton led Latta to two state championships and was named South Carolina’s Mr. Basketball as a junior and  senior, when he earned McDonald’s All-American accolades. 

His end to end speed with the ball in his hands, like Uncle Willie’s mad dash in the classic Alligator Man episode of Atlanta, had to be seen to be believed.

As a four-year starter, his Latta squads compiled a record of 104 - 9 while Felton established state scoring records with 2,992 points and 117 three-pointers.

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Brandon Jennings, Oak Hill Academy, Mouth of Wilson, Virginia

The Compton, California native transferred from Dominguez High to Oak Hill after his sophomore year. As a junior playing in the secluded mountains of Virginia for one of the premier prep programs in the country, the electrifying lefty led the Warriors to the nation’s No.1 ranking with a 41-1 record.

As a senior in 2008, he averaged 35.5 points per game and set Oak Hill’s single season scoring record with 1,312 points, a remarkable achievement considering that scoring machines like Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Jerry Stackhouse and countless others once played there.

Jennings, the top ranked player in the nation as a senior, was the 2008 Naismith, Gatorade, Parade Magazine and EA Sports Player of the Year.

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Baron Davis, Crossroads School, Santa Monica, California

One of the most explosive, powerful and complete prep point guards ever, the 6-foot-3 locomotive led Crossroads to a state championship as a senior, averaging 26.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 5.8 steals, and 2.1 blocks per game. 

Davis, a Parade and McDonald’s All-American, was honored as the 1997 Gatorade National Player of the Year.

He scored over 2,300 points, dished out more than 1,200 assists, snatched more than 600 rebounds and snagged more than 550 steals over his high school career.

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Kyrie Irving, St. Patrick High School, Elizabeth, New Jersey

The first time I saw Kyrie live and direct in high school, I was astonishingly overwhelmed with how much he reminded me of one of my favorite point guards ever, New York City legend Rod Strickland. I’d later learn that Rod was Kyrie’s Godfather, having grown up with his father Drederick in the Bronx’s Mitchel projects. 

Rod and Kyrie seemed to have a symbiotic relationship, sharing the same creativity, body control and flair as both passers and scorers, in addition to possessing some of the greatest handles ever known to man. The initial burst and blow-by speed were similar, as was their penchant for converting insanely difficult amphibious layups (I know the correct word is ambidextrous, but saying amphibious just makes me giggle) using cue ball English reserved for the slickest pool table hustler. 

But if you got caught up and solely focused on the playground aesthetics and razzle-dazzle, you were oblivious to the fact that their games overflowed with fundamental pureness. 

Irving spent his first two years at Montclair Kimberly Academy, where he averaged 26.5 points, 10.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.6 steals as a freshman and led them to a state title as a sophomore. 

As a junior at St. Patrick, he averaged 17.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.0 steals, leading them to a New Jersey Tournament of Champions crown. Prior to his senior campaign, he earned MVP honors at the Nike Global Challenge with the US National Junior Select Team while posting 21.3 points and 4.3 assists throughout the competition. He concluded his prep career with 24.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game during his senior campaign.

A Parade Magazine, McDonald’s and Jordan Brand All-American, he earned co-MVP honors at the Jordan Brand Classic, alongside Harrison Barnes, while thrilling the amped Madison Square Garden crowd with each of his 22 points and seven assists. 

Kyrie then led his Team USA squad in the FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship in 2010, scoring 21 points, snagging 10 rebounds and dishing out five assists in the Gold Medal-winning game against Brazil.

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Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues, Dunbar High School, Baltimore, Maryland

Muggsy quarterbacked the greatest team in the history of high school basketball, playing alongside future NBA pros Reggie Williams, David Wingate and Reggie Lewis on Baltimore's legendary early ’80s Dunbar High School squad. The Poets went 59-0 with the little man running the show over a two-year span, winning the mythical national championship in 1983.

Muggs was the most revolutionary talent the game has ever seen as a 5-foot-3 point guard who could dominate a game as a floor general, passer and defender without scoring a single point. 

One moment during his high school career encapsulates Bogues’ brilliance. During his junior season, they traveled to play Camden High School in New Jersey, a formidable team that featured the top ranked player in the country, Billy Thompson, and a celebrated point guard named Kevin Walls, who’d already secured a scholarship to Louisville as a mere sophomore.  

Both teams were undefeated, but Camden was the heavy favorite. During pregame introductions, the Panthers crowd laughed at Bogues because he was so small. But as soon as the ball tipped off, they weren’t laughing anymore. 

Bogues ripped Walls continuously, lofting alley oops to his high-flying teammates that were slammed home with authority. By game’s ending, the crowd who once laughed at him gave him a standing ovation, chanting, “MUGGSY! MUGGSY! MUGGSY!” 

They deluged him for autographs after the final buzzer. Muggsy finished with 15 points, 12 assists and six steals as Dunbar demolished Camden, 84-69. 

Howard Garfinkel, the founder of the legendary Five-Star basketball camp, famously called him, “The greatest peanut since Planter’s!”

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Jalen Rose, Southwestern High School, Detroit, Michigan

Rose played in perhaps the best high school backcourt ever alongside future NBA guards Howard Eisley and Voshon Leonard. At 6-foot-8, his remarkable versatility allowed him to impact the game in every statistical category.

A crafty ballhandler who could finish through contact in traffic, he could create for himself with a quick first step and a superb midrange game in addition to lacing his teammates with pretty passes from all over the court while playing multiple positions.

Playing for legendary Detroit high school coach Perry Watson, he led the Prospectors to a state championship in 1990. They repeated in 1991 with Rose, a two-time Parade Magazine All-American, scoring 25 points and grabbing 18 rebounds in the title game. 

The 1991 McDonald’s All-American game featured Rose and three of his future Fab Five teammates: Chris Webber, Juwan Howard and Jimmy King.  

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Antoine “The Judge” Joubert, Southwestern High School, Detroit, Michigan

A four-year varsity standout, Joubert moved from the post to the Southwestern backcourt as a junior, where he averaged a mind-boggling 30.6 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists per game while shooting 64% from the field. Opposing defenses had their hands full with the 6-foot-5 point guard who could score with both hands, defend and pass. 

Ranked as the No. 1 player in the nation as a senior in 1983, he averaged 31.3 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. The Judge scored 47 points in the state title game against Flint Central, the most ever scored in a Michigan state championship game up til that point.

In addition to his tremendous performances, his plush fur and chinchilla coat collection made just as much noise as his remarkable game. 

Voted Michigan’s Mr. Basketball, he was a Parade, USA Today and McDonald’s All-American who finished his Southwestern career with 2,208 career points. 

The only other player to score over 2,000 points in Michigan High School history was the outrageously talented Magic Johnson from Lansing.

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Lamar Odom, Christ the King High School, Queens, New York

Point guard? Lamar Odom? Yes, the silky smooth 6-foot-10 wunderkind from Queens played every position on the court, including point guard.

One of the most remarkable, well-rounded talents ever from New York City, Odom led Christ the King to a city title as a 15-year-old sophomore, scoring 36 points in the championship game.

Lean with an expansive wingspan, Lamar was a superior passer with slick handles who could glide in the open floor while pushing the ball with elite speed and quickness. After his junior year at Christ the King, he was honored as the New York Daily News Player of the Year in 1996.

He bounced between Redemption Christian Academy in upstate New York and St. Thomas Aquinas in New Britain, Connecticut for his senior year, after which he was named a First Team Parade All-American for the second consecutive year. 

Odom also earned USA Today All-USA First Team honors, was named a McDonald’s All-American, and Parade Magazine’s 1997 National Player of the Year after averaging 27 points, 17 rebounds, 12 assists and five blocked shots a game that year. Talk about a matchup nightmare!

He also starred on one of the greatest AAU squads ever with Elton Brand and Ron Artest on the Riverside Church Hawks.

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Trae Young, Norman North High School, Norman, Oklahoma

Trae, in addition to serving as El Debarge’s stunt double, averaged 25 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds per game en route to being named Oklahoma's Sophomore of the Year. 

As a junior, he posted 34.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists with Norman North advancing to the state championship game. He went Bezerkowitz during his final season, averaging 42.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists. 

A McDonald’s All-American, he scored a state-record 62 points in a single game as a senior and was named the Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year. 

(That’s actually more than 50 of the greatest high school point guards of all time, but we’ll just round it down so the headline doesn’t sound arbitrarily crazy)

Honorable Mention

John Lucas, Hillside High School, Durham, North Carolina

Sherman Douglass, Spingarn High School, Washington, D.C.

Lloyd Daniels, Andrew Jackson High School, Queens, New York

LaMelo Ball, SPIRE Academy, Geneva, Ohio

Josh Selby, Lake Clifton High School, Baltimore, Maryland

Mark Price, Enid High School, Enid, Oklahoma

Andre Barrett, Rice High School, New York, New York

Mateen Cleaves, Highland Park High School, Flint, Michigan

Darren Collison, Etiwanda High School, Rancho Cucamonga, California

Omar Cook, Christ the King High School, Queens, New York

Markelle Fultz, DeMatha Catholic, Hyattsville, Maryland

Shabazz Napier, Lawrence Academy, Groton, Massachusetts

Howard Eisley, Southwestern High School, Detroit, Michigan

Khalid Reeves, Christ the King High School, Queens, New York

Sherron Collins, Crane Tech, Chicago, Illinois

Russell Westbrook, Leuzinger High School, Lawndale, California

Jason Williams, DuPont High School, DuPont City, West Virginia

Ronald Curry, Hampton High School, Hampton, Virginia

God Shammgod, LaSalle Academy, New York, New York

Gary Payton, Skyline High School, Oakland, California

John Stockton, Gonzaga Prep, Spokane, Washington

Rajon Rondo, Oak Hill Academy, Mouth of Wilson, Virginia

Maurice Cheeks, DuSable High School, Chicago, Illinois

Shaheen Holloway, St. Patrick, Elizabeth, New Jersey

BJ Tyler, Lincoln High School, Port Arthur, Texas

Jamal Crawford, Rainier Beach High School, Seattle, Washington

Tim Hardaway, Carver Area High School, Chicago, Illinois

Derrick Phelps, Christ the King High School, Queens, New York

Johnny Dawkins, Mackin Catholic, Washington, D.C. 

Shawnta “Nut” Rogers, Lake Clifton High School, Baltimore, Maryland

Kemba Walker, Rice High School, New York, New York

Nolan Smith, Oak Hill Academy, Mouth of Wilson, Virginia

Quinn Buckner, Thornridge High School, Dolton, Illinois

Gus Williams, Mount Vernon High School, Mount Vernon, New York

Nate Robinson, Rainier Beach High School, Seattle, Washington

DJ Augustin, Hightower High School, Missouri City, Texas

Ricky Greene, Hirsch Metropolitan, Chicago, Illinois

Dave Bing, Spingarn High School, Washington, D.C.

Steve Burtt, Charles Evans Hughes High School, New York, New York

Ty Lawson, Oak Hill Academy, Mouth of Wilson, Virginia

Dana Barros, Xavieran Brothers High School, Westwood, Massachusetts

Sam Cassell, Dunbar High School, Baltimore, Maryland

Kenny Smith, Archbishop Molloy, Queens, New York

Kenny Brunner, Dominguez High School, Compton, California

Dejounte Murray, Rainier Beach High School, Seattle, Washington

Mark Jackson, Bishop Loughlin High School, Brooklyn, New York

Wayne Turner, Beaver Country Day, Newton, Massachusetts

Erik Barkley, Christ the King, Queens, New York

Mario Chalmers, Bartlett High School, Anchorage, Alaska

Lenny Wilkins, Boys and Girls High School, Brooklyn, New York

Rumeal Robinson, Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Taliek Brown, St. John’s Prep, Queens, New York

Glenn “Doc” Rivers, Proviso East High School, Maywood, Illinois

Austin Rivers, Winter Park High School, Winter Park, Florida

Cole Anthony, Oak Hill Academy, Mouth of Wilson, Virginia

De’Aaron Fox, Cypress Lakes High School, Katy, Texas 

Mike Bibby, Shadow Mountain High School, Phoenix, Arizona