I have seen similar forums that people discuss the greatest player they ever watched or who they feel in the greatest player of all time, but I thought I would try something a little different. Who is the greatest athlete you ever had the priviledge of playing against in an actual contest? This can be for any sport.
Me personally I would have to say Homan from Coldwater (the FB). For baseball it would have to be Brett McKinney (current OSU pitcher). First at bat against McKinney I struck out in 3 pitches haha, next at bat I got a line drive single over the 2nd baseman's head! Probably one of my greatest memories in baseball was getting a hit off of a guy throwing pitches as high as 94mph, and who has potential mlb stuff. Although it was my last baseball game ever.
I had the privaledge of playing middle school football with Connor Shaw (QB for South Carolina) in 6th grade and running back Imani Cross (Runningback for Nebraska) in 8th grade. Both were at Flowery Branch- C.W. Davis Middle School.
Please tell me your Middle School went undefeated those seasons Georgia Buckeye? haha
Marcus Coleman in football
Jimmy King in hoops
Ben Grieve in baseball
vacuuming sucks
Growing up outside of Pittsburgh, I had the privilege of being a pee-wee teammate of former Rutgers & NFL QB Mike McMahon, and also got to go against Penn Hills & Lavar Arrington in pee-wee.
In high school, we (D-IV St. Thomas Aquinas) were an emergency schedule filler for Canton McKinley in 1997. You know, the team that finished #1 in the country and had 6 or 7 guys that got D-I offers. It was 72-0... at the half. But I got a TFL on Mike Doss and took a clipping penalty from Kenny Peterson. So there you go.
Also, feel free to share any specific stories you may or may not have about the game/season/whatever. It's always nice to recall old memories from our glory days.
I was a Freshman when future Iowa All American\Bengals\Browns Offensive Lineman Eric Steinbach was a senior at my high school. At my high school we had a Freshman, Sophmore, and Varsity team. I played on Soph's as a Freshman and each year around the playoffs, 25 guys from the Sophmore team got called up to practice with the Varsity. We didn't dress but got a feel for what Varsity playoffs were like-we were there every year and won State my Freshman year while losing State my Soph and Senior years. I played defensive tackle, he played Tight End\Rush End. We were running scout against the starting offense and we ran a zone blitz look and I had to drop into coverage. It ended up being a draw play so I dropped 3-5 yards, read the play, went near the ball carrier and that apparentley offended Mr. Steinbach. I remember seeing the running back and then seeing nothing. It felt like getting hit by a Mack Truck. I couldn't breathe for a solid 15 seconds and thought I was dying.
4-6 seconds from point A to point B and when you get to point B, be pissed off
Hahah so far Brewster is winning for most hilarious story ^^
In middle school and HS ...hmmm
Football - Big Daddy Dan Wilkinson. He laid the wood on me a few times on a couple runs up the middle. One play he tackled me, the tailback and the QB at the same time. After that game I asked the coach could I play defense only.
We also played against Boone County Kentucky one year and they had a RB that put up almost 300 yards in 3 quarters on us...he made SI HS player of the week on us. His name escapes me ...
After that game I asked the coach could I go back on offense LOL
Basketball - Jimmy Jackson, Mark Baker and Jamie Skelton. Hands down. Also Scott Belyeu (Miami of Ohio)
Trotwood-Madison. Once a Ram, Always a Ram.
I played against Upper Sandusky from when the Dieblers moved in. It was like a shark attack playing against that 27-0 state championship team. I have no real stories other than when my teammate threw up a lay up and I thought FOR SURE it was going to hit the backboard. Like, that shot being touched wasn't even a consideration in my mind. That was until Jon Diebler blew past me and threw it off the wall.
Played against Esteban Weaver in basketball and Andy Katzenmoyer in football.
Buck4life where are you from? I'm from CW and played and graduated with Adam Homan
Luther "Ticky" Burden was the best player I ever stepped on the court with or against. University of Utah in the early '70s. Not only was he an amazing hoops player, he was also a damn nice guy.
Played baseball growing up so I'd have to say Todd Frazier, currently of the Reds. I struck him out the first time I faced him and the next time up he took a first pitch fastball off the wall against me for a double....guy was a monster
I ran track in high school and Ted Ginn Jr was a year ahead of me (I ran the mile and 2 mile so I never directly competed with him) Whenever we were at the same meet as Glennville I always made a point to watch him run the 110 hurdles. He was head and shoulders above everyone else out there and such a smooth runner. It didn't even look like he was trying.
Also, (even though he played for that team up north) Shawn Crable’s combination of size and speed was impressive. He ran the 100m and 200m and was so much bigger and heavier than anyone else out on the track but still ran away from just about everyone.
Ya, it was real funny Buck....I loved it. It was hillarious!
**Ron Swanson Glare**
4-6 seconds from point A to point B and when you get to point B, be pissed off
Copied this from another post I made
In high school I was a guard and played against Tim Anderson. I was a senior and he was a . . . . sophmore, I think??? Anyway, our scouting reports always listed the star player with a star next to their name and if a lineman decleated them during the course of the game, you got 2 milkshakes. I remember carbo loading at a team pizza dinner on Thursday night and my coach looks at me and says, "Eat up. You've got Anderson." Anyway, I was the smallest, but the fastest and most technically sound guy on the line (I did most of the pulling). Thank God I had a couple of years on the guy because he was a handful. Luckily, I managed to deflect him enough on most plays so that he didn't make a huge impact in the game. And on one play I fired off of the line really fast and jacked his shoulder pads into his neck and pushed him until he toppled over another dlineman who was on the ground. I got my two milkshakes.
I also played against Russ Kuhn's who went on to play for Wisconsin. Seeing him swat an OSU defender to the ground, made me feel better about giving up the only sack of my career to him.
"Because the rules won't let you go for three." - Woody Hayes
THE Ohio State University
As a sophomore in H.S. in Cincy I decided to run track. I was too lazy to do distance so I tried my hand at sprints. I was/is a slow white boy. On our team was Milt Stegall. Milt went on to play for the Miami Redskins, the Bengals and he finished his career playing in the Canadian football League. Milt was the fastest guy I had ever seen. He would blow me off the track in about four steps. Plus the fact he was/is a class act. His nickname in the canadian Football league was "Turtle Man". He owns a bunch of the CFL receiving records.
I grew up with and played against (in elementary, middle and high school) 2005-2008 Ohio State Point Guard Jamar Butler in football, baseball, and basketball.
The funny thing about athletes like that, is I honestly always felt he was even better at football and baseball. Could have been a minor league pitcher, could have played RB or WR at OSU had he wanted--he was the sort of athlete that wowed you at any sport he played.
I played against Desales in basketball who had Nick Kellogg (Ohio), Adam Griffin (Ohio St), Patrick Omameh (starting RG for Michigan), and the older brother of ChiChi Ariguzo (LB for Northwestern)
I wrestled David Taylor (national champion from Penn St) twice my senior year in wrestling.
I only swam and played soccer, so I'd have to go with Greg Doughty who is an All-American swimmer at SMU right now, and is a favorite to make one of the relay teams for the 2016 Olympics. The guy moved faster through water than a fish.
Played against John Kuhns from Bellevue. He was tailback at the time and went to Wisconsin and was fullback for Ron Dayne while Dayne was breaking all those records. Looked like the Incredible Hulk!! I think he s$&t out muscle. He also was an nfl fullback for awhile.
Purple Raider
Among other things that I did on the football field (none of which was anything to write home about) I was the deep snapper in high school. That usually meant that I was the first one down the field to make tackles on punts. I was never a fantastic hitter, but as a defensive back I learned to grab hold and not let go as the last line of defense. I was able to get most guys down or at least hold them up for the big boys to come clean up. Not the case against Marcus Coleman or his teammate Detron Smith (TAMU, Broncos). Coleman absolutely juked me out of my jock on more than one punt, and Detron steamrolled me a few times. There team was pretty solid.
vacuuming sucks
Adrian Arrington... Vastly overrated
Bergy22 I went to Anna, the newest member of the MAC in football. I graduated in 2009, same as you and homan I believe? You guys were tough, Klenke, Harlamert(sp?), the whole gang.
Dave Jamerson of Stow HS, OU, and the NBA. Dude could shoot the rock.
On a side note, my Beer League softball best athlete has to go to Keith Wenning (Current Ball St. QB). Can hit a HR every single at bat, unless of course there is a HR limit in effect.
Vince Workman.
@ Earle, my cousins went to school at Stow. Classes of '89 and '92.
vacuuming sucks
Wrestled Coleman Scott in High School (Olympic Bronze medalist). I got destroyed.
By far the best player I've every played against in high school was Domnic "DJ" Jones of Brookhaven and later Minnisota where he ran into legal trouble. Many of you probably remember him destroying Ray Smalls life... He was an absolute monster.
Football: Evan Spencer in like 2nd grade, he simply just never got tackled
Basketball: Trey Burke his senior year at Northland, kid is unbelievable
Baseball: I played HS ball with current OSU pitcher and former freshman of the year Josh Dezse. Was drafted by Yankees out of HS but chose to come to OSU instead. Throws around 98
Sorry Urban, Woody is still my favorite
Football:
LaVar Arrington (North Hills High School - PA/Penn State/Washington Redskins)
Ron Graham (Penn Hills High School - PA/Penn State)
Mark Bulger (Central Catholic High School - PA/West Virginia/St. Louis Rams)
Troy Nunes * (played with/was my QB), (Butler High School - PA/Syracuse)
Eddie Drummond (The Linsly School - WV/Penn State/Detroit Lions)
Basketball:
LaVar Arrington (North Hills High School) - he was a beast on the court, sat out his senior year to not risk injury for football, though
David Young (New Castle High School - PA/Xavier)
Danny Fortson (Shaler High School - PA/Cincinnati/Seattle Supersonics, etc.) - actually didn't personally play against him, I was only a Freshman at the time, but our team played against him. Yeah, he was good.
Archie Miller (Blackhawk High School - PA/N.C. State/former Asst. Coach at OSU - now head coach at Dayton) - tough, quick & lethal from 3 point range. Guarded him at PG...tough match-up
Matt Carroll (North Catholic High School before transferring to Hatboro-Horsham High School - PA/Notre Dame/NBA journeyman now with New Orleans Hornets - was with Charlotte Bobcats
"You win with people." - Woody Hayes
Played in a Drop-in (basically pickup) hockey game with RJ Umberger just after his freshman year at OSU. I played HS and Junior B hockey when I was younger so I was a pretty decent player, but he was going half speed and was just on his own level.
Played AAU ball with CJ Barnett for a few years - hell of an athlete.
Chris Borland (Wisconsin), Adam Homan (tOSU) and Mitch Evans (Indiana) were the best I played against.
I played High school ball against Storm Klein. He was playing running back in high school, I played corner. On one particular play he bounced it outside and I thought to myself " not on my watch." I squared up with him and went in for the tackle, apparently Mr. Klein had other ideas and straight trucked me. I held on and got the tackle, but quickly escorted myself to the sideline to shake off the cob webs. Kid hits hard when he's got some steam behind him.
I played with and against Chris Quinn and Drew Lavendar in basketball a ton growing up. Also although it isn't totally confirmed but I believe I played against Lebron James in basketball in 5th grade. My dad was the coach and his scorebook has a #23 with the last name of James against an Akron team... soo... maybe. We played a lot of good players and teams that year so I can't say he stood out in my memory, but we went back and looked at the old scorebooks after seeing him blow up later on.
In HS, I played against JJ Sullinger, Ivan Harris (pre-Oak Hill) and Simon Frasier in basketball.
I played baseball against Zach Smith (our WRs coach).
My cousin is married to Dan Bylsma, head coach of the Penguins. We have drank some beers together on more than a few occasions. That's the best I got.
i played against a few future NFL players -
RB DeShawn Wynn (Urban inhereted him at Florida) went on to play for Green Bay Packers
-could.not.be.tackled...300+ yards
OT Robert Brewster (Ball State) drafted 3rd round by Dallas Cowboys
-lining up against this dude was like running into a medicine ball
I played some really good guys in basketball. I would have to say either Jimmy Jackson or Derek Anderson. Jimmy Jackson could over power you and Derek Anderson was just plain quick!
From WV played football against Randy Moss all 4 years of high school.
Oyster - that is awesome!
hope you've scored some Pens tickets from that connection
"You win with people." - Woody Hayes
@ BuckeyeAZOH - I think you mean Chad Kuhns. I played against his team as well, though as I said, I went head to head with his brother Russ Kuhns who followed his brother to Wisconsin. Were you in the NOL? I am a Columbian grad.
"Because the rules won't let you go for three." - Woody Hayes
THE Ohio State University
My little league football team (yeah, I'm going way back) had Matt Anderson (first round pick of the Detroit Tigers) and Rashad Holman (CB for the 49ers). I also had a friend who played for UK basketball, and went on to play for the Jazz and the Rockets.
I played against Charlie Smith from Sunbury Big Walnut, the guy ran for 250+ yards on a handful of carries. I think he went on to Navy after high school not sure how great he did there but in high school the dude was a beast.
My freshman year I was on special teams but played a few snaps against Charlie Frye of Willard ... the man could sling the ball in high school, it wasn't ever close. Anyone who is a fan of the Factory of Sadness knows Charlie Frye, or a former NOL alumni.
JT
Played against Charles Woodson in middle school/9th grade football. I intercepted a pass and he leveled me out of nowhere during my return. Didn't even see it coming...at least I held on to the ball. I'm not positive, but I think he may have been the QB too.
Lebron in both football and bball. Upset he went with bball because he would've been a beat WR for OSU!
BUCKS43201,
It was actually more fun when he was playing. Whenever he came to Columbus we would always go down below after the games and see him, or if they were in town overnight we would all go out to eat. Now that he is the coach it isn't as easy to see him as much.
D1 aau basketball tournament indy spiece field house Fort Wayne, Indiana. Greg Oden was a freshman in high school, but he was still about 6'9ish 10ish at the time and he dunked it down my throat in a tournament game. To add insult to injury young Mr. Conley on the same team broke my ankle on a crossover in the high post and it still hasn't healed.
In football I got to play against a lesser known kid on these boards. His name was Devin Moore. He played for Ritter highschool and was a senior my Junior year at Speedway high school. We played in 2a and they were 1a so to say the least we were small schools. That still didn't change the fact that he 6'0 180 with sick moves and 4.3 40 speed. He went to Wyoming to play college ball and then has made his way around the nfl a little bit. He was recently with the colts as of last year as a return man. I tackled him twice and that was it. We "contained" him to 120 rushing and two touchdowns and won the game. That was his lowest total all year. lol
I played against Brad Friedel in soccer a few times growing up in NE Ohio. Does that count for anything?
yeah, gotcha OYSTER...such is the price of fame ---- what about any Crosby or Malkin autographs, memorabilia
"You win with people." - Woody Hayes
Paul Ott Curruth when I played football in Mississippi. he gashed us for numerous yards that day and when he hit you, he would loosen your teeth.
In basketball, I played against Sean Miller who went on to play at Pitt and coach Xavier and Arizona.
The best team as a whole I played against by far was Mooney. I was head up over The John Simon most of the game who was even a handful as a sophmore. When he wasn't over me I was blocking ishmaa'ily kitchen( Kent State, Cleveland Browns). When I went out for the linebackers I was blocking Zordich and Beachum (both at Penn State) or Hill (Michigan) and behind them at safety was McCarthy (Notre Dame). I also had the privledge of playing against Chris Wells, Mario Manningham, Whitney Mercilus Illinois, Rick Stanzi Iowa QB, Eric Kettani Navy FB, Nick Schepis Boston College, Erique Robertson Illinois. Got to play on the same team as Tyrell Sutton Northwestern/ Panthers, Delone Carter (Colts), and Joe Morgan (Saints) all three of them were so fun to watch
BUCKS43201,
We had a family get together last year around New Years (Dan couldn't come, obviously), but MaryBeth told us some juicy stuff about Crosby. He basically lost his nerve and there wasn't really anything wrong with him, he just couldn't get back on the ice.
Todd Bell... he's an old timer from the VERY early 80s, but the older guys on here will remember. Great Buckeye, and very good NFL player. Bell played for the Bears and he actually sat out the the '85 Super Bowl season in a contract dispute with the Halas/McCaskey family. Unfortuantely, Todd passed away a few years ago.
Played Pee Wee against Nick Goings, played high school ball against Nick Goings, Andy Katzenmoyer, and Gary Berry.
"Michigan and "huge mistake" are synonymous"
-Mark Titus
Freddie Edu... we were the only team he didn't score on the one season he palyed HS soccer... his team still beat us
Kid was fast as hell and slippery.
Cause I couldn't go for three
@Triv
I have class with Josh Dezse.
Small world after all.
Same class also has John Simon haha. Deshaun is in another class of mine. Perks of going to OSU!!
Brad Friedal-One of the most decorated US Mens soccer goalies of all time. He went to a rival high school in Northest Ohio. I actually scored on him twice. Heis probably one of the best all around athletes I've ever been around. He was all-state at basketball, soccer and tennis.
Football: Asher Allen (starting saftey for Vikings) Thomas Brown (Was second string RB for the falcons) They played on the same damn team in Tucker High School in Atl. No lie Thomas Brown was a better athelete, he was a complete freak but got hurt. Channing Crowder ( Starting NFL linebacker)
Baseball: Calvin Johnson (WR Lions) He was a stud baseball player too for Sandy Creek High.
Austin spitler my freshman year he was a senior at bellbrook. Mitchell evans for milton union eventually went to indiana.
I played against Brian Mcbride when he was still playing for the crew. I was at his summer camp and was named offensive MVP (early HS). With that honor came the humbling experience of having to go against Brian himself and he absolutly destroyed me. I got scholarship offers to play soccer and I wasn't even on the same planet as his talent. Probably the best forward to have played for the USA thus far. Also, he's a really cool/nice guy. My mom used to run into him around polaris at the grocery store and she said he always stopped to talk if someone approached him, including her on many occassions. Class act.
@BleedScarlet My roommate went to Bellbrook with Austin, I guess they grew up together and played football too. He said Austin just got crazy huge in early HS and and we all know where that got him. My roommate is now a chemist. haha. Two very different paths taken by childhood friends.
Mark Eaton of the NY Islanders was on my hockey team for about 6 years growing up.
Played against:
Jim Bundren (Clemson OL)
Jaimie Duncan (Vandy/ Falcons, Rams, Buccaneers)
a friend of mine struck out mike trout in little league one year; obviously he's got a lot riding on this MVP announcement tonight
A couple years ago I was playing pickup basketball in Cincinnati and Ruben Patterson showed up. He was going through the motions just messing around until a couple try hards got under his skin. I was not impressed that he could back down and dunk on a bunch of under 6 foot little guys, but I found it amusing that he did.
Also played rec ball against Matt Sylvester back in the day. Wasn't great but hit one big time shot.
Played football up until 8th grade for Northmont outside of Dayton. Played a couple of games between pee wee and 8th against AJ Hawk and Mangold.
Our honor defend we will fight to the end for Ohio..
I grew up playing soccer but switched to football my junior year thinking I'd just kick and punt. Due to injuries, paying attention and learning coverages, and mediocre athleticism I earned the starting free safety spot.
In our 4th game, the QB was Rocky Pentello (Capital U) and the WR was Antoine Harris (U of Louisville and a brief stint with the Falcons, and ran a sub 4.4 in HS), so my free safety career ended by halftime and many passing yards/TDs given up.
We also went up against Chase Blackburn (NY Giants) in the playoffs the next year, but since he didn't block or return any of my punts, I can't say I really squared up against him.
I had the unfortunate luck of drawing a team with Albert Pujols on it for a baseball tournament in Colorado when I was 13. He was a monster then! 3-3 with two homeruns and a double. I would love to say it was in a losing effort, but no, his team crushed us by about 12 runs.
Just upvoted everyone with a story. You guys are lucky. Being a girl who played basketball, I can honestly say I have never played with or against anyone of any significance. I have, however, talked to people on the womens track team at SEL and studied next to Aaron Craft at Thompson before. Does that count?
Track and Field - Tyson Gay (World Champion and American Record Holder)
I played football and basketball for zanesville high school. My cousin kevin martin (oklahoma city thunder) was always a beast at our school and playing lebron james in football and basketball was obviously hard for us to handle.
All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Football
Fred Davis - Toledo Rogers
Javon Ringer - Dayton Chaminade Julienne
Marcus Freeman - Huber Heights Wayne
Mike D'Andrea - Avon Lake
Ryne Robinson - Toledo Central Catholic
Anthony Turner - Dayton Chaminade Julienne
Ernie Wheelwright Jr - Columbus Walnut Ridge
Basketballl
B.J. Raymond - Toledo St. John's
That's all I can think of, off the top of my head...
as a student at osu one of my favorite things was pickup basketball games at the rpac. i wasn't very good, but it was a helluva lot of fun. one game my buddies and i got approached by a coupla guys and one girl. they looked scrappy, and always we accepted the challenge. i got to guard the girl so i (wrongly) assumed i'd have a few easy baskets and an easy time defending. she ended up scoring just about every time she had the ball, didn't matter if i had a hand in her face. after the game i was told i just played katie smith, osu hall of fame, olympic athlete and top 15 wnba player of all time. she could have told me before we started balling...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katie_Smith
Had the pleasure of playing against and with Art Schlichter. In our huge rural school system throughout grade school and into hs until knee surgeries stopped me. As I believe I mentioned here before, Art could throw the ball so freakin hard by junior high you almost hated to catch it. It got to the point the coaches said nothing about catching the ball against your body because only a couple guys could catch it every time hands only. Most talented guy I have ever seen. He was like a grown man by the time he was 15. It is unimaginable how that all turned out. Played with Glenn Cobb too.
played against katie smith a time or two as well, she lays a mean screen!
Basketball played with James Dews(miami fl)-got to go against in practice and stuff does that count?
Baseball got a hit off Scott McGregor(memphis/st louis cards) also played with Dan Burkhart(Ohio State/Sf Giants minors right now) and a few other guys in the minors right now.
Charles Woodson in High School. He was crazy athletic. Unbelievable really. He was a great bball player as well but after committing to TTUN he wasnt allowed to play his senior season of Bball.
Damon Moore was tough as well. He hit incredibly hard.
"I'll fire when I'm god damn good and ready! You got that?" - Pete "Maverick" Mitchel
One of my favorite memories was on the '05 state championship Coldwater team. Early in the season as a freshman about 5'3" 120lbs, I was playing some scout team offense and ran a route across the middle. Well senior Ross Homan was patrolling the middle and I'm not sure how I didnt see this monster of a man but I ran smack into him. I fell, knocked the wind out of myself and I'm not even sure he realized someone ran into him. Im dont know what happened on the play because I was lying flat on my ass. He picked me up by my jersey one handed, like a bicep curl and set me upright like nothing happened and went about his business. My neck and ribs were sore for three days, Im not sure I gave him a scratch. So I hit Ross Homan, whether he realized it or not.
I swam against a bunch of current OSU swimmers in high school, including one who demolished a bunch of YMCA National records.
I wouldn't cheer for Michigan if they were playing the Taliban.
My father was in the Air Force, so we spent a lot of my childhood on the Air Force Academy. The McDonald's All American game was played there in 97. We had access to the gym on the Academy and got to watch the teams practice. I was a Sophmore in high school. After the practice some of the players stayed around and played some open gym. I got to play against Khalid El Amin (sp?), Luke Recker, and the Collins twins. Luke Recker was by far the best out the bunch at the time, at least that was what I thought.
Not many pro athletes from Colorado Springs, but the best local player that I got to see before I got to high school was Pat Garrity.
@LOUGROZA - I gotta admit, Miami Trace High School probably has the coolest high school stadium I've ever seen.
Shawn Lazarus a few games.Mike Doss and Dustin Fox in a scrimmage. In track, threw shot and discus against Michael Munoz, Mike DeAndrea, Marcel Frost and the best, Dan Taylor. Taylor was a 9 time NCAA champion at Ohio State and Olympian. Had the priviledge to throw against these guys quite a few times (and won a few)!
Antwaan Randle El
He was a pure athlete! Great at every sport I went up against him in. Something special to see on the football field though.
I scrimmaged Mo Clarett in HS, played with Anthony Smith (Cuse) and Shaun Lane (tOSU), and played against Mike Kudla in the OHSAA playoffs and by far Mo Clarett was the best
Buckeyeneer - Yes, my mistake, I was referring to Chad Kuhns. Beast. I'm from the NOL. Played at Norwalk graduated in 1999.
Purple Raider
James Quick.
Fred Davis-Rogers-Football
BJ Raymond-St Johns-Basketball
I grew up in CT but the best athlete I played against was Amari Spievey who played safety for the Iowa and is now on the lions. He was a rb in high school and a very good one. As a junior is high school team beat my high school during my senior year. We should have won but we did not and missed out on states. Its a sore subject for me
@Hodge - yes it is a nice stadium that hasn't changed much in the last couple decades. Other than adding nice large visitor seating and they also have improved the track surfaces and made general upgrades. For the most part it has remained fairly consistent through the years. The home bleachers made for excellent views of the field anywhere you would sit due to being attached on the upper area of the school itself. Nice field as well. The football team has not been quite the same since Art was 44 - 0 as a starter there during his career.
@Buckeyes125 - when did you play Trinity? I played for them in the mid-2000s.
Javon Ringer - Chaminade Juliene -> Mich. St., Anthony Turner - Chaminade Julienne -> Mich., Michael Bush - Male High School -> UofL, Victor Anderson - Louisville St. X -> UofL
My most interesting/intense story regarding these players was against Javon Ringer. It was my junior year and I was on kickoff. We returned the opening kickoff for a TD. On kickoff coverage I see this man with thighs that are about as large as my waist cut right past me. He and the strongest player on our team (4 time national powerlifting champ) meet head on and a few other teammates attempt to gang tackle him. He pops loose and returns the kick for a TD. My friend (the strongest player on our team) said he hit him as hard as he had ever hit someone and was positive that he went down, to look up and see him scoring.
went to HS and played against Scott McMullen. Don't remember the name? He was THE backup to one Craig Krenzel during the magical 2002 season.
The reason I played against him was because I was terrible at basketball and was on the scrub/practice team.
“The teams that don’t respect their coaches and don’t trust their coaches are the teams that go .500"
~Zach Boren
I played against Trinity this year and last year. Let's just say Mr. Quick had 7 touchdowns vs. us those 2 years.
Played against Kevin Martin in bball who is with the Thunder now. Lebron was in the state tourney same year but he was a division below us. Played against a few guys in baseball that made it to the big leagues but not real long careers. Former teammate in college, Dustin Nippert played for the Dbacks and Rangers for a few years.
Tough times never last, tough people do
Rob Kelley (Newark Catholic) later starting OSU Safety
Matt Calhoun (Heath) later starting OSU FB
Clay Williams (Licking Valley) later Indiana Hoosier OL 6-5 270lb seniors playing defensive line are tuff to move out of the way, when you are a 6-1 195lb junior guard....
best football player I ever played against was a guy named Fred Stinson from Heath, Ohio, dude was a fantastic running back.
We lost to Marion Local in the regional semis in basketball, they had former Buckeye/current Padre flamethrower Cory Luebke. Also played against North College Hill when they had OJ Mayo and Bill Walker. Didn't play against him but my HS played against Adrien Payne of MSU.
Wayne Woodrow Hayes
Very very very easy for me. In both football and basketball, Orlando Pace.
Played against current Pitt freshman Rushell Shell in high school. Dudes a beast, but apparently not too bright. Should be in the NFL if he keeps his shit together in college.
I played against Jeff Snedegar in football...dude was a good qb but played lb for Kentucky ...
In baseball, I played against Kyle Stanton who was drafted by the Yankees in the 12th round.....true story about him and that game in particular, we were losing terribly and were set to be mercied but I called my shot in the dugout and hit a HR off of his hanging curveball
Funny story I played against Dallas Lauderdale in basketball when I was in middle school. That kid has always been huge he was like 6'5'' in 7th grade and 6'9'' in 8th grade. Anyway he went to dunk on my teammate and my teammate was so determined not to get dunked on he pulled him and his shorts down.
Dave Morrill (NT) > Centerville > Ohio State > Browns
Gary Alders (QB) > Centerville > Ohio State
Scott Neff (K) > Centerville > Ohio State
Vaughn Broadnax (FB) > Xenia > Ohio State
Scott Phillipi (QB/P) > Xenia > Stanford
Billy Harris (NT) > Xenia > Michigan
Played against Matt Finkes (Piqua, OH)
Played alongside John Lumpkin (Trotwood, OH) and Andre Hutson (Trotwood, Michigan St.)
“There’s one thing I have learned through all my adventures and conquests - it’s that some people are just wired for success. I had no choice when it came to being great - I just am great.” – Kenny Powers
My dad stole the ball from Jay Burson in a pickup game. So I'd say my dad is the best I've ever faced.
Also Satch Sullinger was my AAU coach one summer, but I sucked. I played a bit with JJ.
@ ClevCFH - That is awesome!!!! Pace was my idol when I played on the line. I played against some good talent but it is the rare person who can say that they played against arguably the best to ever do something. Pace is easily in the discussion for the top 20 O-linemen of all time in college and the pros.
"Because the rules won't let you go for three." - Woody Hayes
THE Ohio State University
Kajana Carter (Westerville South) . He was quite a runner. We won the game though. :)
Nate Clements as opposition. Chris Hovan on my own team in practice.
I played with Caleb Day (2013 Illinois Commit) when we were both 10 he was grease lightening then too disappointed that Urban pull him in.
Played against Aaron craft in Football and basketball.
I had a halfback dead and buried on a 10 right. He came right over center, and I threw the center pretty easily, got position on him, wrapped him up and planted him. Great tackle - except I had nothing in my arms. Kid had wheeled right out of it, skipped a couple of yards to one side and run 70-odd yards for a TD.
Kid's name was Kijana Carter.
The top 4 were Will Allen, BJ Askew, AJ Hawk, and Trent Cole in that order (this was in high school, not now). Also played against Quinn Pitcock, Nick Mangold, Marcus Freeman, Termain Hall (sp), and Mike Nugent. Centerville had Nugent kick off and Hawk punt. Every kickoff went through the uprights and every punt went over 50 yards, including a 70 yarder, no joke. My sophmore year we went to Colerain, after beating them the year before, and were beaten to a pulp by the Kerry Coombs coached Cardinals. He was nuts back then too, youtube 1999 Colerain vs Fairmont...I'm #7, the one that Askew (#34) shakes a couple times
I ran in track meets against Pierre Garcon and Cecil Shorts in college
Brandon Schnitker-OSU FB and Jonathan Suter-Game cocks both went to Sandusky Perkins HS back in the early 2000's when they were winning State Championships.
I would be Remiss if I did not include Aaron Richardson in that mix as well. He sadly passed away while walking on at Bowling Green the year after Urban left. All three of those guys came from Perkins HS in Sandusky during my "stellar" HS Career at Port Clinton (yearly doormat)
I didn't play against him but I did play with Kijana Carter in 6th & 7th grade football. I played a few different positions but mostly played TE & used to block for him all the time (although he didn't need a blocker usually)...He was unstoppable then & everyone knew even then he would be special. I followed his career after that & was upset that he tore his ACL in his first game as a Bengal. It's too bad - I think he could have been a great NFL RB but he never was the same after that...
The world is full of kings & queens who'll blind your eyes & steal your dreams - it's heaven & hell - Ronnie James Dio.
I've played against a lot of good to great basketball players in my younger years. Some became big time names. But the best was Brad Hoffman from Walnut Ridge who later played for Dean Smith.
"It's just another case of there you are". ~ Doc (1918-2012)
Played HS baseball against Chris Hoiles, who went on to play a number of years for the Orioles. Also played in a HS Catholic tourney game back in '85 or so vs. a team that was lead by the youngest of the famous Paxson brothers, who did not play NBA. At the time, he was playing with his arm in a cast from the elbow down, and still managed to light-up me and my buddy for 40-some points.
"Buclkle your chinstrap, we're gonna grind meat!" - Woody Hayes
Plain and simple. Maurice Clarett. He was a man amongst boys.
Our starting safety in a midseason game had a chance to blindside him on one of his runs in the hole, and he took full advantage of it and flexed and celebrated after like he was pretty tough. The very next play Mo got the ball and had a HUGE opening to the outside that would have been an easy touchdown... instead he cut back to the middle of the field and ran our safety over and still got to the endzone. Our kid had no idea where he was or what day it was, concussion, didn't play another down of football (no one liked him anyway).
Oh and Prescott Burgess was on that team as well. Tough Warren Harding team.
“Not everybody’s the perfect person in the world, I mean everyone kills people, murders people, steals from you, steals from me, whatever. I think that people need a second chance, and I’ve always looked up to Mike Vick."
Baseball - played with and against Dexter Fowler from the Rockies, against Chris Nelson from the Rockies, played with Luke Putkonen in high school (reliever) from the Tigers, played with/against Tyler Flowers (backup catcher) from the White Sox.
Basketball - played against Josh Smith.
Track- Ran in the same meets as Jeff Demps in FL, as well as Xavier Carter (played for LSU and now runs track professionally)
I stopped playing team sports at 11, but my Dad and brother have some good ones.
Brother for football: Played against Clinton Portis and Ian Scott (both were on Gainesville High School's football team)
Dad: Played against Archie Griffin in Youth football
used to dick around on the roller hockey rink up on north campus when RJ Umburger was playing for OSU. every once in a while he'd show up and just lay waste to whatever humanity was occupying the space. me and the kids who played up there all played a bit of competitive hockey, but it was just a joke when he and some of the varsity guys showed up. it was embarassing for us, f'n sniper school for them.
brady quinn in rec league hoops, simon fraser in playground hoops
the kids are playing their tail off, and the coaches are screwing it up! - JLS
I played at Fairborn HS (10 min from Dayton), in what was then the WOL, and needless to say we would get crushed.
Centerville - AJ Hawk and Mike Nugent
Xenia - Trent Cole
Wayne - Will Allen and John Hollins (OSU player that never really played)
I was run over by Raymont Harris our 10th grade JV year. I was not the only one.
I wrestled against Kevin Randleman... that was the most unpleasent 45 seconds of my life.
Respectfully,
Larryp713
William Huston or Jeff Cothren. Houston ran me over when I was a junior and I grabbed his elbow pad. He drug me with me hanging on his elbow pad for another 5 yards. He was a load. Cothren was just big and fast. Both had nice careers at OSU.
I played hoops against the following guys who all played in the NBA:
Charles Oakley, Brad Sellers, Tim Hardaway, Ron Harper, Mark Price, Mark West, Kevin Edwards, Stan Kimbrough, Kenny Battle, Lowell Hamilton, Craig Elho
Played most of these guys in summer leagues in either Cleveland or Chicago. Ron Harper was an absolute beast. I believe it was after his rookie year with the Cavs and he showed up about 5 minutes before tip off and dropped about 40 against us. Mark Price had absolutely unlimited range and was impossible to guard. But I'd have to give the slight nod to Tim Hardaway. His crossover was legendary. Funny story about that crossover:
Right before his rookie year in the NBA I played in a summer league with Tim. Well one time I got stuck guarding him straight up at the top of the key. Being rather slow, white and large he figured he could easliy skate by using his patented killer crossover. Well he starts the crossover to my left, then bust it back right and runs straight into me. The ball gets knocked away and we take it down court and score. Coming back up court he pats me on the backside and says, "Good D"...I said thanks and kept playing. What I couldn't tell him is the reason he ran into me was that his first move was so quick that I was still reacting to it when he came back right into me. So I outslowed him! Everytime I think of that I laugh to myself...
Brian
Go Bucks!
my CYO team scrimmaged Lebron James and his buddies once, things didn't go well
@ BuckeyeNeer
OP was every bit the athlete he's been described as over the years.
I played for Lorain High and back then we were in the same conference (Erie Shore) as Sandusky High, where OP is from. I'm a year older so we squared off twice in football and 4 times in hoops.
In football I was no slouch, 1st team all conference & county and 3rd team all state as a senior. And a big boy too. 6'5" 260 lbs as a senior. Played OL a couple years at Toledo before I was banged up badly in an car accident. Against Big O, I never stood a chance, in either sport.
On the football field, he was an immovable object. We lined up across from each other on EVERY SINGLE PLAY, both O & D. Over 2 games I recorded 1 tackle, 1 sack, but the sack was on a play the QB scrambled right into me. Big Os arms were so long he kept me off his body and basically controlled me with little to no effort.
Flipped around - me on O and OP on D - I was able to get into his body some, get a pad level advantage on him. But only because I knew the snap count. Once he decided where he wanted to go, that's where he went. In our second game, I wised up. Told the coaches he was going to follow me in the formation so I flipped to left tackle, Pace followed and we lined up the power to the right and ran away from him. Far away.
But really it was on the basketball court where you could see Orlando's other worldly athleticism. GREAT feet. At 6'7" 290 lbs he glided all over the court. And super soft hands. His teammates couldn't throw a bad entry pass to him. He caught everything. He was an 18pt 15reb guy as a senior and made it look so easy. 20 years ago there was no flopping to draw charges. I was coached to stand in like a man and defend him. In all 4 games I tried and was in foul trouble early and often in every game. Big O was good for 5 to 7 easy drop step lay ups a game. He could catch the entry pass and have his feet and hips in perfect position. Once you were on his hip, game over. Lay up or foul.
As much as anything he is great guy too. We became acquaintances and stayed in touch for a couple years when he was at OSU. I hung out with him a couple times on campus way back when.
For his size and body type, I've never seen as fluid an athlete. Just made everything about playing OL look so damn easy. For him, for the most part, it was..
Eric Bledsoe in basketball Mark Barron & AJ McCarron in FB
Follow me @jaythesportsguy
I went to Moeller High School here in Cincinnati
As far as guys I played with in football that you may know of:
Mike Munoz (Tennessee, bad knees, never played in the nfl unfortunately)
Ryan Hamby (best friend and notorious for dropped ball against texas, not that I had to mention the drop, which drives him crazy to this day)
Basketball (i got cut but watched)
Matt Sylvester (Illinois buzzer beater)
Played against in football:
Maurice Clarrett (we beat them jr and sr year but my god he was a man amongst boys, one of our guys had a hold of the back of his jersey, maurice dragged him about 10 yards before being gang tackled)
Mike Doss (my freshman year, was at the state game in 1997)
he was probably the best high school football player i watched, soo much faster than everybody on the field, ferocious hitter (but you guys know this)
Jamar Martin
he was enormous, a one man wrecking crew
Amazing how many athletes are on here. I was never blessed with the skills to play more than a JV sport. But while at OSU, this guy named Dan absolutely killed us in co-ed flag football. While I considered myself fast (4.9 speed) for the group I hung around with, this guy seemingly scored at will every time he touched the ball. Maybe all the beers have affected the reality of the situation, but that's how I remember it. Dan was a beast back in the late 80's. (Those fields are now parking lots just south of the Shoe).
The best players I ever played against were at AAU basketball tournaments. The first player I'll mention is Jamar Butler. He's probably the second best, though. We made it to the championship of a state AAU tourney and my coach says so their point guard is the #1 point guard in the state. Then he points at me and says you're guarding him. We lost by 20 or 30 and Jamar, in expected fashion, dropped somewhere between 20-30 points while appearing to not give any kind of a shit.
The best player I ever played against I don't even know his name. At the tournament there was a lot of talk that he was going to be going to play his basketball at Georgetown but I have no way of knowing where he went and if he actually played. He was one of those guys you'd watch play from the stands and say, wow...I hope we don't have to play him. Well we wound up having to play him later in the tourney. The guy was a PG, probably about 5'8" and was ridiculously quick to the bucket and would finish acrobatic shots. Adding to it, he was a deadeye shooting the ball from anywhere past half court. He ran circles around us and we were even running some kind of modified zone to essentially triple team him at points and we still couldn't even slow him down. Somehow, we wound up taking them to OT because the rest of his team was garbage. Being that there was no shot clock and they couldn't stop us either due to a huge advantage in the post, we would win the jump ball and hold and delay for the entire OT period to prevent that guy from getting the ball again. We had to go to triple OT before we held for the last shot and actually made it.
I was a true grid iron legend in my own mind, so I've always believed I was the best. Vaughn Broadnax was a close second. We scrimmaged Xenia my senior year and he lived up to all the hype. He was huge and really ran hard.
An angry fan...rooting for an angry team...led by angry coaches
Lebron James at a LasVegas high school tourney. Reggie Bush in football.
Run_Fido's favorite word is strawman.
Mike Doss. Picked off my QB in a passing scrimmage tried to tap him down. Pretty sure my jock is still on the Mount Union practice fields. Claret was a better athlete, but I didn't play in that scrimmage.
Tim Spencer in practice.The guy was a beast in high school