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Episode 62 is features a great debate that few hoop heads will ever agree upon: Which high school basketball team is the greatest of all time?
This ITP Show idea was sparked from a piece co-host Ronnie Flores wrote earlier in the week outlining four teams that are in the mix for that prestigious, yet unclaimed crown. Click the link below to listen to the full podcast and continue reading for a brief overview on why these are the four high school teams up for the debate.
There are two recent teams in consideration: 2015-16 Chino Hills, which went 35-0 while playing a loaded national schedule. What stands out most about that Huskies' team is that they accomplished those feats as a public school playing with mainly neighborhood players. Chino Hills were paced that season by current New Orleans Pelicans point guard Lonzo Ball and his brothers, LaMelo and LiAngelo. Seven Chino Hills players went on to play Division 1 college basketball and four are primed to play in the NBA.
The 2019-20 Montverde Academy is the most recent team with a legitimate claim to be the best high school team ever. The Eagles went 25-0, winning their games by a staggering average margin of 38.9 points. MVA had its season cut short due to the Coronavirus pandemic and weren't able to challenge for its fifth GEICO title. It's still to be determined how many Montverde players will make it to the NBA, but coach Kevin Boyle estimates that 12 players from this year's roster will earn Division 1 scholarships.
The other two teams come from earlier in high school hoops history, starting with the famed 82-83 Dunbar team out of Baltimore. The Poets went 31-0 that season and sent 11 of their 13 rostered players to the Division 1 level. NBA players from that squad consisted of Reggie Lewis, Reggie Williams and Tyrone "Mugsy" Bogues. Dunbar played a national schedule in a time period where it was rare for programs to make multiple out-of-state trips to play the upper-echelon competition.
Finally, the 1992-93 Oak Hill Academy team rounds' out the debate. Long-time NBA players Jerry Stackhouse and Jeff McInnis highlighted that 36-0 team which beat six college programs, in addition to 30 high school teams, in its 36-0 campaign. Nine players off of that Warriors team went on to play Division 1 hoops with four making it to the NBA.
where would the Camden High team of 1980-81 rank if they had not lost there last game. there average margin of victory was 43.9 points a game and they averaged 103 points a game. they had over 150 dunks and there was no three point line at that time or they would have averaged even more as Milt Wagner was a premier perimeter shooter. Milt and Billy Thompson went on to win a ncaa championship with Louisville along w/ freshman Kevin Walls and they also played in the NBA. they destroyed NO. 1 Dematha in the Seagull Classic and also beat top teams from Philadelphia (Overbrook), New York (Boys High), and Washington (Eastern)., as well as a highly regarded Atlantic City High team 3 times. The final game after 27 straight wins was a huge letdown and there were extenuating circumstances with the team not getting to the Princeton Jadwin gym until about 15 minutes before game time because of the huge traffic jam (over 11,000 fans showed up for a Gym that holds a capacity of 8,000. teams were not allowed to miss a full school day for in state games at that time. I would like your thoughts.