Also a sidenote but since I'm bragging...Paul Derringer of Cincinnati Reds HOF, 6x all-star and 2x world series champ is from Springfield.
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Louisville Southern graduate and former teacher here.
I guess the best BB player would be Lisa Harrison (SHS '89) Lady Vol and WNBA player.
FB would be Phil Simms (SHS '74) Morehead St., New York Giants, Super Bpwl winner and MVP.Comment
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Mine could be a very long story but I'll try to keep it short.
I was born in Pikeville and went to Paintsville city school from K-6. My father passed away of cancer at the age of 41 during my 6th grade year. My Mom then moved us from Paintsville to Lex and I attended Christ the King Middle School for 7th and 8th grade with Mike and Richard Pitino. As most kids do at that school, I continued on to Lexington Catholic where I was schoolmates with Vondale Morton (Marshall), David Graves (Notre Dame), Shawn Fields (Georgia). I attended Lex Cath for my 9th and 10th grade years.
The summer between my Soph and Junior year we moved back to the beautiful mountains of Eastern KY and I finished up in 1997 at Paintsville and boy was that a journey! It was so much fun because Lex Cath and Paintsville developed into a huge rivalry during those years as PHS had JR Vanhoose and Todd Tackett. I was friends with all the Lex Cath guys and pretty much grew up with the PHS guys (my Dad and Todd Tackett's Dad were partners in the coal business until my Fathers passing). Lex Cath came to Paintsville in 96 and beat us and then in the semi's of the sweet 16 Paintsville put a whipping on Lex Cath and continued on to win it all that year. I didn't play basketball but 96 was a awesome year for me as I stayed glued to the games. JR's parents live next door to me now and JR lives across the street.
I've got three older brothers who attended and graduated from PHS in the 80's. Those were fun years as well because Coach Bill Mike Runyon had some stacked teams during those years as well with John Pelphrey (UK), Jerry Pelphrey (ETSU), Joey Couch (UK Football), Keith Adkins (Notre Dame), Mike Minix (Vandy Baseball). PHS should've won the Sweet 16 in John Pelphrey's senior season but they ran into Ballard and Allen Houston in the semi's. Mike Minix was a stud and his Grandfather passed away the morning of the game and (I think) Mike scored one point on a made FT after he averaged nearly 18-20 a game. I don't recall the final score but it was very close.
Last edited by Friendsofcoal; 07-03-2017, 10:13 PM.Comment
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I went to Cumberland High School which no longer exist. The best basketball player was probably Lewis Morris. He is the father of current Lady Cat Maci Morris. He started from his freshman season forward. Which was nearly unheard of back then. He was also a 6-6 forward/guard. Usually when someone was that tall back then they were put at center no matter if they could handle the ball. I don't know any of his point totals or anything like that but he had to be one the top all time leading scorers at my high school. They just couldn't get past Clay County in the regionals for him to show off his talents on the big stage. His last two seasons they lost out in the regional semi's and finals to Clay. Morris went to ETSU and played there for about a season and half. Then transferred to Cumberland College.
Other good players were Mike Granato who played in the 60's. I never saw him but many who saw him then say he was the best.
Larry ****************rell was a very good player in the early 70's. I saw him play and he was very,very good. He went on to play at Sam Houston State and I think was their all time leading scorer when he left there.
Also as many of you know Freddie Maggard played at Cumberland High too. He quit playing basketball after his sophmore season to concentrate on football and baseball. He may have been the best all around athlete from Cumberland. He could have been a very good basketball player if he had stayed with it. His dad was a star player at Carr Creek in the 50's and famously made two game winning shots in the state tournament one year. Freddie was a really good pitcher too. He could hit the radar gun over 90. Scouts came and watched him quite a bit. I think if he had concentrated on baseball he had shot at making it to the big leagues. But he liked football the best and didn't do too badly as he was the starting QB at Kentucky for a couple of seasons.Kentucky fan since 1971.Comment
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Saw Phil Simms at a baseball game at the Blue Lick Optimist league park off of Blue Lick Road. I remember someone saying his legs looked like telephone poles. He was a pretty big guy but looked small against those D Line monsters in the NFL. He was signing autographs for kids. I didn't get one because I just wanted to leave him be.Isaiah 5:20Comment
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He was very gracious in visiting the dedication of a small museum here in his honor. Seems to be a good guy. Don't know that I could handle fame. It would have to get old. I--like you--tend to leave famous people alone.Last edited by Catsrock; 07-03-2017, 11:22 PM.Comment
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Yes, I taught Social Studies and English at SHS until 1982. Had I stayed in teaching, I probably would have missed Sharon anyway; I never seemed to get the valedictorian candidates in class. ; -)
As for Phil, UK showed interest but I don't know why they backed off. Morehead's coach ran a pro-style offense. The rest, as they say, is history.
I'll 'second' what Catsrock and Blue Heaven have mentioned. Phil's story is definitely one of 'Local Boy Makes Good'. He's always been gracious with his time and talents.Last edited by Catgrad7072; 07-04-2017, 02:03 AM.Comment
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We're about the same age.
I played against those Lexington Catholic teams through those years. Vondale Morton was probably the best player I ever played against. (Fields IIRC was a little younger.) I shot a three from about 28 feet and Morton was standing at what had to be the dotted line in the paint. As soon as I shot it he went up and blocked it. It was crazy. My coach ripped me out and got me on the bench and said, "WE DIDN'T COME ALL THE WAY TO LEXINGTON TO WATCH YOU SHOOT THREES!"Comment
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I went to a Girls Catholic high school..Holy Rosary Academy.....not real sure about the best player at anything
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Hey don't be humble TrueBlue--maybe the best is YOU!Comment
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[QUOTE=teamchemistry15;n133213]
Alison is a friend of the family. She's a complete class act. I think Daniel Alcorn should get an honorable mention as well. I believe he played at North Florida.
I went to Seneca in Louisville. Wes Unseld is all you need to know. [/QUOT
I don't know, Mike Redd was a decent player too. Just not as famous.
John 3:3
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