No Great Illinois High School Player Forgotten

Continuing on with the theme "no great Illinois high school player forgotten," here is the next round of players submitted by readers over the past three weeks — names that belong in the conversation alongside the All-Decade Teams. From the 1950s through the 2000s, these are the guys who left their mark on Illinois high school basketball and beyond.

1950s

Dave Downey — Canton (1959)

• 2x All-State
• Scored over 1,500 points in his career
• 3x MVP at Illinois, 1,360 career points for the Illini (18.9 ave.)
• 53 points in a game against Indiana is still the school record
• 3x All-Big Ten, Illini All-Century Team
• Drafted by the Warriors

Don Ohl — Edwardsville (1954)

• All-State
• 52-12 record his junior and senior year (4th in state in '54)
• 2x All-Big Ten, 1,230 career points (20.0 ave.)
• 5x All-Star in the NBA

1960s

Les Taylor — Carbondale (1969)

• All-State in '69, led the Terriers to the Elite Eight
• All-Time leading rebounder (38 rebounds in one game)
• OVC-MVP at Murray State
• 2nd team All-American for the Racers

Dave Golden — Pekin (1965)

• 2x All-State
• Pekin won the state tournament in '64
• 58-5 record his junior and senior years
• 1,334 career points
• Played at Duke, played in the CBA

1970s

Roger Powell — Joliet Central (1972)

• All-State, 4th in voting for Illinois Mr. Basketball
• Averaged 20.7 points and 9.0 rebounds his senior year
• Teams were 45-13 his junior and senior years
• At Illinois, scored 1,178 points
• Played on the Illini team that was NCAA runner-up in '05
• Honorable Mention All-Big Ten

Darius Clemons — Chicago Phillips (1978)

• 2x All-State, Parade AA in '78
• Played four years at Chicago Loyola
• 1,610 points and 703 assists for the Ramblers
• 2x All-Midwestern City Conference
• Drafted by the Clippers

1980s

Michael Payne — Quincy (1981)

• All-State, 2nd in voting for Mr. Basketball, Parade AA
• 16.7 points and 9.5 rebounds as a senior
• Quincy was 91-4 his junior and senior years
• Won state championship in '81
• 1,118 points and 857 rebounds at Iowa
• Drafted by the Rockets

Ben Wilson — Chicago Simeon (1984)

• Chicago high school basketball legend
• Tragically shot and killed in November 1984
• Even before his senior season, Wilson was rated the #1 high school basketball prospect in the nation
• Led Simeon to the state championship as a junior
• Described by college basketball experts as "Magic Johnson with a jump shot"

Voise Winters — Cage Park (1981)

• All-State
• Played at Bradley from 1981 to '85
• Scored 1,708 points and had 686 rebounds
• Drafted by the 76ers

1990s

Lee Lampley — Rockford Boylan (1994)

• A legend on the playgrounds around Rockford
• Never played in college but scored 2,419 points in his 3-year career
• Only NIC player to score over 1,000 points in a season
• Averaged 29.8 points as a senior
• Almost 300 steals in 3 years as a starter
• The 6' guard played for HOF coach Steve Goers
• Teams went 82-16 including a 4th place finish in the state tournament
• Attended 3 different junior colleges
• Rated the 8th best high school basketball player to come out of the Rockford area

Rennie Clemmons — Springfield Calvary (1990)

• All-State
• Scored 2,932 points (10th all-time in state)
• Teams were 69-17
• Played at Illinois from '91-'93, averaged 9.9 points and 4.0 assists

2000s

Darius Miles — East St. Louis Lincoln (2000)

• Illinois Mr. Basketball, USA Mr. Basketball
• McDonald's AA, Parade AA
• Signed to play with the Clippers as the 3rd pick in the 1st round in 2000
• Played 7 years in the NBA, averaged 10.1 points and 4.9 rebounds

---

Coach's Corner: Mike Waldo — Edwardsville

I want to continue to recognize Illinois high school basketball coaches, as well as the players that have been submitted to me over these past three weeks. The coach I want to feature in this post is Mike Waldo from Edwardsville.

Coach Waldo compiled a 666-225 record over 31 years at Edwardsville. His 2012-13 team finished 3rd in the state and the 2013-14 team finished 4th. His 2005-06 team made it to the Elite 8.

---

Send Me More Names

I'll keep featuring players and coaches as you submit them — but please send more than just a name. Include the player's name, school, decade, and why they belong. The more detail you give me, the better I can tell their story.