Illinois HS Greats: More Legends From the 1950s Through the 1990s

My gratitude and thanks to the many readers that submitted names to me to recognize the great Illinois high school players of the past 7 decades. I actually had a couple names of players from the 40's. I enjoy the history of the "old guys." Thanks also to Hazel Scott for correcting me about the first African American to play at the University of Illinois. It was Walt Moore, not Jackson and Vaughn. All great players that I admired.

With the 11 players listed in today's post, I now have recognized over 150 high school players in my posts and on my website. All made their mark in high school basketball in Illinois. Many went on to greater fame, and yes, fortune. But to many of us who heard about them or even followed them they will always remain our high school heroes. Some of these players' names and pictures are in my scrapbook that I began keeping when I was 10 years old in 1954.

If you missed any of the 7 decades of players, coaches, and teams, you can see them all on my website. You are still welcome to send me other names of players, I ask you to check to see if I already have mentioned them and send me more than just their name. I know the interest is out there; one of my posts got over 1,000 views.

1950s

Bill Small — Roanke/Benson / Aurora West (1959)

All-State, HS All-American, scored 2,320 points in career, Aurora West teams finished 4th in the state tournament in '58 and '59, scored 963 points (13.6 ave.) at Illinois, drafted by the Pistons.

1960s

Herb Williams — Centralia (1963)

All-State, averaged a double-double in high school career in points and rebounds, '63 team finished 2nd in the state tournament, overall 3-year record at Centralia was 90-7, starter at college division Evansville for 3 years where they won a National Championship in '67.

Steve Cunningham — Bridgeport (1962)

2x All-State, HS AA, led Bridgeport to 2nd place finish in '60 as a soph (leading scorer in the state tournament that year), teams were 85-7 his 3 years at Bridgeport, 2,066 points in career, 806 points as senior, lettered in baseball and basketball at Purdue.

1970s

Robert "Sonny" Parker — Chicago Farragut (1971)

All-State, Mineral Area Juco All-American, Juco National Champions in '73, 2x All-SWC at Texas A&M, averaged over 20 points his senior year, drafted by the Warriors.

Dave Corzine — Chicago Hersey (1974)

All-State, led team to Elite 8 in '74, DePaul All-American, 1,800 points and 1,000 rebounds at DePaul, 1st round pick by the Bullets, 13 years in the NBA.

Jim Stack — Burbank St. Laurence (1978)

3x All-State, team was 56-5 including a 4th place in the state in '77, 21 points and 13 rebounds as senior, 2x All-Big Ten at Northwestern, 1,683 points and 644 rebounds in career for the Wildcats, drafted by the Rockets.

1980s

Eric Anderson — St. Francis de Sales (1988)

2x All-State, Mr. Basketball, McDonald's AA, teams were 71-16 and 2nd in the state tournament in '88, averaged 25 points and 13 rebounds as senior, scored 1,715 points and got 825 rebounds at Indiana, All-Big Ten, Final Four in '92, drafted by the Knicks.

Efrem Winters — Chicago King (1983)

2x All-State, McDonald's and Parade AA, King was 49-8 Winters' junior and senior years, 1,487 career points at Illinois, All-Big Ten, Illini teams were 95-35.

Joe Stiffend — Chicago Marshall (1983)

All-State, Marshall was 51-15 with back-to-back 4th place finishes in the state tournament, scored 766 points and had 444 rebounds at Cincinnati.

1990s

Michael Finley — Maywood Proviso East (1991)

2x All-State, played on great teams at Proviso East in 90's, including state championship team in '91, averaged 20 points as senior, 2x All-Big Ten at Wisconsin, 1st round draft pick by Suns, played 15 years in the NBA, 2x All-Star, scored 17,306 points in the NBA.

Kent Williams — Mt. Vernon (1997)

All-State, Mt. Vernon HS all-time leading scorer, Rams played in Elite 8 in '97, 2,012 points at SIU (2nd to Chico Vaughn), 2x All-MVC, 2nd in voting for POY in MVC in '03, Scholar Athlete of year in MVC.

Coaches Corner

Landon "Sonny" Cox — Chicago King

476-66 in 18 years, state champs in '86, '90, '93, 2nd place in '87, 3rd place in '89 and '99.