Mt. Rushmores Of NorCal Hoops

State of Play By Mark Tennis

   At this year’s CIF state basketball finals, we were asked at Cal-Hi Sports by Time Warner Cable to provide a series of Mt. Rushmore type selections for California’s best-ever boys players, girls players and coaches.

   If you don’t know, Mt. Rushmore picks in sports have become popular in recent years, but the problem is that there is only room for four in any category one tries to break down.

   For the state Mt. Rushmores in basketball, most came from Southern California so I thought for this last basketball column of the season for SportStars I’d do some just for Northern California.

   We also separated the California Mt. Rushmores into one group of all-time players and a second just for players from the era of the CIF state playoffs. 

   For this column, we’ll not only do that but add a few other groupings just for fun.

   All-Time Best Boys Players (based on accomplishments in high school only)

   Bill Cartwright (Elk Grove); Fred LaCour (St. Ignatius-S.F.); Jason Kidd (St. Joseph-Alameda); Paul Silas (McClymonds-Oakland).

   All-Time Best Girls Players (based on accomplishments in high school only)

   Denise Curry (Davis); Jacki Gemelos (St. Mary’s-Stockton); Courtney Paris (Piedmont); Danielle Viglione (Del Campo-Fair Oaks).

   All-Time Best Boys Players (based on post-high school accomplishments)

   Jason Kidd (St. Joseph-Alameda); Gary Payton (Skyline-Oakland); Bill Russell (McClymonds-Oakland); Paul Silas (McClymonds-Oakland).

   All-Time Best Girls Players (based on post-high school accomplishments)

   Jayne Appel (Carondelet-Concord); Erin Buescher (Rincon Valley Christian-Santa Rosa); Denise Curry (Davis); Danielle Robinson (Archbishop Mitty-San Jose).

   All-Time Best Boys Players (since 1980, CIF State Championhip Era)

   Kevin Johnson (Sacramento); Jason Kidd (St. Joseph-Alameda); Jeremy Lin (Palo Alto); Gary Payton (Skyline-Oakland).

   All-Time Best Girls Players (since 1980, CIF State Championship Era)

   Jayne Appel (Carondelet-Concord); Jacki Gemelos (St. Mary’s-Stockton); Courtney Paris (Piedmont); Danielle Robinson (Archbishop Mitty-San Jose).

   All-Time Best Sac-Joaquin Section Boys Players  

   Ryan Anderson (Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills); Bill Cartwright (Elk Grove); DeMarcus Nelson (Sheldon-Sacramento); Kevin Johnson (Sacramento).

   All-Time Best Sac-Joaquin Section Girls Players

   Denise Curry (Davis); Jacki Gemelos (St. Mary’s-Stockton); Karen Smith (Rio Americano-Sacramento); Danielle Viglione (Del Campo-Fair Oaks).

   All-Time Best North Coast Section Boys Players

   Phil Chenier (Berkeley); Drew Gooden (El Cerrito); Tony Jackson (Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland); Jason Kidd (St. Joseph-Alameda).

   All-Time Best North Coast Section Girls Players

   Jayne Appel (Carondelet-Concord); Erin Buescher (Rincon Valley Christian-Santa Rosa); Colleen Galloway (Moreau Catholic,-Hayward); Courtney Paris (Piedmont); 

   All-Time Best Central Coast Section Boys Players

   Aaron Gordon (Archbishop Mitty-San Jose); Charlie Johnson (Sequoia-Redwood City); Fred LaCour (St. Ignatius-San Francisco); Jeremy Lin (Palo Alto).

   All-Time Best Central Coast Section Girls Players

   Jazmine Jackson (Sacred Heart Cathedral-San Francisco); Danielle Robinson (Archbishop Mitty-San Jose); Renee Robinson (Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton); Kerri Walsh (Archbishop Mitty-San Jose). 

   All-Time Best Oakland Section Boys Players

   Joe Ellis (McClymonds); Gary Payton (Skyline); Jim Pollard (Oakland Tech); Paul Silas (McClymonds). Note: Bill Russell (McClymonds) always considered first if post-high school accomplishments part of criteria.

   All-Time Best San Francisco Section Boys Players

   Howie Dallmar (Lowell); Hank Liusetti (Galileo); Tom Meschery (Lowell); Phil Smith (Washington).

   All-Time Best San Francisco/Oakland Section Girls Players

   Alexis Gray-Lawson (Oakland Tech); Devanei Hampton (Oakland Tech); Amanda Lassiter (Washington); Brandy Reed (Balboa). 

Mark Tennis is the co-founder of Cal-Hi Sports, and publisher of CalHiSports.com. Cal-Hi Sports is the authority in state rankings for football, basketball, baseball and softball, as well as the recognized state record keeper for all high school sports. Contact him at  HYPERLINK “mailto:markjtennis@gmail.com” markjtennis@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter, @CalHiSports.