Greatest players you have seen play.

[freeatlast2013]

Ahmed Bradshaw Graham High School Bluefield VA. About 400 students.
Julius Jones Powell Valley High School Big Stone Gap
Marcus Parker Salem VA before the knee injury
Lee Suggs William Fleming Roanoke VA.
Tiki and Ronde Barber Cave Spring High School Roanoke VA.

No particular order , just memories.

 

[catchtds]

Danny Davis
Cedric Peerman
Vic Hall
Anthony Poindexter

 

[mikesalem]

I didn't see some of the players you guys have mentioned, but I've always said Danny Davis and I would add Deangelo Ramsey there too. Both were tenacious on both sides of the ball, Danny at RB/LB & Deangelo at DE(2015) RB.(2016/2017)
I'll add Noah Beckley to the short list as well. He just had an innate ability to execute a play right at the exact time in big game moments. As a starting QB he only lost 1 game.

 

[anon_vu6vqwsr4nf3b]

Rontray Houchens - RB - Louisa - the best RB I've ever seen that isn't in the NFL because of discipline.

Kevin Crouse (RIP) - RB - Pulaski

Connor Jessop - QB - Broad Run - could throw accurate frozen ropes with his eyes closed and could run too

Trace McSorley - QB - Briar Woods - same

Terrell Wells - WR/DB - Louisa - one of the fastest players I've ever seen, went on to play at W&M

Bradley Starks - QB - Orange - one of the most dynamic QB's I've ever seen, played QB/WR at WVU

Vic Hall - QB - Gretna - best undersized I've ever seen

Brandon Smith - LB - Louisa - best player to ever come out of Mineral, MVP of Ray Lewis's camp

Peter Rose - QB - Amherst - SO FAST

DeAngelo Ramsey - RB - Salem - ran with reckless abandonment

Malik Bell - QB - Louisa - physical specimen that was hard to bring down and fast

Ross Metheny - QB - Sherando - very accurate, tough and dynamic

Kent Henry - QB - Western Albemarle - same, enjoyed his Lacrosse style of play

Michael Brown - QB - Monticello - similar to Bradley Starks, played at Liberty U and for the Jacksonville Jaguars

Logan Thomas - QB - Brookville - almost like a better passing Malik Bell

Keith Payne - RB - Oakton - fast, bruising back who went on to UVA

Percy Harvin - athlete - Landstown - everyone knows why

 

[3puttcharlie]

Ahmed Bradshaw Graham High School Bluefield VA. About 400 students.
Julius Jones Powell Valley High School Big Stone Gap
Marcus Parker Salem VA before the knee injury
Lee Suggs William Fleming Roanoke VA.
Tiki and Ronde Barber Cave Spring High School Roanoke VA.

No particular order , just memories.

Gotta put Dennis Haley salem in the mix also Dennis Mahan martinsville

 

[540teamz]

I never saw him but, Allen Iverson may actually have been the best High School Athlete in VA History. He was voted the Associated Press' #1 Basketball & #1 Football player in the Nation. Not sure how that can be matched. Bethel HS won State Championships in BB & FB with Iverson.

Any videos you can find of his HS games show how he just took over a game & was simply unstoppable. At times, you'd think he was playing against middle school kids in those videos.

 

[southbottomU]

Lee Suggs
Marcus Parker
Thomas Jones

 

[CavsGrad]

I never saw him but, Allen Iverson may actually have been the best High School Athlete in VA History. He was voted the Associated Press' #1 Basketball & #1 Football player in the Nation. Not sure how that can be matched. Bethel HS won State Championships in BB & FB with Iverson.

Any videos you can find of his HS games show how he just took over a game & was simply unstoppable. At times, you'd think he was playing against middle school kids in those videos.

Agreed, and don't forget Iverson didn't play his senior year.

For high school accolades, I'd put Curry up there with Iverson. Curry was rated the top recruit in basketball and football his senior year, but I thought he was far more dominant in football.

 

[mbonape1]

I saw Iverson, Vick, Curry, Harvin and played against David Terrel, Mike And Kevin Robinson, Rudy Johnson etc

The best player I have ever seen with my own two eyes was Percy Harvin. He just had another gear that was unfair. Not just straight line speed but unbelievable lateral speed and incredible hip movement. If you didn’t get your hand on him right away he was gone in incredible fashion. Kickoff, punt return, interception, carry, or reception... bye bye!

I believe Oscar Smith could have had 2 more state championships if it wasn’t for Harvin. He was an absolute game changing talent.

If anybody can find the 2004 state championship game on video let me know. I saw that game in person at UR stadium and I’ve never seen a more dominating individual performance in any sport except for maybe Larry Bird against the Atlanta Hawks.

 

[PHSBlue&Gold]

Most athletic Harvin or Iverson. Most complete player Ronald Curry! Terry Kirby of Tabb is in the discussion also.

 

[FootballArmy]

Johnny Unitas was unstoppable in high school. I saw him throw 10 TDs in one game!

 

[ThevinStealberg]

In no particular order:

Vick, Curry, Harvin, Kirby, Imoh, Royal.

 

[pcken]

Ahmed Bradshaw Graham High School Bluefield VA. About 400 students.
Julius Jones Powell Valley High School Big Stone Gap
Marcus Parker Salem VA before the knee injury
Lee Suggs William Fleming Roanoke VA.
Tiki and Ronde Barber Cave Spring High School Roanoke VA.

No particular order , just memories.

I’ve been watching HS football since the 70’s. I don’t know about the best player but Cole Beck is definitely the fastest I’ve saw. I’ve been following Pulaski Co since then and I’ve never saw a player that could run away from people with such speed.

 

[LightMan]

Never saw him play, I wasn't in VA at the time.

Deveon Simmons

Played on the Landstown teams with Percy Harvin.

Coached with a couple of guys who played with them. Said Deveon was ridiculous.

Had a ton of off the field issues though. Anyone here have a chance to see him play? @757FridayNiteZ ?

 

[WP02alum]

1)Ronald Curry
2)Percy Harvin
3)Michael Vick

 

[DanvilleSportsHead_rivals]

Peter Rose (Amherst/JMU)
Vic Hall (Gretna/UVA)
David Wilson (GW/VT/NY Giants)
Malik Clements (GW/U of Cincinnati)
Horace Hubbard (Gretna/Oklahoma State/Ohio)
Cedric Peerman (WC/UVA/Cincinnati Bengals)
Jaylen Holmes (Lake Taylor/Ohio State/Minnesota Vikings)
Trey Edmunds (Dan River/VT/Maryland/NOLA Saints)
Logan Thomas (Brookville/VT/Bills)
Cameron Martin (GW/VT)
Chris Cooke (Heritage/UVA/Minnesota Vikings/49ers)
Derrick “Big Pipe” McCoy (Amherst) BEST HS receiver I’ve ever seen.
Devon Johnson (Richlands/Marshall/Carolina Panthers)
HM
Terrell Edmunds (Dan River/VT/Blitzburg Steelers)
Tremaine Edmunds (Dan River/VT/Buffalo Bills)
Malik Bell (Louisa/VT) Had he played at that weight all 4 years, then we’d be talking best RB in the state.
Ty Freeland (Dinwiddie/Howard)
Greg Dortch (Springs/Wake Forest)

My North Carolina list would be longer than this lol..

 

[FoxesPride]

Being a FL native...Emmitt Smith - Escambia, Marquette Smith - Lake Howell, and Edgar Bennett - Robert E. Lee (Jacksonville) All running backs and believe it or not Marquette Smith was by far the most impressive.

 

[MaroonandGold29]

Being a FL native...Emmitt Smith - Escambia, Marquette Smith - Lake Howell, and Edgar Bennett - Robert E. Lee (Jacksonville) All running backs and believe it or not Marquette Smith was by far the most impressive.

I thought Marquette Smith was better than Dunn at FSU. He was impressive but FSU was so deep.

 

[jellington1971]

I thought Marquette Smith was better than Dunn at FSU. He was impressive but FSU was so deep.

Marquette Smith was famous in high school for his strength. He was somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 lbs and reportedly squatting around 700 lbs. I remember reading newspaper articles about his weight room prowess. He eventually went on to Central Florida and eventually played in the NFL for a few seasons.

 

[71ShadesofNavy]

Will break my group into four categories: Old School I saw as'a kid, upclose and personal, casual fan and modern day. I dont care about college or pro just great high school players on some of my list. These
kids made their teams go.

Old School: Kenny Easley, Lawrence Taylor, and Rick Volley (EC Glass).

Up Close and Personal: Percy Morman (GWD), Ricky Hundley (Petersburg), Tim Dudley, Bo Blankenship and Scott Hillman (PH-Roanoke), Sean Moore (Martinsville) and Tim Overstreet (William Fleming) Hardest hitter ever.

Casual fan: Curry, Iverson, David Wilson, and Kirby.

Modern Day: Sedarius Williams and Aaron Morgan Dinwiddie, George Aston (Sherando), Shaheem Johnson (LT), Malik Bell (Louisa), Beckley (Salem) and Cheatham (Hanover).

 

[DinwiddieProud]

Will break my group into four categories: Old School I saw as'a kid, upclose and personal, casual fan and modern day. I dont care about college or pro just great high school players on some of my list. These
kids made their teams go.

Old School: Kenny Easley, Lawrence Taylor, and Rick Volley (EC Glass).

Up Close and Personal: Percy Morman (GWD), Ricky Hundley (Petersburg), Tim Dudley, Bo Blankenship and Scott Hillman (PH-Roanoke), Sean Moore (Martinsville) and Tim Overstreet (William Fleming) Hardest hitter ever.

Caaual fan: Curry, Iverson, David Wilson, and Kirby.

Modern Day: Sedarius Williams and Aaron Morgan Dinwiddie, George Ashton (Sherando), Shaheem Johnson (LT), Malik Bell (Louisa), Beckley (Salem) and Cheatham (Hanover).

LOL, Tim O left a lasting impression on you, didn't he?

Old school, Ronnie Erb, Petersburg.

Modern day is a tough, tough, tough choice. I'll use "heart" as my criteria. Adam Morgan, Clayton Cheatam, and George Aston.

 

[hamspear]

LOL, Tim O left a lasting impression on you, didn't he?

Old school, Ronnie Erb, Petersburg.

Modern day is a tough, tough, tough choice. I'll use "heart" as my criteria. Adam Morgan, Clayton Cheatam, and George Ashton.

Good choice in Aston, ( not Ashton) . He will probably be the highest rated FB in the NFL Draft next year. Hopefully he has a great year this year at Pitt.

 

[Warcat45]

old School , Edward Clark , Appalachia H S
" the Stoneaga Stallion " and a hero too .

 

[86CulpGrad_rivals]

Evan Royster was dominate at Westfield. Those teams were pretty much unstoppable. Also, Ahmad Brooks from Hylton.

 

[LHS Rams]

Saw Curry, who I believe was a freshman, basically win the game for Hampton against a very good Tabb team. The Tigers really outplayed the Crabbers, but they made a huge mistake towards the end of the game and Curry made them pay. That was the beginning of an amazing high school career for Curry and the decline/end of a dominant, Hovis led Tabb football program...they haven't been the same since Grafton opened in the mid-90s.

Can also remember watching Hampton play Warwick when Curry was a senior and saying to myself, man, this left handed qb for Warwick can really sling it...didn't even realize I was watching Michael Vick.

 

[71ShadesofNavy]

old School , Edward Clark , Appalachia H S
" the Stoneaga Stallion " and a hero too .

Did some research on this man Gen54. Whew he could play. 5,900 rushing yards, 600 points and his team lost 4 games in 4 years. Yes, he was a hero. Article says he drowned in Florida, but saved two people in the process. Good stuff!

 

[btowenatc]

Ahmad Brooks from CD Hylton. Was literally a man among boys.

 

[300 Strong FB_rivals]

Ronald Curry and Allen Iverson

 

[Chuck Vipperman (GW)]

Wow...tough question. This will require some thought. I'll limit it to those I saw play. That will give it a GW slant. But for now---in no particular order.

David Wilson: GW
Ahmad Brooks: C.D. Hylton
Lee Suggs: William Fleming
Keeta Covington: GW
Shawn Moore: Martinsville
Herman Moore: GW
Cornell Brown: E.C. Glass
Camm Jackson: Amherst County
Rudi Johnson: Thomas Dale
John Poole: GW
Elijah Davis: Heritage
Sam Smalls: Mt. Tabor (NC)
Tyrone Robertson: GW
Shannon Taylor: PH-Roanoke
Nathan Poole: GW

I'm sure there are MANY more I have missed.

 

[southbottomU]

Richard McGeorge Jefferson high, Green Bay packers

 

[71ShadesofNavy]

Dang bottom you brought up one of my childhood heros. He grew up in my area, my father coached him and I still have a Packers t-shirt with a personally autographed by Mr. McGeorge. His mom went to.our church and was a great lady.

Do any of you old Roanoke area guys remember The Kansas City Chiefs kicker coming Stenerude coming to the Hippodrome Sports Center at Tanglewood and doing a clinic?

 

[southbottomU]

Charles Mad Dog Thornhill Addison high. Starting linebacker for back to back National Champs Michigan State in the 1960s

 

[southbottomU]

Dang bottom you brought up one of my childhood heros. He grew up in my area, my father coached him and I still have a Packers t-shirt with a personally autographed by Mr. McGeorge. His mom went to.our church and was a great lady.

Do any of you old Roanoke area guys remember The Kansas City Chiefs kicker coming Stenerude coming to the Hippodrome Sports Center at Tanglewood and doing a clinic?

Old Roanoke guys? Heck I'm 29. Don't remember Stenerude but do remember the semi pro team in Roanoke with Big dog Hale playing for them

 

[Chuck Vipperman (GW)]

Oh, and I will add one more because I forget that I could also go back to my OWN playing days.

Tim Goad: Patrick County.

I got to know him up close and personal in 1983. It didn't go too well. For me.

 

[71ShadesofNavy]

Old Roanoke guys? Heck I'm 29. Don't remember Stenerude but do remember the semi pro team in Roanoke with Big dog Hale playing for them

The Buckskins? My dad took me to those games at Victory Stadium. Their rival were the Norfolk Neptunes. They had Saints helmets and the buckskins had the single arrow like the 60's Redskin helmets. Man, sports were great in the early 70's in Roanoke. Salem Pirates-baseball, Roanoke Rebels - hockey, Virginia Squires -basketball, Buckskins-football, Cosmo track meet, Roanoke Rugby Club, Wrestling at the Starland Arena (Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson), Racing Franklin County Speedway, plus great high school sports.

Did some research on the Buckskins. Jimmy Piersoll the former Boston Redsox player was their general manager. Norfolk had a mean dude named Otis Sistrunk who later played for the Raiders on the d line

 

[Springers1976]

I never saw him but, Allen Iverson may actually have been the best High School Athlete in VA History. He was voted the Associated Press' #1 Basketball & #1 Football player in the Nation. Not sure how that can be matched. Bethel HS won State Championships in BB & FB with Iverson.

Any videos you can find of his HS games show how he just took over a game & was simply unstoppable. At times, you'd think he was playing against middle school kids in those videos.

I saw Allen Iverson play football and was spectacular
Also Ron Curry from Hampton HS was phenominal.

 

[Lewis918777]

Wow...tough question. This will require some thought. I'll limit it to those I saw play. That will give it a GW slant. But for now---in no particular order.

David Wilson: GW
Ahmad Brooks: C.D. Hylton
Lee Suggs: William Fleming
Keeta Covington: GW
Shawn Moore: Martinsville
Herman Moore: GW
Cornell Brown: E.C. Glass
Camm Jackson: Amherst County
Rudi Johnson: Thomas Dale
John Poole: GW
Elijah Davis: Heritage
Sam Smalls: Mt. Tabor (NC)
Tyrone Robertson: GW
Shannon Taylor: PH-Roanoke
Nathan Poole: GW

I'm sure there are MANY more I have missed.

Chuck you can’t forget Jasmine Glenn(Annandale)

 

[1bburgfan]

Mr Sidney Snell

 

[gwb16]

Allen Iverson
Ronald Curry
Terry Kirby
Dyrell Roberts
And a forgotten name, lost in the shuffle of mental illness...I LOVED watching this guy pitch the Rock...Eric Hunter from Hampton High, one the best pure QB's I've ever seen at the high school level. Threw the long ball like you just wouldn't believe. Sadly he was killed last July in a senseless murder

 

[foshezzee]

Peter Rose (Amherst/JMU)
Vic Hall (Gretna/UVA)
David Wilson (GW/VT/NY Giants)
Malik Clements (GW/U of Cincinnati)
Horace Hubbard (Gretna/Oklahoma State/Ohio)
Cedric Peerman (WC/UVA/Cincinnati Bengals)
Jaylen Holmes (Lake Taylor/Ohio State/Minnesota Vikings)
Trey Edmunds (Dan River/VT/Maryland/NOLA Saints)
Logan Thomas (Brookville/VT/Bills)
Cameron Martin (GW/VT)
Chris Cooke (Heritage/UVA/Minnesota Vikings/49ers)
Derrick “Big Pipe” McCoy (Amherst) BEST HS receiver I’ve ever seen.
Devon Johnson (Richlands/Marshall/Carolina Panthers)
HM
Terrell Edmunds (Dan River/VT/Blitzburg Steelers)
Tremaine Edmunds (Dan River/VT/Buffalo Bills)
Malik Bell (Louisa/VT) Had he played at that weight all 4 years, then we’d be talking best RB in the state.
Ty Freeland (Dinwiddie/Howard)
Greg Dortch (Springs/Wake Forest)

My North Carolina list would be longer than this lol..

Don't forget about Kenny Lewis...Rafael Garcia...Herman Moore...Ferrell Edmunds...Percy Moorman...Keeta and Bam Covington....All from GW Danville