Newsday's Long Island All-Decade boys basketball players

SJU85

SJU85

Well-known member
2023 $upporter 2022 $upporter
Newsday's All-Decade boys basketball players: The 1950s
NBA, NFL and MLB Hall of Famers are among the Island's best high school hoops players of the 1950s.
www.newsday.com

Newsday's Long Island All-Decade boys basketball players: The 1950s

NBA, NFL and MLB Hall of Famers are among the Island's best high school hoops players of the 1950s.
www.newsday.com

Newsday will do one of these for seven decades on boys basketball (they are also doing girls for five decades). The decisions on selections of players were made based on the totality of their careers, not just their high school accomplishments.

The 1950s

Some familiar names but at least two for other sports. The article includes their bios.

Players
Joe Blocker, Hempstead High School
Jim Brown, Manhasset High School
Larry Brown, Long Beach High School
Mike Cingiser, West Hempstead High School
Connie Dierking, Valley Stream Central
George Emma, Freeport High School
Reggie Giddens, Oyster Bay High School
Art Heyman, Oceanside High School
Bill Thiebem, Sayville High School
Carl Yastrzemski, Bridgehampton High School

Coach
Dick Crowley, Oyster Bay High School
 
Hopefully they don't exclude some great high school players who didn't become stars in college. Three guys from my era immediately came to mind.
 
paper.newsday.com

Newsday

Newsday - 03/09/2025
paper.newsday.com

This is Part 2 of Newsday’s look back at Long Island’s best basketball players for each decade, a series that will take you through seven decades for the boys and five decades for the girls.

The decisions on Newsday’s selections of players were made based on the totality of their careers, not just their high school accomplishments.

Some recognizable names including the second black player to play basketball in the ACC, a St. John’s standout and and an all time great.

1960’s

Players
Bill Chamberlain, LI Lutheran HS
Joe DePre, Westbury HS
Julius Erving, Roosevelt HS
Phil Hankinson, Great Neck North HS
Tom Riker, St. Dominic HS
Randy Smith, Bellport HS
Chris Thomforde, LI Lutheran HS
Clarence “Foots” Walker, Southampton HS
Al Williams, Hempstead HS
Wandy Williams, Malverne, HS

Coach

Joe Romanosky, Southampton HS
 
SJU85 said:
Newsday's All-Decade boys basketball players: The 1950s
NBA, NFL and MLB Hall of Famers are among the Island's best high school hoops players of the 1950s.
www.newsday.com

Newsday's Long Island All-Decade boys basketball players: The 1950s

NBA, NFL and MLB Hall of Famers are among the Island's best high school hoops players of the 1950s.
www.newsday.com

Newsday will do one of these for seven decades on boys basketball (they are also doing girls for five decades). The decisions on selections of players were made based on the totality of their careers, not just their high school accomplishments.

The 1950s

Some familiar names but at least two for other sports. The article includes their bios.

Players
Joe Blocker, Hempstead High School
Jim Brown, Manhasset High School
Larry Brown, Long Beach High School
Mike Cingiser, West Hempstead High School
Connie Dierking, Valley Stream Central
George Emma, Freeport High School
Reggie Giddens, Oyster Bay High School
Art Heyman, Oceanside High School
Bill Thiebem, Sayville High School
Carl Yastrzemski, Bridgehampton High School

Coach
Dick Crowley, Oyster Bay High School
Click to expand...
Bill Tieben was my high school principal. He played for the Pistons. I thought Yastrzemski was from Southold.
 
Newsday’s All-Decade boys basketball players: The 1970s
paper.newsday.com

Newsday

Newsday - 03/12/2025
paper.newsday.com

This is Part 3 of Newsday’s look back at Long Island’s best basketball players for each decade, a series that will take you through seven decades for the boys and five decades for the girls.

According to Newsday “There is a rich history of Long Island boys basketball, and the 1970s was the strongest decade of them all and picking just 10 names was no easy assignment.

The 1970’s

The list includes an NBA All-Star, an Olympic gold medalist, a Knick whose career was cut short due to injury, a guy who was rumored as a potential St. John’s coach and three beloved Johnnies. The article includes their bios.

Players
Frank Alagia, St. Agnes
Frank Brickowski, Locust Valley HS
Matt Doherty, Holy Trinity HS
Marc Iavaroni, Plainview JFK HS
Toby Knight, Port Jefferson HS
Mitch Kupchak, Brentwood HS
Jeff Ruland, Sachem HS
David Russell, Bellport HS
William “Beaver” Smith, South Side HS
Howard Wood, East Hampton HS

Coach
Frank Morris, St. Agnes
 
SJU85 said:
Newsday’s All-Decade boys basketball players: The 1970s
paper.newsday.com

Newsday

Newsday - 03/12/2025
paper.newsday.com

This is Part 3 of Newsday’s look back at Long Island’s best basketball players for each decade, a series that will take you through seven decades for the boys and five decades for the girls.

According to Newsday “There is a rich history of Long Island boys basketball, and the 1970s was the strongest decade of them all and picking just 10 names was no easy assignment.

The 1970’s

The list includes an NBA All-Star, an Olympic gold medalist, a Knick whose career was cut short due to injury, a guy who was rumored as a potential St. John’s coach and three beloved Johnnies. The article includes their bios.

Players
Frank Alagia, St. Agnes
Frank Brickowski, Locust Valley HS
Matt Doherty, Holy Trinity HS
Marc Iavaroni, Plainview JFK HS
Toby Knight, Port Jefferson HS
Mitch Kupchak, Brentwood HS
Jeff Ruland, Sachem HS
David Russell, Bellport HS
William “Beaver” Smith, South Side HS
Howard Wood, East Hampton HS

Coach
Frank Morris, St. Agnes
Click to expand...

Jeff Ruland, man.

Such an underrated player.

Would've looked great in red. But Valvano could sell ice to eskimos.
 
SJU85 said:
Newsday’s All-Decade boys basketball players: The 1970s
paper.newsday.com

Newsday

Newsday - 03/12/2025
paper.newsday.com

This is Part 3 of Newsday’s look back at Long Island’s best basketball players for each decade, a series that will take you through seven decades for the boys and five decades for the girls.

According to Newsday “There is a rich history of Long Island boys basketball, and the 1970s was the strongest decade of them all and picking just 10 names was no easy assignment.

The 1970’s

The list includes an NBA All-Star, an Olympic gold medalist, a Knick whose career was cut short due to injury, a guy who was rumored as a potential St. John’s coach and three beloved Johnnies. The article includes their bios.

Players
Frank Alagia, St. Agnes
Frank Brickowski, Locust Valley HS
Matt Doherty, Holy Trinity HS
Marc Iavaroni, Plainview JFK HS
Toby Knight, Port Jefferson HS
Mitch Kupchak, Brentwood HS
Jeff Ruland, Sachem HS
David Russell, Bellport HS
William “Beaver” Smith, South Side HS
Howard Wood, East Hampton HS

Coach
Frank Morris, St. Agnes
Click to expand...
Reggie Carter, Wayne McKoy?
 
GeorgiaRed said:
Matt Doherty was a 1980 Holy Trinity grad, adding him to the 70s was kind of a stretch.
Click to expand...
Not really, his last year in High School was the 79/80 season so most of his career was in the 70’s where he played three out of four years.

As posted in the article “… the 1970s was the strongest decade of them all and picking just 10 names was no easy assignment.”. So several deserving players just didn’t make the cut. For players that were included, who would you leave off?
 
Wennington spent four seasons at LuHi, right?

I have to assume we'll see Kenny Wood and Kyle Ivey-Jones in the next release.

Dave Mascia and Derek Brown depending on how they split the decades.

But I guess they could all get cut since it seems like it's not just high school accomplishments.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top