Do you long for some great throwback NBA and NCAA footage of superstars of the past featuring some of the game’s best players? Do you miss watching games in which the jump shot was an art form and not an afterthought? Longing to see some of the hardwood’s greatest grudge matches of teams wearing some of the league’s ugliest uniforms? If you are a fan of the game from back in the day, this is the series for you. Welcome to Vintage Video.
In 2010, we all have become well acquainted with the many skills of Amare Stoudemire. In fact, he has been one of the Hoop Doctors most featured players over the past few seasons, like for example when we ran his Top Ten Facial Dunks of the ’09-’10 Season. And while he made news this Summer for taking his many talents to play for the New York Knicks for next season, many of us forget just how dominant a player the man who would become know as “STAT” really was in high school.
Even though he didn’t start playing organized ball until age 14, and played at as many as 6 high schools before graduating from Cypress Creek HS in Orlando, Florida, Stoudemire earned the title of Florida’s Mr. Basketball for 2002 and was named a McDonald’s All American, primarily for dominating the competition to the tune of 29.1 ppg, 15 boards, and an incredible 6.1 blocks per contest. Even in a star-studded recruiting class which featured future NBA greats like Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Ray Felton, Stoudemire outshined them all to finish as the #1 ranked player in the ’02 Class.
Watch as he chews up and spits out opposing players in his ultimate HS highlight mixtape. Amazingly, he gets so high that he appears to block shots with his elbow as well as sending opponents shots not just into the stands but wayup into the top of the bleachers, as he proved to literally be a man amongst boys in the high school ranks.
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
