Did you go to school with anyone in pro sports???

Hallco

To quote Bruce Springsteen..."I had a friend who was a big baseball player...back in high school".

He was drafted out of High School in 1988, but he never made it past Double A. He played a few years and eventually was given release and no one else was interested in him. I worked with a guy several years ago that went to high school with a current player, Brandon Inge of the Detroit Tigers. It got me wondering if anyone on the forum went to school with anyone in the pros. And if so, do you still communicate with the person?

SanctionII

I played huidgh school hoops in the early 1970's in Denver, Co.

When I was a senior playing varsity, the school sophmore team had a 6'8" 15 year old, uncoordinated, skinney, clumsy kid playing center for it. His body had grown so fast that his large and small motor skills had not caught up with his physical growth. I was an average player and I could run circles around him.

Next year he got alot better as his coordination caught up with him. He grew even taller and by the time he graduated high shcool he was 7'0" tall. He went to Purdue and played four years from 1976-77 to 1979-1980. When he graduated from Purdue he got drafted in the top 5 in the 1980 draft. He played NBA ball for a number of years and made the All Star team a couple of times. He had great skills but at the pro level, he was criticized for not having the intensity needed to excel. His name is Joe Barry Carroll. A very good player, who could have had a better pro career if he was one dimensional [he came from a middle class background instead of from a broken family in the hood].

When I played, a player on another league team had an NBA career that was shortened by drug abuse. He was 6'3" in high school and led the state tournament in rebounding. He went to Montana for four years. In 1978 he was the #3 pick inthe NBA draft. He is Michael, "Sugar Ray" Richardson. He was a great player in the NBA until David Stern issued a life time ban from the league due to his drug use. He left the USA and played 15-20 years in European pro leagues. He retired in the early 2000's and came back to the USA.

SDSportsFan

A good friend of mine was drafted by the Tigers out of high school but never made it past Double-A either.

One of my teachers was the twin brother of Terry Forster (although he was much thinner than Terry)


Steve

ajaan

I went to school with Billy Scherrer who pitched in 3 games for the Tigers in the 1984 World Series.

Goot

Ask me in a few years, I know a few that are on their way (hopefully!)

markj111

I went to high school with Joe Beckwith-a middle reliever in the 80s. He was a couple of years behind me. My son's best friend's father was Bo Jackson's high school coach. The same son played baseball with Evan Mathis who has been in the NFL for a few years. He did not play much last year.

digicat

In college, I shared a Cultural Anthropology class with Michael Olowokandi (#1 pick in the 1998 NBA Draft).

If you showed up late to that class, the teacher (short, around 5 feet tall on a good day) would stop talking and stare at you until you found your seat. Olowokandi showed up 10 min late one day. The teacher did his typical silent stare down. You can imagine how silly it looked when the 7 foot tall Olowokandi walked past the 5 foot tall teacher who was trying his best to look intimidating. Even the teacher realized how ridiculous he must have looked and broke into a chuckle before resuming his lesson.

bigred1

Went to high school and played one year, my senior and his sophmore year, of baseball with Denny Neagle. He suprised me with how good he turned out to be, no contact from me, although a few friends of mine still communicate with him.

sagard

<< <i>Went to high school and played one year, my senior and his sophmore year, of baseball with Denny Neagle. He suprised me with how good he turned out to be, no contact from me, although a few friends of mine still communicate with him. >>



Denny was a spaz back then wasn't he. I met him when he was already a Gopher and he would go up to Grand Slam on Vandalia and just take these huge cuts. Didn't hit much. I didn't see how he could be that good, but he did look great for a while as a big leaguer.

Sat the bench as season and watched Ligtenberg pitch his freshmen season at U of M Morris. I guess I was on the team, but I don't think I played an inning that year.

baseballfan

one of my buddies in college was signed by the royals, but ended up having a heart problem while in single A. he signed a nice deal though he wanted his education paid for so he went to Ohio st. for his master and is now a doctor and professor at furman.

Blacklabelsociety

Nope. But i have friends that went to school with Big Ben.

ebaytrader

My long-time girlfriend's son played pro baseball for 17 years having never made it to the majors. He finally hung it up a couple years ago after having a couple of stellar years but never getting any interest.

In 2006, he played AAA ball in Albuquerque for the Marlins and led the team in hitting and fielding average. No call up. In 2008, his last year, he played in the independant Atlantic League for the York Revolution were he hit .321 and had a 30 game hit streak. Guys that were hitting .260 got calls but not him.

Just to give you an idea of the kind of ball player and clubhouse leader he was, the Marlins moved him down from AAA to AA in 2005 to catch their up-and-coming pitchers - Scott Olsen, and Josh Joshson. Those Mudcats won the AA Southern League Championchip with Chris catching in 2003 with Dontrell Willis, and Miguel Cabrera (both of whom were called-up early in that season). Last year, I saw a Marlins pre-game show featuring Josh Johnson and he praised Chris and thanked him for his leadership in 2005 in helping him become the pitcher he is today. That's high praise coming from one of the best pitchers in the game today.

Hyperion

Not school, but I recently played again (and beat) Steve Braun (the old Cardinal) in a County Better Ball Tournament.

That guy is STILL looks like he's made out of concrete.

jivan

just john franco, frank viola, wayne mccoy,bernard rencher and a few others...

ShawnyD

my neighbor was drafted by the phillies, but never made it out of A ball.

jeffcbay

I used to work with Hal Naragon's daughter:



...and my best friend's cousin is Kyle Gibson:



That's about as cool as I get.

K

Scoonie Penn used to live in my apt complex where I played many pickup games with him. He dominated pretty hard but never made it big because of his height.

dirtmonkey

I was unfortunate enough to get punched in the face by a former NFL player who later turned to professional wrestling. We were both in high school then, but he was still a big feller. Monty Brown... I later saw him at the same college my wife went to (Ferris State). We never talked then... well, because I really didn't want to get punched by him again.

Crazylegs

Played football and ran track w/ Eric Metcalf at O'Connell High School in Virginia.
His dad Terry played his final season w/ the Skins.
Eric was an amazing long jumper.

Played against and saw tons of pros when we played Dematha in basketball.

Adrian Dantley was a beast in High School.
My older cousin had some great battles against him.

stown

My high school class (Bellaire '92) produced at least two MLB players: Jose Cruz, Jr and Jeff DaVanon.

Geoman

I went to the University of Minnesota when Brock Lesnar was wrestling there. Had him in one class - and he is huge! I am a big guy standing 6' and weighing around 275#s, but when I stood nice to Lesnar, I felt very small. The guy is a beast!

AkbarClone

Went to high school with Carlester Crumpler, who played a few seasons in the NFL with Seattle (and maybe a year with Minnesota). I also used to talk to his younger brother Alge, occasionally, as he started at my college when I was about to graduate, but since then Alge has been playing in the NFL and I haven't spoken with either since the 90's.

Hallco

<< <i>I went to the University of Minnesota when Brock Lesnar was wrestling there. Had him in one class - and he is huge! I am a big guy standing 6' and weighing around 275#s, but when I stood nice to Lesnar, I felt very small. The guy is a beast! >>



Wrestling is getting really popular on the forums!

nam812

My wife went to high school with John Halama.

K

I also ran against Shalane Flanagan in high school for a couple years.

This chick used to run circles around the guys. From what I remember she actually used to run against the men just to train for States and New Englands since the females in our conference weren't competitive enough for her.

Every time I ever saw her run cross country she'd be finishing as people were coming around on their middle legs/loops/laps. (depending on the course)

At conference meets she dominated pretty effortlessly, I don't think I ever saw her lose a race now that I'm thinking about it.

I guess that's why she won a bronze medal in Beijing...



On a side note I ran with a guy Craig Mielcarz for a couple of years. Here's his write up for being elected into our high school athletic hall of fame, the most notable of which being that he won the national high jump in 98.

CRAIG D. MIELCARZ (Class of 1999) was one of the greatest track and field athletes in Salem High history. A four-year letterwinner in both indoor and outdoor track, he captained both sports as a senior (winning NEC MVP in both) and was a two-time winner of the Moynihan Lumber Student-Athlete of the Year program. He holds the NEC records in both the indoor and outdoor high jump as well as the 300 meter hurdles outdoors. Craig was a three-time Class B state champion, a four-time All-State champion, two-time New England champion, two-time Dartmouth Relay champion and placed third at the Penn Relays. He won the Indoor National high jump title in 1998 (6 feet 9 3/4 inches) and was an All-American selection as a junior. Twice he captured the State Pentathlon crowns, as well as the State Decathlon as a senior while finishing second in the National Pentathlon. Craig is the school record holder in the high jump (6-10), 50 yard high hurdles (6.6), 300m hurdles (38.7) and 110m hurdles (14.8). He went on to achieve Division 3 All-American status while at MIT.

Craig was a jerk who was only concerned with his numbers though. He would slack off during practices and meets unless there was a scout present, and would drive to and from meets on his own, not riding with the team and often leaving meets after his events. Probably why he never went on to bigger things. He was naturally gifted but never worked to improve his abilities.

CubsFan41

Todd Hundley was our HS catcher. Jim Schwantz NFL player for the Bears and Cowboys from HS. Matt Herges pitched for several big league teams and was a college teammate of mine. For any
pirate fans out there, Paul Wagner was also a college teammate, but hurt his arm after 1 season.

lbcoach20

In high school I was a senior and this 8th grader was always practicing with us. He later went to Wright State and was player of the year in their conference. Went on to the Majors and played locally for the Indians and won a World Series with the Diamondbacks. He is cousins to a good buddy of mine whom I played h.s. football with. I also played against Jarod Bunch who was a first round pick of the New York Giants. He played for 6 seasons or so in the league. He held the national deadlift record for 16 year olds of something like 500+ pounds. Pretty strong dude. His mom works for the local school system and is a peach of a lady! Those are the only ones I can think of....

ymarea

I was the valedictorian of Bret Saberhagen's 1982 H.S. graduating class. Guess which one of us went on to greater financial success.

TheTalkingWalnut

Brett Tomko is my cousin - big Cleveland ethnic family, never met the guy unless it was at some Kormos/Lucak wedding/funeral. Of more importance, perhaps, is that an uncle, Jerry Tomko, is credited with naming the Cavs (h/t to Grammie for sending me the Plain Dealer clipping). Or even better, that some of my relations were extras in Deerhunter movie. They filmed it at the church where my cousin Mike (who died in 2008 and left me some 1969 Topps that I've had graded and will soon be trying to sell to you guys) attended.

I played LL against a guy who was signed by the Brewers, Fran (Italiano). Fran wasn't very tall but in those days some guys had it and most didn't. You could hear, but not necessarily see his heater, and I remember playing right field when he smoked a one hopper to me that I can still hear humming. Bzzzzzzzzzztttttttttt. I knew then and there that I wasn't cut out for big league (meaning high school lol) ball.

Funny thing is now that I'm 41 1/2, I bet I can hit high schoolers AND K a couple with my knuckler. Too bad I graduated with Honors, otherwise I might have a little eligibility left...

lsutigers1973

Played against Todd Walker in little league.

Went to school with Josh Booty. I know, not a star but he was here. Could have been a star if he had stuck with football.

MeteoriteGuy

<< <i>I was the valedictorian of Bret Saberhagen's 1982 H.S. graduating class. Guess which one of us went on to greater financial success. >>



At least he cut his hair that final year.

Any cool Saberhagen stories?

billwaltonsbeard

I went to Lufkin HS in Lufkin, TX which has a long and very successful baseball tradition. I quit playing baseball after my sophmore year. I played with 3 guys who were drafted.

Reese Wallace was drafted by Seattle in 1990, but never made it to the bigs.

Chris Seelbach was drafted by Atlanta in 1991, and appeared in the Stadium Club Dome set, but never made it to the bigs.

Chad Alexander was drafted by Cincinnati in 1992, but opted to go to Texas A&M. He was drafted again after college and appeared in the 1996 Bowman set.

ebaytrader

I batted against Frank Tanana is HS. I really don't remember it well but I think I got a double and scored our only run.

maxdome

I went to intermediate school with Rollie Fingers daughter. In high school, I went to school with the daughter of former 49er and Saints player Dan Cholcico. Also former major Leaguer Damon Mashore and Kip Yaughn went to my high school. My high schools class president was Mark Osequeda who is the frontman for the group Death Angel and the lead guiter player Rob Cavestany also went to my school. Back in 1988 Death Angel had a mini concert in our quad during lunch.

jdip9

I saw Hal Gill play against our hockey team in HS. I thought skill-wise, he was maybe the 2nd or 3rd best player on the ice. He dominated only because he was so much bigger than everyone else.

goose3

Although I did not go to school with him, I am friends with Marc Wilkins. He played several years for the pirates.

Dialj

I didn't to the same high school, but I played against both Storm and Glenn Davis when we were all in high school. I never got a hit off Storm (0 for 6) and Glenn hit a home run the shatter the windshield of one of the school buses in the parking lot.

MeteoriteGuy

<< <i>I was the valedictorian of Bret Saberhagen's 1982 H.S. graduating class. Guess which one of us went on to greater financial success. >>



Just picked up the yearbook to go with my 1980. Still interested in any Saberhagen stories you have.

RipublicaninMass

no but I did with their kids

Dwight Evan
MIke Milbury
Ken Hodge
brad park
Chris ford

gecko109

I have played in pick-up games with Chris Carr and Troy Hudson down at SIU in '94-'95. Both went on to play NBA ball.

alnavman

Rich Rollins went to my high school but way before I got there, he graduated late 50's if I remember correctly. Parma Senior High, which is a suburb of Cleveland. Also a movie/television personality Alan Ruck also went to Parma....he was in Ferris Buellers Day Off and several sitcoms on tv over the years....didn't know either personally but I do have Rich Rollins auto from a card show years ago. al.

TheCARDKid

I went to highschool with larry atkins. He played with the chiefs for a few years, in the late 90's, early 00's. I didnt really follow his career, but I think he did really well with UCLA.

Didnt know him personally. But kind of suprised when I read online, or heard on espn, "hey, I remember that guy." To make it to the NFL is an unbelievable goal.

thenavarro

At my high school, I was a few years ahead of Desmond Mason (NBA Slam Dunk Champion years ago), Brian Waters (NFL) and Montae Reagor (NFL). Have played basketball several times with Desmond and Montae. They are both cool guys. In high school one of my teammates was Jeff Stern, who later played professionally in Poland and won the Polish league MVP, he's a good guy who I still see from time to time.

In college, there were future pro athletes everywhere NBA: Monty Williams, Laphonso Ellis, MLB: Craig Counsell, Dan Peltier WNBA-Coquese Washington, Michelle Marciniak NFL- Jeff Alm, Ned Bolcar, Mike Brennan, Tony Brooks, Reggie Brooks, Jerome Bettis, Rick Mirer, Derek Brown, Rodney Culver, Bob Dahl, Tim Grunhard, Mike Heldt, Rocket Ismail, Anthony Johnson, Andre Jones, Scott Kowalkowski, Todd Lyght, Gene McGuire, Rod Smith, Michael Stonebreaker, Pat Terrell, Ricky Watters, Chris Zorich, Reggie Brooks, Craig Hentrich, Stan Smagala, Lake Dawson, Irv Smith, Pete Bercich, Bobby Taylor, Demetrius Dubose, etc., etc., etc.

Made for some great pickup basketball games at ND.

Mike

goraiders

I had the pleasure of doing battle with 'Tra Thomas in H.S,he was a beast back then for Deland
H.S.,Chipper Jones played baseball in Pierson .I watched Vince Carter fly thru the rafters at Mainland
right here id Daytona Bch,it was 2yrs later but my cousin played on the 95 team when they won it all.

DeutscherGeist

I went to school with a guy that could have been a world class track athlete or play professional baseball, basketball or football. He had a lot of raw talent, but lacked the discipline to improve.
The guy only spend a few weeks learning to long jump and triple jump and ended up finishing in the top 10 in the High School State Championships in one of those events. Our coach, who was a former olympic qualifier, stated that this kid is Olympic material. he never got his act together. Constantly missed practice, was on academic probation, etc.
The biggest waste of talent I have ever seen.

PSASAP

Let me tell you a little story. I once knew a guy who could have been a great golfer, could have gone pro, all he needed was a little time and practice. Decided to go to college instead. Went for four years, did pretty well. At the end of his four years, his last semester he was kicked out... You know what for? He was night putting, just putting at night with the fifteen-year-old daughter of the Dean... You know who that guy was Danny?

vladguerrero

i have a friend currently in the NHL

gregmo32

Mitch (last name omitted).

Tabe

Went to college with Keith Jones, Mike Eastwood, and Jamal Mayers, all of whom had solid careers in the NHL. Mayers was the worst of the bunch and had the best/longest career, go figure. Mayers was very cool, the other two not-so-much.

Tabe