High School Basketball Throwback:

I was always told as a child to never forget where I came from, hell that simple statement 'never forget where you came from' is one of the strongest lyrics and sentiments in the hip-hop community. Well as a short white kid with no rapping ability, this is my way of never forgetting where I came from. Coatesville, PA, the biggest little city and the biggest basketball city that is not Philadelphia.

A brief view of youtube made me a bit nostalgic. So here are some interesting articles from my viewings. The first is called Born to Ball Part. 2.




If you go to the 4:51 mark you can catch some early highlights from former Coatesville and present day Detroit Pistons swingman Richard 'Rip' Hamilton.

This next one is a feature video that shows many present and past NBA players in the high school careers. Again there is a Hamilton siting (2:11), but the video also features some highlights of Coatesville's own John 'Tootie' Allen (2:06), who had a standout career at Seton Hall and surpassed Hamilton on Coatesville's all-time scoring list.

Start out at 1:04 and you will see present Orlando Magic guard and former Chester High School and St. Joe's Hawks standout Jameer Nelson,. (My Dad's from Chester so I figured id add it).



Also a little fact that I stumbled on while I was searching the interweb. If you look at the starting rosters of the 1996 McDonalds All-American game you will see these interesting names:

Kobe Bryant- LA Lakers (5x Champion, 2x Finals MVP, 2008 League MVP)
Richard Hamilton- Pistons (2004 NBA Champion, 3x All-Star)
Stephen Jackson- Bobcats (2003 NBA Champion)
Jermaine O'Neal- Celtics (6x All-Star)
Tim Thomas- Mavericks
Mike Bibby- Atlanta Hawks

Not a bad starting lineup eh?

Also two articles:

Where are they now John 'Tootie' Allen (SLAM Magazine) 

Richard 'Rip' Hamilton never forgets where he came from (ESPN.com)