Top Ten HSU Basketball Players

[PosseBoy]

I just thought I would make this topic, because I wanted to see who you all thought are the top ten HSU basketball players of all time. My list is going to be pretty bad I imagine, since I have only been watching for the last six years. Still, here are the ten best based on my experience. Also, the amount of time they played for HSU matters in my opinion. Would you rather have four season of Grayson or one season of Kejuan?

1.Austin Nichols
2. Fred Hooks- These guys could really be 1a and 1b but I decided that I thought Austin was a little bit better than Fred because there were always those times when you just needed a basket and nothing was happening, and Austin would just make something happen. I also though Fred went outside the post too much in his senior year, and he sometimes came up small in big games. Still, you can't really bash him, he's Fred Freaking Hooks.
3. Devin Peal- Just a beast of a post player of Humboldt's new wave.
4. Kevin Johnson- Crazy athletic, amazing rebounder, great leader, bad decision maker, and no real post game to speak of. He was a great player, kind of reminds me of Shawn Marion, he just doesn't create on his own enough.
5. Will Sheufelt
6. Mark White- I'll bet some people would be surprised that I have him this low. Apparently he was the glue of those great teams, so who knows, he might have been the most valuable of all. Based on what I saw on the court and taking injuries into account, I would say he is the fifth best, which is not bad at all.
7. Grayson Moyer- I would take Grayson over Jeramiah mainly because he functions better in the team setting and he never dogs it.
8. Jeramiah Ward- Still probably the most athletic player we've had
9. Cy Vandermeer
10. Trey Shannon

What do you guys think?

P.S.
Also, as a bonus, my five favorite players

1.Sheufelt
2.Nichols
3.Corral
4.Moyer
5.Hooks

How about you?

[Marching Lumberjack]

1. Austin Nichols
2. Fred Hooks, great post moves, dominated the glass
3. Devin Peal, maybe a better inside score than hooks, but not the rebounder
4. Mark White, with the exception of not being able to break the triple-team in the final four game, he made everyone on the court better every night.
5. Kevin Johnson
6. Jeramiah Ward
7. Grayson Moyer
8. Will Sheufelt
9. Trey Shannon
10. Cy Vandermeer

five favorite players

1. Fred freaking Hooks
2. J-Rob
3. Austin Nichols
4. Grayson "4-point play" Moyer
5. Dustin "no-look layup" Kaatz

[PosseBoy]

I imagine Isaac Gildea has to go on there at some spot. I never watched him play though, so I couldn't say where he would be.

I'm curious, what made you choose Ward over Moyer?

[Marching Lumberjack]

It was tough, in the end it really could go either way. When I started reflecting on great plays, I just kept coming back to the way J-Ward would just hang in the air and make those extremely athletic shots. Grayson might be a better all around player, and definitely never "dogs" it, and has that uncanny ability to still hit a threeball even while being fouled, but J-Ward just had more of that special athletic ability, even if he did take plays off occasionaly. Anyways, like I said, could go either way for me.

Isaac was a very exciting role player, got the crowd on it's feet on numerous occasions, especially when they would run the "Isaac 3-pointer, steal the inbounds, Isaac 3-pointer" play! Routinely ripped the net from well beyond the arc, definitely the best 3-point shooter Humboldt has seen, but overall he doesn't make my top 10 list. I wonder what this list would have looked like 10 years ago? [img]smile.gif[/img]

[EDAllen17]

Interesting topic. I've watched HSU games since the early 1970s, so I'll list a few players no one has heard of. My top ten are:

1. Fred Hooks - Two time GNAC Player of the Year. Multiple time All-American. All-time rebounder and second in scoring. Fred was the best player I've ever watched at HSU. He reminded me a little of Dennis Rodman, with his rebounding, ability to get second chances and defense. Best defender/shot blocker that I've seen at HSU. At times it seemed that Fred could do whatever he wanted to do. I loved the 40 point games he put on WWU.

2. Austin Nichols - All-time leading scorer at over 2500 points and in the top ten in many other categories. Austin was a smooth offensive player and a decent defender.

3. Mark White - A smooth point guard who could shot the lights out, but never really looked for his shot. I recall the Fairbanks coach (Sokatis) saying that White was the most important player on HSU's Final Four team. If White had not broken his leg in his junior year, HSU may have won back to back regionals.

4. Kevin Johnson - A hard worker who made himself better each year. I remember KJ as Hooks' shadow during KJ's freshman year. KJ was a skinny kid as a redshirt freshman and made himself into a stud by his junior year. He is HSU's second all-time rebounder and fourth on the all-time scoring list with 1,431 points.

5. Devin Peal - Devin is fifth on the all-time scoring list with 1,249 points, despite playing only three years and having a major knee surgery at the beginning of his HSU career. Next to Hooks, Devin has the best post moves that I've seen at HSU, and he is one of the strongest, most intense players I've seen at HSU.

6. Steve Alexander - A 5'10" southerner with a blonde shag haircut. He played when HSU had no scholarships and was division III. Alexander probably had close to a 40" vertical leap and was an outstanding shooter. He was an extremely quick guard that could breakdown just about any defender. I recall watching him dunk a couple of times in an era when the 6'5" guys couldn't dunk. He played at HSU from 1976-78 and was put into the Hall of Fame in 2002.

7. Grayson Moyer - HSU's third all-time scorer with 1,455 points and counting. He will be number two in assists when he is done. A solid freshman year resulting in GNAC freshman of the year and has been a solid player ever since. Uncanny in his ability to hit clutch shots (i.e. four pointer against Fairbanks & that late shot against DH last year).

8. Alan Erickson - A Eureka kid who played two years at HSU and was first team all-league each season. Played from 1988-90. I believe he played professionaly in Austrialia for a number of years. Excellent scorer and rebounder. If he had played four years at HSU, he would have Moyer/KJ numbers. HSU Hall of Fame 1997.

9. Rich Murphy - JC transfer who lit it up for two years. Scored 1,077 points in just two seasons and was a first team all conference selection each year.

10. Kevin Fagan - Played one year for HSU, taking the 1982-83 team to the NCAA regionals. Fagan was a 6'10" center that didn't look too athletic, but was an excellent rebounder and could score. I went to a few games that season, and thought Fagan was a stiff, until I accidently signed up for an afternoon team sport basketball class. The class was basically a team practice. There would be times when the team didn't have 10 players to scrimmage, so they would pick someone else form the class to scrimmage with them. I got to scrimmage with them a couple of times, and was amazed at what Fagan could do in terms of shot blocking and shooting. I think Fagan played D-I ball at Long Beach State or somewhere else for a couple of years, and played just one year at HSU. If he had played four years at HSU, he'd be a Hall of Famer.

Favorite Players:

1. Fred Hooks
2. Mark White
3. Will Sheufelt
4. Darryl Westmoreland '78-80
5. Ray Beer '79-'81 HOF 2001

[jacksfan]

Can't argue w/ EDAllen's list.

Solomon Wilkins?

[PosseBoy]

Of all the HSU players I have seen, the player who was the most unstoppable force was Jenna Washington in her senior year. There were so many times when she got the ball, and I knew she was going to dribble into the lane and shoot a jumper over 3 people, and the other team knew that too, but it seemed like it went in every freaking time.

Hooks was so much fun to watch defend in the post. It was just awesome to see people try and post him up one on one, and you knew before they made their move that they were going to be blocked.

[Jackswin]

I'll just throw some names in here...

Mike Hammond, HSU Hall-of Famer. Played in the early 80's, and would make anyone's list of favorite players if you knew him. Great guy, incredible shooter. He was hampered by a more restrictive offense and no three-pointer. He came back to serve as a GA Coach in the 90s. I'll bet he can still hit from the perimeter better than anyone.

Jeremy Robinson...great guy, great player. Did whatever was asked, and hustled like nobody else.

Greg Cutler. Filled the enforcer's role to perfection.

Cary Williams, Jr....another great guy, solid player, current head coach at Simpson College.

Vince Zinselmeir ...local who could flat out shoot the three.

and not to be forgotten...

Rich Murphy, who played with incredible heart and was a great shooter. He should have been NCAC Player of the Year his senior season, but lost out to S.F. State's Lawrence Williams despite leading the league in scoring. Put up 42 once vs. CSU Hayward, a record that stood until Austin Nichols broke it during a quadruple overtime game.

[jacksfan]

Resurrect this ancient thread w/ another name...

Where do you put Brian Morris?

[Go Jacks]

1. Fred Hooks
2. Austin Nichols
3. Devin Peal
4. Mark White
5. Brian Morris
6. Zac Tiedemann
7. Kevin Johnson
8. Grayson Moyer
9. Mark Hammond
10. Cy Vandermeer

Favorite: J-Rob