CNY's 50 greatest HS players ever

[IthacaBarrel]

I don't know about that. He was relatively small, relatively weak, quite slow and had a weak arm.

You can argue he was the most over-rated QB in the history of New York State but when you have multiple players who were major stars in the NFL, winners or near winners of the Heisman Trophy, etc. to compete with, Paulus can't win, at least not in my opinion. A big part of his success was the system he had a chance to run and the top notch OL and WRs he had to play with.

I would rate Boomer Esiason, Vinnie Testaverde, Ron Jaworski, Don McPherson and now Jack Coan higher.

That being said, I would certainly include Paulus in the top 10 players from CNY. While he wasn't blessed with much in terms of physical skills, he was very smart and a great competitor. He did amazing things considering how limited he was as an athlete.

kid was an incredible athlete, he could have accepted offers to play QB for any team in the country more or less out of high school.. yet he chose to play pg at Duke. Not like his abilities at QB in high school didn't project to the highest level in college. Sure nfl is a push but mike hart wasn't the best NFL player either. Paulus would have been 25 pounds heavier with a bigger arm, tremendously accurate with a real feel for the position if he played in college.

I didn't see Bruce Williams or Lobdell on the list either, maybe I missed it but Bruce Williams was about as good a high school football player as I have ever seen.

 

[SU94]

Damien Mallory from Henninger was a parade all-American I believe. And he might have been the top rated Defensive end in the country that year.He signed with syracuse.

One of the great mysteries: Mallory. Never came, never heard from him again. I am sure grades were the culprit, but what ever became of Damien? Anyone know?
It's been almost 20 years since.

 

[OrangeDW]

NFW Mike Hart, or anyone, should be ahead of Dorsey.

He was a man amongst boys. Parade All American and a dominant bball player (All State I believe).

Go Mighty Bulldogs!!

And unlike Hart, Levens was a good NFL player too.

Hart had a great college career and did well to make it to the pros and get some carries. But Levens was legit at that level.

 

[RMH44]

Pete Holihan I think

Agree...except Pete played TE at ND.

 

[florange44]

Who was the QB from Liverpool in the 70s who played at Alabama? I remember Frank tried to get him to Syracuse but admissions was like the Berlin wall in his way. Plus the kid wanted to go south.

I'm a L'pool kid from that era. The only college qbs from the era were Pete Holohan who went to ND (Pete was Liverpool QB in 74-75-76) and Andy Busco(71?). Andy went to Rice and played there, then joined the military and was killed in a helicopter accident. What a shame. Great kid, great athlete, great family.

Florange44

 

[sutomcat]

Who was the QB from Liverpool in the 70s who played at Alabama? I remember Frank tried to get him to Syracuse but admissions was like the Berlin wall in his way. Plus the kid wanted to go south.

I believe you are thinking of Paul Tripoli. He played option QB at Liverpool. I believe Todd Richardson played with him as a RB and also went to Bama.

Chris Jones, who did make the team, might have also played with them and Hank Flournory (sp?) also came out of Liverpool about the same time. Hank went to Syracuse. Green, Pendock and Sweeney were just before this group, Houlihan was not much in front of them, and Gedney not too long afterwards. Holihan, Green and Gedney also made the team.

It was an incredible run of athletes from one HS; even better than the string of D1 athletes Henninger produced in the 1980-2000 range (Tony Jones was an
OL for BC, Williams, Brown, Mallory, Patterson, Walker, Butler, etc...).

 

[OrangeAl]

Would love to see a basketball list. The names would be much more impressive.

I don't know. This FB list is very impressive. Too bad SU didn't get any of the good ones from the early 70's. That's when the SU program started to erode.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

I'd have gone with Holohan as #1.

Me too.

 

[kcsu]

I'm a L'pool kid from that era. The only college qbs from the era were Pete Holohan who went to ND (Pete was Liverpool QB in 74-75-76) and Andy Busco(71?). Andy went to Rice and played there, then joined the military and was killed in a helicopter accident. What a shame. Great kid, great athlete, great family.

Florange44

Pete was an amazing athlete. Played against him many times.

 

[sutomcat]

kid was an incredible athlete, he could have accepted offers to play QB for any team in the country more or less out of high school.. yet he chose to play pg at Duke. Not like his abilities at QB in high school didn't project to the highest level in college. Sure nfl is a push but mike hart wasn't the best NFL player either. Paulus would have been 25 pounds heavier with a bigger arm, tremendously accurate with a real feel for the position if he played in college.

I didn't see Bruce Williams or Lobdell on the list either, maybe I missed it but Bruce Williams was about as good a high school football player as I have ever seen.

I said Paulus was an all-time top ten player for CNY. Just took issue with the guy who thought he was the best QB in NYS history.

The fact is, he was not a very good basketball player or football player in college. The jump from CBA to D1 athletics is huge and he wasn't equipped athletically to make the transition and still dominate.

He is clearly the best HS QB to come out of CNY.

And I agree about Williams. Other than Walker from Henninger, he was the best WR from CNY ever. Definitely belonged on the list.

 

[CIL]

I said Paulus was an all-time top ten player for CNY. Just took issue with the guy who thought he was the best QB in NYS history.

The fact is, he was not a very good basketball player or football player in college. The jump from CBA to D1 athletics is huge and he wasn't equipped athletically to make the transition and still dominate.

He is clearly the best HS QB to come out of CNY.

And I agree about Williams. Other than Walker from Henninger, he was the best WR from CNY ever. Definitely belonged on the list.

Define not very good...he started at Duke. He averaged double digits points while starting for two years and shooting over 40% from 3. Yes, he gave way this senior year.

Yes, I am a CBA homer. However, I think a lot of folks underestimate what he accomplished in his collegiate career. I thin he could have been one of the best collegiate QB's of his era. He saw the field like a 15 year old NFL veteran.

 

[RF2044]

I'd have gone with Holohan as #1.

Agreed--Holihan and Rosecrans are both WAY too low on this list, in favor of more recent players.

 

[CIL]

Damien Mallory from Henninger was a parade all-American I believe. And he might have been the top rated Defensive end in the country that year.He signed with syracuse.

What ever happened to him? I forget the story.

 

[xc84]

Define not very good...he started at Duke. He averaged double digits points while starting for two years and shooting over 40% from 3. Yes, he gave way this senior year.

Yes, I am a CBA homer. However, I think a lot of folks underestimate what he accomplished in his collegiate career. I thin he could have been one of the best collegiate QB's of his era. He saw the field like a 15 year old NFL veteran.

Agreed. Crazy to say a kid is "not very good" at basketball when he started at point at Duke for 3 years. Hard to take the comment seriously.

And then to go start as QB on a D1 football team and put up decent stats as a "freshman" after not playing or training for football for 4 years... pretty amazing.

 

[OrangePA]

The 1970s were a strange time. Like how is this a 17-18 year old kid?

49. Brian Lasda, Tully

View attachment 86875

Great player!

 

[Newhouser]

These type of lists always tend to favor the more modern player.

 

[sutomcat]

Agreed. Crazy to say a kid is "not good" at basketball when he started at point at Duke for 3 years. Hard to take the comment seriously.

And then to go start as QB on a D1 football team and put up decent stats as a "freshman" after not playing or training for football for 4 years... pretty amazing.

I said Paulus was not a very good player in basketball or football at the college level. He was not an AA, nor was he an all conference player.

He was a good player at the college level. In two sports. No shame in that.

Being able to win a starting job in basketball at Duke is a great accomplishment for someone from a small school in CNY. Winning a starting position at QB at a D1 football program after taking 4 years off from the game is also extremely impressive.

I just don't think he was the best QB in the history of NYS. It is just an opinion.

On the positive side, I am very excited to see that the famous jerseys of St Vincent's will be worn by CBA this weekend. That is awesome. Might have to stop by OCC to watch that Ludden - CBA game at 7.

Retro jerseys back representing Central, Valley, St. Vincent, St. Anthony in Zebra Classic

 

[xc84]

I said Paulus was not a very good player in basketball or football at the college level. He was not an AA, nor was he an all conference player.

He was a good player at the college level. In two sports. No shame in that.

Being able to win a starting job in basketball at Duke is a great accomplishment for someone from a small school in CNY.

...and only very good players start at point guard for Duke.

 

[OttoMets]

Agreed. Crazy to say a kid is "not good" at basketball when he started at point at Duke for 3 years. Hard to take the comment seriously.

And then to go start as QB on a D1 football team and put up decent stats as a "freshman" after not playing or training for football for 4 years... pretty amazing.

Oh boy, if Paulus is "not good," I wonder what that would make Trevor Cooney. This game could start WWIII on the other board...

 

[sutomcat]

...and only very good players start at point guard for Duke.

Very good players don't get beat out of their starting job as a senior. At least not in my definition of very good. I am done; this is beyond boring discussing further.

 

[OrangeDW]

...and only very good players start at point guard for Duke.

That's like saying Frank Howard, Josh Wright, and Michael Edwards were very good because they started for Syracuse. Very good compared to who?

Duke's a great program, and yeah it's certainly a great achievement to play for them or start for them. That doesn't mean every single player they've trotted out onto the floor has been a very good college player. Paulus was probably in the bottom half of the ACC starting PGs when he played.

 

[OrangeAl]

Very good players don't get beat out of their starting job as a senior. At least not in my definition of very good. I am done; this is beyond boring discussing further.

We need to distinguish between "not very good," as in mediocre and not "very good," as in not quite elite.

 

[xc84]

That's like saying Frank Howard, Josh Wright, and Michael Edwards were very good because they started for Syracuse. Very good compared to who?

I won't comment on them other than to say those guys have not started 3 years straight like Paulus. Each only started for a full season at SU. Jury is out on Howard.

Paulus:

• Selected to the ACC All-Freshman team and the ACC All-Tournament second team

• Freshman Year: Led the ACC in assists per game (5.19), becoming just the fourth freshman in ACC history to lead the league in assists ... joined Ed Cota (North Carolina, 1997), Jeff Jones (Virginia, 1979) and Kenny Anderson (Georgia Tech, 1990) as freshmen assist leaders in the ACCS
• Soph Year: Averaged 11.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game
• Soph Year:
  • Shot .456 from the field (130-of-285), including a team-best .450 from three-point range (68-of-151)
  • Tied for fifth in the ACC in three-point field goals per game (2.06 3pg)
  • Posted 21 double-figure scoring efforts, including a team-high five 20+ point games
  Junior Year: Third team All-ACC selection
• • Third team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America selection ... the 10th player in Duke history to achieve Academic All-America honors
  • Averaged 11.4 points per game, fifth best on the team
  • Shot a team-high .423 from three-point distance (83-of-196)
• 
  ...sort of makes the comparison to Wright and Edwards a bit silly I think.

 

[Bill Orange]

Pete was an amazing athlete. Played against him many times.

That he was. He should have been ranked higher, IMO.

I did beat him one time in a 2 on 2 game. Foosball at TC's...

 

[OttoMets]

We need to distinguish between "not very good," as in mediocre and not "very good," as in not quite elite.

I think the "not" cancels out the "very" in the second one, so it just means "good."

This is good fun. It's not very good fun, but it's good fun.