Before playing in the NBA, Kevin Garnett had rock-star status while at Farragut Academy High School in Chicago.
It was national news when he left South Carolina his senior season to team with future first-team All-American Ronnie Fields in the Windy City. Think of it as similar to the Miami Heat pairing LeBron James with Dwyane Wade in 2010.
Garnett played in front of packed arenas that season. The team blew out most opponents on the way to a No. 1 ranking and a 28-1 record. Then it ran into Thornton High School in the quarterfinals of the Illinois state tournament.
"They were deeper," Fields told Back In The Day Hoops On SI. "It was me and Kevin. Basically, that was it and a young Michael Wright. If Michael Wright was a sophomore, it would have been probably different."
Fields was referring to Wright, who played at Arizona and was later a second-round NBA pick before his death in 2015. But Garnett fell victim to one of the most athletic teams in Illinois high school baskeball history.
That Thornton team featured four future professional athletes. Tai Streets and Melvin Ely were in the starting lineup. Streets had a solid NFL career as a receiver with the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions. Ely played nine NBA seasons.
Thornton also also had Antwaan Randle El and Napoleon Harris coming off the bench. Randle El was a two-sport star at Indiana before winning a Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Harris, who went on to play linebacker at Northwestern, was a first-round pick by the Oakland Raiders in 2002.
Shandel Richardson is the publisher Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com
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