Top 10: New York City's Greatest Point Guards

TIS with all due respect I'd have to agree with jd0811 that Johnny Roche was a scoring guard. Vinny Caruso, on the other hand was terrific as a leader and quarterback of an offense that included not only Roche but also Tom Owens and John Candelaria who of course made his bones as a pitcher and whom Wade Boggs identified as "the only pitcher who ever scared me" nothing like a 3/4 lefty with control and New York toughness.
 Also some of our younger posters may not know that the Dave Edwards that is being discussed here is Corey's (from CK and on to George Mason) dad. The odd thing is that Corey's game is the complete opposite of his father's.  Where dad shot first and passed second, Corey embraced the role of playmaker and did very well.

If my memory serves me, there was a NYC guard named Kenny Hutchinsen (sp?) that graduated high school the same year as Mark Jackson who was considered to be a top prospect on the same level as Jackson.

I don.'t believe that Mr. HUtchinsen distinguished himself in college.  Does anyone know whether my recollection is accurate and, if so, was Hutchinsen' failure to shine in college the result of lack of talent or injuries.

Thanks.

Jake - you are correct, about Kenny Hutch...   he went o school in the Bronx and I am pretty sure he attended Arkansas. Choz mentioned him earlier in this thread.

He was an excellent player and probably as good as, if not better than, Mark Jackson in high school but didn't receive the accolades of the Big 3 point guards in that class..    Pearl Washington, Kenny Smith and Mark Jackson.

Another factor there was that those 3 guys played on teams, B&G, Molloy & Bishop Loughlin, that were all VERY good that year. I believe Boys & Girls won the PSAL and Molloy & Loughlin were the class of the CHSAA that season.

In a twist of fate though...  St. Peter's of Staten Island actually won the City Championship that year behind Greg Pedro. Molloy was clearly the best team in the City but Kenny Smith hurt his ankle in either the Semi-Finals or in practice prior the game. He played but was not nearly 100% and St. Peter's took advantage. My specifics might be a little off here but is very close to the way things went down, maybe someone a touch older than me will remember. My brother was attending St. Peter's at the time and we had a good friend that was on the Molloy team.

choz i take out kemba and put in dre barrett

if i remember kenny played with walter berry in high school and went to arkansas.  again  if i recall right coach stan dinner called a play in the city finals which did not include walter and walter told kenny something like .....if you don`t pass it to me i will shoot you...talkin about great high school teams...1980 benjamin franklin which was the top ranked school in 1980 had walter..kenny,,,adams...boo s. etc

In a twist of fate though...  St. Peter's of Staten Island actually won the City Championship that year behind Greg Pedro. Molloy was clearly the best team in the City but Kenny Smith hurt his ankle in either the Semi-Finals or in practice prior the game. He played but was not nearly 100% and St. Peter's took advantage. My specifics might be a little off here but is very close to the way things went down, maybe someone a touch older than me will remember. My brother was attending St. Peter's at the time and we had a good friend that was on the Molloy team.

Your facts are pretty accurate. I believe it was the 1983 City Championship which was played at Fordham that year. They alternated between SJU and Fordham. Kenny had knee issues (some floating bone chips) in his knees as early as his Soph year. I played for Molloy and we helped carry him home a few times. His folks lived in Lefrak City. Anyway, I don't recall if he hurt his ankle but knee issues were there. Anyway, about 16 buses went over to Fordham for that game. Had a memorable time. Very close game. Hey, don't take anything away from Greg Pedro either. That kid played a hell of a game that night. Can't take it away from him. 

What about World B Free from Canarsie?

if i remember kenny played with walter berry in high school and went to arkansas.  again  if i recall right coach stan dinner called a play in the city finals which did not include walter and walter told kenny something like .....if you don`t pass it to me i will shoot you...talkin about great high school teams...1980 benjamin franklin which was the top ranked school in 1980 had walter..kenny,,,adams...boo s. etc

If I remember correctly around the same time a STJ fan got in some hot water for asking a gentleman if he was Art Rust Jr. and for asking John Morton how tall he was. 

Butch Lee ... who led Al McGuire's Marquette to a national title (Al referred to the closing minutes in a game as BLT -- Butch Lee time), and was the first Puerto Rican-born player to get to the NBA.

Tommy Kearns St. Ann's Academy(now Archbishop Molloy) was on the 1957 North Carolina team that beat Duke.

if i remember kenny played with walter berry in high school and went to arkansas.  again  if i recall right coach stan dinner called a play in the city finals which did not include walter and walter told kenny something like .....if you don`t pass it to me i will shoot you...talkin about great high school teams...1980 benjamin franklin which was the top ranked school in 1980 had walter..kenny,,,adams...boo s. etc

I remember Richie Adams but who was boo S. ? Also that high school produced a kid with the greatest hops I've ever seen. A white kid.Must have been in the 70's or possibly 60's. I think he was a Richie also. Can't think of his name. Any help ?

Boo Singletary.

Boo Singletary.

Thanks. Any help with the big hops guy. I remember he went to Franklin, probably mid to late 70's. His name was either Billie or Richie. 6'5' white kid with legendary hops.

Carlton Screen

Billy Reiser ... The legend they called White Jesus. 

I know this is a little (ok maybe a lot) off topic, but here is a forum discussion about some of the older guys and the "myth".

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70609

I know this is a little (ok maybe a lot) off topic, but here is a forum discussion about some of the older guys and the "myth".

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70609

James White is the highest leaper I've ever seen.  He's amazing.  He almost does it here, but falls short...barely.

James White nearly touches top of glass 13ft

Kenny Hutchinson went to Arkansas got hurt  and I thinkhad some kind of drug issue, not positive. That was some pg class in 1983. That was my HS class went to alot of the HS gams back then.  Mark vsKenny Smith at St. francis Prep was an awesome game, Dean Smith and Looie in the house . Just an awesome game.

Writer gotta do his homework.

Long Beach aint in NYC. So cut Larry Brown.
Mark Jackson was '83 and was the 4th best PG in that class.

Choz4Life's unadulterated list of peeps who played in his lifetime:

(subject to change at my whim)
10. Sham
9. Bassey (gonna get hate but whateva)
8. Kemba
7.  Kareem Reid 
6. Omar Cook
5. Boo
4. Kenny Smith
3. Pearl
2. Steph
1. Kenny A.

Outside looking in: Mark Jackson, Dre Barrett, Taliek, Ed Cota, Kenny Satterfield, Speedy, Erick Barkley, Red Autry, Derek Phelps, Kenny Hutch, Lloyd Daniels, Majestic Mapp, Todd Myles, Allen Griffin, Kevin Morris and more but I gotta go.

Great list! Nice catch re. Larry Brown...LMAO!! My list would have had Dean Meminger and Rod Strickland and Mark Jackson. it would not include Omar Cook and Kenny Hutchinson got a lot of press thanks to guy named Walter Berry but his long thin frame was not suited to the college game plus he played zero defense and even less in college. Pearl was a man child in HS but very human in college. By the time Pearl and Mark left college Mark was the better player by leaps and bounds.