Is Aaron Gordon the Bay Area's greatest high school player ever?

With the advent of the Open Division, there are a record 12 Northern California titles on the line Saturday — six each at Sleep Train Arena and American Canyon High School.

So too is a debate: Is this the San Francisco Bay Area's greatest high school basketball season?

A record 18 local teams — the previous mark was 15 set five times including the previous two seasons — have qualified for the finals with at least one squad in each division. That means 12 could move on to the state finals, which would break the 1991 and 2007 mark of 10.

A record six Metro teams won state titles in 2008, including mythical national champion Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) girls, and three other times locals brought home five, 1995, 1999 and 2006.



Had the Open not been added this season, at least five would have been favored to take home state crowns this season.

Three teams have been ranked nationally all season — Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) girls and the boys from Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) and Salesian (Richmond) — and upwards of two dozens players have secured Division I college scholarships.

That list includes four McDonald's All-Americans including a Bay record three boys — Salesian 6-foot-6 guard Jabari Bird (Cal), Mitty 6-8 forward Aaron Gordon (undecided), Deer Valley (Antioch) 6-10 post Marcus Lee (Kentucky) — along with Bishop O'Dowd 6-4 center Oderah Chidom (Duke).

Having led Mitty to two straight state crowns and a possible Open crown on the way — the Monarchs tangle with Sheldon-Sacramento in Saturday's NorCal finals — Gordon is considered the region's best prep player ever.

Chidom's O'Dowd team is so tall, deep and talented, many believe it's the best girls squad to grace Bay Area courts.

And Lee (17.9 points, 19.2 rebounds, 6.9 blocks per game), combined with dynamic UNLV-bound point guard Kendall Smith (22.5 points, 6.7 assists, 5.4 rebounds), may just be the region's most prolific and exciting duo.



"It's definitely an impressive list of players and been a fantastic season in the Bay Area," said CalHiSports.com editor Mark Tennis, who has been maintaining California teams, players and records for three decades. "But the next week will determine where these teams and players stack up."

A win over Sheldon (Sacramento) would enhance Gordon's lofty legacy by leaps and bounds. He and the Monarchs appear over their heads against a squad that just knocked off top seed Salesian 63-59 in overtime.

Where Mitty relies so heavily on Gordon (23 points, 16 rebounds, 3.5 blocks and 4.1 assists per game), Sheldon is long, deep, athletic and balanced. But that's why Gordon is considered near the top. Though the two-time Metro Player of the Year always puts up gaudy numbers, he's found ways to lift his teammates, much in the same way as Jason Kidd, widely considered the Bay Area's best for leading St. Joseph Notre Dame (Alameda) to back-to-back Division I crowns starting in 1991.

Kidd wasn't nearly as vertical had the ball in his hands. Gordon, considered a prep Blake Griffin for his high-flying dunks and blocks, dominates in the paint.

"He's definitely the best (in the Bay) since Jason Kidd," Tennis said. "But saying he's as good or better than Kidd or some of the others before (Kidd). … he's still got one or two more games to go."

Gerry Freitas, a former college coach at St. Mary's, UC Davis and USC, who runs a recruiting website and has ties to the Bay Area more than three decades, said Gordon is on his Bay Area's top five with Kidd, Phil Chenier (Berkeley), Kurt Rambis (Cupertino) and Bill Russell (McClymonds, Oakland).



Gary Payton (Skyline, Oakland), Phil Smith (Washington, San Francisco), Dennis Awtrey (defunct Blackford-San Jose), Charlie Johnson (Sequoia, Redwood City) and Paul Silas (McClymonds) were others he considered.

"That's only projecting Aaron to a long NBA career of course," Freitas said. "All those guys went on to successful NBA careers of 10 or more years. Aaron projects to be in that group."

Tennis mentioned many of the same players, adding Fred LaCour (St. Ignatius, San Francisco) and Hank Luisetti (Galileo, San Francisco), but noted Russell wasn't a dominant high school player and in fact backed up future Hall of Fame baseball player Frank Robinson at center.

Tennis and Freitas agreed Russell turned out to be the most accomplished NBA player, one of the greats the sport has ever produced. But as a prep player, Gordon is right there neck and neck with Kidd. A state title at the Open Division with this title would likely push him over the top.

"Aaron impact the game more than many teams do collectively," Freitas said. "What makes him special are three things: his superior God given and versatile talent, his incredible motor and his will to win."

With three losses, Bishop O'Dowd's girls won't be able to match Sacred Heart Cathedral's perfect 33-0 mark or national title, but most agree there's never been a more talented and complete squad.



O'Dowd's front line of Chidom, 6-4 Breanna Brown (Virginia Tech) and 6-2 K.C. Waters (Cal) combined with San Diego State-bound point guard Ariell Bostick — along with two of state's top sophomore guards Asha Thomas and Aisia Robertson — would be impossible to match up with in any era.

Other teams Tennis and MaxPreps.com girls national basketball editor Clay Kallam mentioned were 1988 Fremont (Oakland) which went undefeated, two-time state champions Piedmont (Courtney and Ashley Paris) and Oakland Tech (Oakland) (Alexis Gray-Lawson and Devanei Hampton) and Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton) teams of the 1990s that featured Rene Robinson and Jenny Circle.

O'Dowd can improve its case greatly with an Open state title, a very tall order. It first must get past St. Mary's (Stockton), ranked 15th nationally, then would face the winner of Windward (Los Angeles) versus Mater Dei (Santa Ana), ranked No. 2 and 3 nationally.

"Those Sacred Heart Prep teams won four state titles at four different levels," Kallam said. "Still, I'm old and I've seen about every girls team in the area since it started and no question that Bishop O'Dowd is the best Northern California team I've seen. You simply can't match up with their size."

The combination of Lee's length and Smith's guard and scoring skills that is hard to match. Payton and future NBA player Greg Foster were dynamic at Skyline as was Kidd and Calvin Byrd at St. Joseph.

"I don't believe I've seen a better one-two punch in Bay Area history," Freitas said of Lee and Smith. "Kendall's play-making skills on the perimeter and Marcus' presence inside give Deer Valley a highly unusual inside-outside force."



Who do you think is the Bay Area's greatest prep player? E-mail senior writer Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com or follow him on Twitter @MitchMashMax