Missy Franklin, Derrick Henry, LeBron James, Patrick Mahomes, Maya Moore, Candace Parker, Mike Trout among the standouts.
MaxPreps is celebrating 20 years as America's source for high school sports this month. Back in 2002, the site consisted of schedule, score and roster data for teams in the Sacramento area and quickly expanded across the state of California. Less than two years later, it encompassed the entire country.
In recognition of two decades of high school sports coverage, we are looking back at some of the greatest teams, stories and single-season teams of the past 20 years. Our rewind continues today with a breakdown of the 20 greatest athletes since 20002 (in alphabetical order).
Lonzo Ball, Chino Hills (Calif.)Earned 2015-16 MaxPreps Male Athlete of the Year honors after leading the Huskies (35-0) to the national title in hoops while averaging a triple-double with 23.9 points, 11.5 assists, 11.3 rebounds and 5.1 steals. Lonzo was the catalyst for one of the most prolific offenses in high school basketball history as the Huskies averaged 98.4 points per contest and registered a state record of 18 100-point games. Ball dished out a McDonald's All-American Game record of 13 assists in the final game of his high school career.
Considered the top recruit in the Class of 2005, Barboza was named Gatorade National Player of the Year in volleyball in back-to-back seasons in 2003-04 and 2004-05. Cynthia also earned National Freshman of the Year and National Sophomore of the Year by Student Sports Magazine. As a senior, she averaged 18.3 kills, 1.6 blocks and 2.0 aces while hitting .537 to lead the Bruins to the CIF Southern Section Division I-AA semifinals. She finished her career with 2,145 kills and 349 blocks.
As a senior, the future UConn star became the first female high school athlete to grace the cover of Slam magazine. She was named MaxPreps Female Athlete of the Year after wrapping up an illustrious career at Hopkins with 62 consecutive wins. Bueckers averaged 21.4 points, 9.4 assists, 5.4 steals and 5.0 rebounds for the nation's No. 4 team as a senior and finished her career with 1,998 points, 563 assists, 487 rebounds and 405 steals.
Allyson Felix, Los Angeles Baptist (North Hills, Calif.)
Finished seventh in the 200 meters at the CIF California State meet as a freshman. She would eventually win the event five times during her high school career. In 2001, Felix achieved her first international title at the World Youth Championships in Debrecan, Hungary. She was the national girls High School Athlete of the Year by Track and Field News in 2003 and as a senior Felix finished second in the 200 meters at the US Indoor Track & Field Championships.
Repeated as MaxPreps Female Athlete of the Year in 2011-12 and 2012-13,
while capturing four gold medals in the 2012 London Olympic Games. At
17 years old, Franklin swept the women's backstroke events. She also broke the world record in
the 200-backstroke and the American record in both the 100- and 200-backstroke. Following her Olympic golds,
Franklin got back into the pool to finish her prep career. She won the 200-yard individual medley in a
national record of 1 minute, 56.86 seconds, the 500 freestyle in a state record of 4:41.72
and anchored the 200- and 400-freestyle relay teams.
The most prolific dunker in the history of women's basketball, Griner threw down 52 dunks in 32 games as a senior and set a single-game record with seven dunks against Aldine. Griner also set the national record with 25 blocks in a game against Houston Alief Hastings and recorded the most blocked shots in a single-season in high school basketball history with 318. She averaged 27.5 points, 12.3 rebounds and 7.7 blocks as a senior.
The generational athlete put up numbers that likely will never be
matched, rushing for an all-time national record of 12,124 yards with
153 touchdowns in 48 career games. Henry rushed for 2,465 yards as a
freshman, 2,788 yards as a sophomore, 2,610 yards as a junior and 4,261 yards as a senior with 55 touchdowns in 13 games. During
his historically dominant senior campaign, Henry put up single-game
rushing totals of 510, 485, 455 and 404 yards.
"The Chosen One" saw more national spotlight than any other athlete of the past two decades, leading the Fighting Irish to a 101-6 record with three state titles from 1999 to 2003. James was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated at 17 and was the centerpiece of ESPN's first high school basketball broadcast in 2002. James averaged 31.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.4 steals as a senior while leading the Fighting Irish to a national title. James also was a dominant wide receiver on the gridiron and received first team all-state honors as a sophomore.
Broke the all-time Georgia passing yardage record with 13,902 career yards, which also ranks No. 15 all-time nationally. Lawrence won 41 consecutive games from his sophomore to senior year with a pair of state titles and four region titles. He completed 63.4 percent of his throws during his career and notched 161 passing touchdowns against 21 interceptions. As a senior, he threw for 3,290 yards with 41 touchdowns and one interception.
Named MaxPreps Male Athlete of the Year in 2013-14 after starring in three sports, Mahomes
had an electric senior campaign on the gridiron. He threw for 4,619
yards with 50 touchdowns and added 940 yards rushing with 15 additional scores. Mahomes was also a
force in baseball as his fastball hit 93 mph while
sporting a .450 average at the plate as a senior. His
most notable diamond moment was a 16-strikeout,
no-hit performance. He also averaged 19 points and eight rebounds on the hardwood and posted 49 points in playoff action.
Started all four seasons where she led the Eagles to a 125-3 record. She was the second junior to earn the Naismith Prep Player of the Year award after averaging 23.2 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.4 steals and 4.6 assists. As a senior, she averaged 25.2 points, 12.1 rebounds, 4.3 steals and 4.0 assists and repeated as Naismith Prep Player of the Year. Moore captured three state titles, was named Georgia 5A Player of the Year three times and compiled 2,664 points and 1,212 rebounds in her career.
One of the most dominant high school football careers in the past 20 years, Murray led the Eagles to a 43-0 mark as the starting quarterback with three consecutive large-school state titles. He was the MaxPreps Male Athlete of the Year in 2014-15 after throwing for 4,715 yards and 54 touchdowns against seven interceptions while also rushing for 1,498 yards with 24 touchdowns to lead the Eagles to the No. 1 spot in the national rankings. Murray finished with 14,146 career total yards and accounted for 181 touchdowns. He was also an outfielder and shortstop in baseball.
Arguably the most dominant big man high school basketball in recent memory, he led Lawrence North to a 103-7 mark during his four-year career, winning three state titles. As a senior, he averaged 22.1 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting 74 percent from the field to guide the Wildcats to the No. 1 spot in the final national rankings. He amassed 1,873 points, 1,058 rebounds and 341 blocked shots while being named National Player of the Year back-to-back years as a junior and senior.
Nneka took home MaxPreps Female Athlete of the Year in 2007-08 before Chiney captured the honor two years later. Nneka averaged 16.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.4 steals and 1.8 assists as a senior while leading Cy-Fair to a state title. She also starred on the volleyball team, which she led to the state semifinals. Chiney averaged 22.3 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.2 steals as a senior to lead the Bobcats to another state title and the No. 5 spot in the national rankings. She also was dominant in volleyball, with 634 kills during her senior campaign.
She amassed 2,768 points and 1,592 rebounds while starting 119 of 121 career games. Parker's career average was 22.9 points and 13.2 rebounds and she was the Naismith Prep Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons in 2002-03 and 2003-04. She was also named Illinois Player of the Year three consecutive years from her sophomore through senior year and was named first team all-state all four years.
One of two females to win a pair of MaxPreps Athlete of the Year honors, Pili won 13 state championships during her four years at Dimond. She won four state titles in volleyball, two state championships in basketball, four shot put crowns, two discus titles and one state title in wrestling. A two-time MaxPreps basketball All-America selection, Pili holds the state Class 4A basketball scoring record with 2,614 career points and also broke the school record in shot put with a throw of 42 feet, 9.25 inches. She was also dominant in volleyball as a senior, recording 463 kills in 102 sets with 73 aces.
A gifted two-sport athlete, Pryor became the first player in state history to throw for over 4,000 career
yards and rush for over 4,000. As a senior, he had 143 carries for 1,899 yards (13.3 average) and 33 touchdowns while completing 87-of-130 passes for 1,889 yards and 23 touchdowns to lead the Jayhawks to an unbeaten state title run. As a hoops standout, he averaged 21.9 points, 10.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists en route to the Class AA state crown. He finished his career with 2,285 points and posted 39 points, 24 rebounds and 10 blocks in the district title game.
Earned MaxPreps Female Athlete of the Year this past year after guiding the Quakers to the top spot in the national rankings in basketball with a 30-0 record, while leading the soccer team to its second state title in the past three seasons. Rice averaged 15.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists as a senior and also earned MVP honors at the McDonald's All-American game after posting 17 points, five assists and four rebounds. She also totaled 97 goals during her three-year soccer career, including scoring 42 goals in a single season as a freshman.
Another elite two-sport athlete who captured MaxPreps Male Athlete of the Year honors, Suggs passed for 2,213 yards with 25 touchdowns and rushed for 978 yards and 12 more scores playing for SMB, a cooperative of Minnehaha Academy with St. Paul Academy and Blake, and leading the team to the state finals. He was a first-team MaxPreps All-America selection in basketball after averaging 23.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.9 steals for nationally ranked Minnehaha Academy. He finished his hoops career as the all-time leading scorer in program history with 2,945 points.
Earned MaxPreps All-America honors as a senior after setting a state record with 18 home runs while batting .531 with 45 RBI and 49 runs scored. During his junior season, he threw a no-hitter with 18 strikeouts against Egg Harbor Township and primarily played as the team's shortstop and pitcher before shifting to the outfield during his senior season. Trout also played two seasons of varsity basketball, although statistical information is unavailable. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels with the No. 25 overall pick in the 2009 draft during his senior year.
