HS athletes on T&FN cover

[BillVol]

How many have been on the cover through the years? Mary Cain and Alan Webb come to mind. And should they be put on the cover? Does this help create too much pressure on these kids? I remember that for years, Sports Illustrated had only one or two prep athletes on its cover in the history of the magazine. One was Tom McMillen. Anyhow, I just hate to put these kids under too much pressure. Maybe they don't look at it as pressure at all, though. Jordan Hasay seems to be a fine person who has had way too many expectations put upon her. Don't know if she was on the cover as a prep.

[bambam]

Great story re the SI Tom McMillen cover. When I was a freshman at Duke (1969-70), there was one other freshman on the golf team with me - Greg Wall. Greg was the son of Art Wall, Duke '50, long-time PGA Tour player, and winner of the 1959 Masters. In the spring of 1970 when that McMillen cover came out, I was sitting in the Dope Shop (a Duke eating fixture in that era - no longer exists), grabbing a bite, when Greg came running up to me, holding SI, all excited and asked if I had seen his picture on the cover of SI. I thought he was nuts, but there he was. The picture of McMillen shows him going up for a lay-up in a high-school game, guarded by ... Greg Wall (Greg was about 6-4), who was making a futile attempt to block the shot. Greg's face is clearly seen and there is no doubt it was him.

Answers another trivia question, although there are certainly others - fathers and sons to appear on the SI cover - Art and Greg Wall (Art was on before the 1960 Masters).

[mcgato]

Good story bambam.

I looked back over the TFN cover archive (I stopped looking around the mid 70s), and I found these:
Oct 11: Arman Hall
Mar 09: Jordan Hasay
Oct 09: Ryan Crouser
Jan 02: Alan Webb (HSer of the year)
Sep 02: Willie Hordge
Mar 01: Alan Webb
Aug 01: Alan Webb
Aug 00: Monique Henderson
Apr 99: Jermaine Cooper
Apr 98: Angela Williams
Jan 97: Obea Moore
Nov 79: Michael Carter
Apr 68: Sam Walker (actually II Apr)

Judging from the covers, HS coverage was pretty sparse prior to about 1990. College coverage seemed much more important back in the 70s and 80s.

Edit: based on gh's comment below, I added Walker. Based on a former thread that gh alluded to, I found the Carter cover. That was a bit tougher, as the link for the 1979 covers on the archive page sends you to the 1978 covers. Had to figure out the pattern. Here is the older thread:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=34274&p=517015&hilit=jermaine+cooper#p517015
If any others are cited in the full cover era, I will try to add them here.

[gh]

I'm in an airport and don't ahve time to research this, although a search for "Jermaine" may turn up previous thread that I believe had comprehensive list.

I do know that the first was Sam Walker ('68?).

First meaning in the full-page-format era. Lindgren, Ryun and Wilson all made front page before that (in the same picture!), perhaps others.

We tend to shy away from it.

[kuha]

Appropo of nothing, may favorite cover of all time remains January 1966.

[dukehjsteve]

Appropo of nothing, may favorite cover of all time remains January 1966.

Gee, that guy looks kind of horny.......

[mcgato]

I updated my post above to add Michael Carter and Sam Walker. If others are cited in the full cover era, I will add them there.

[BillVol]

Good memory on the old thread, g. T&FN has done nothing wrong with promoting HSers. HSers need to know people are aware of their accomplishments. I could be wrong, but I thought I saw that Hasay is changing distances already. Probably wrong. But jeez, why? Is it due to the pressure to win? She needs to relax and ignore all the people and media. Maybe HS superstars should skip college as I think Alberto Salazar has suggested. Especially in distances over a mile. JMO.

P.S.: Great story on Wall and Tom McMillen, bam. Here is the cover shot you reference. Which one is Wall?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... ader_vault

[Conor Dary]

Maybe HS superstars should skip college as I think Alberto Salazar has suggested. Especially in distances over a mile. JMO.

Why? Didn't seem to hurt Rupp, Centro, Derrick or a bunch of others I could name. Of course, if you can get a big contract up front and still attend college, the more power to you. But that is a pretty small, in fact tiny, almost infinitesimal, group.

[Conor Dary]

Appropo of nothing, may favorite cover of all time remains January 1966.

Certainly better than the Jan. 1965 cover where Snell is sticking his finger in his ear.

[bambam]

P.S.: Great story on Wall and Tom McMillen, bam. Here is the cover shot you reference. Which one is Wall?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... ader_vault

Greg is #22 attempting to block McMillen's shot - I sorta remembered his face was more visible but its definitely him.

[dj]

P.S.: Great story on Wall and Tom McMillen, bam. Here is the cover shot you reference. Which one is Wall?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... ader_vault

Greg is #22 attempting to block McMillen's shot - I sorta remembered his face was more visible but its definitely him.

That's a rebound, not a shot. If it were a shot it would be an attempted dunk, and those had been outlawed with the Alcindor rule in high school and college basketball in 1966-67 through 1975-76.

[BillVol]

Maybe HS superstars should skip college as I think Alberto Salazar has suggested. Especially in distances over a mile. JMO.

Why? Didn't seem to hurt Rupp, Centro, Derrick or a bunch of others I could name. Of course, if you can get a big contract up front and still attend college, the more power to you. But that is a pretty small, in fact tiny, almost infinitesimal, group.

Well, for starters, how many top Kenyans go to college? I mean of their top runners? I'm going to guess zero.

Sprinting is easier to handle in college. Much less training as far as time (and other things). It's got to be a b1tch to go to class and run 100 miles a week, or whatever they run in college. Do you need a big contract to skip college? To be part of the Oregon Project, for example?

[BillVol]

P.S.: Great story on Wall and Tom McMillen, bam. Here is the cover shot you reference. Which one is Wall?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... ader_vault

Greg is #22 attempting to block McMillen's shot - I sorta remembered his face was more visible but its definitely him.

That's a rebound, not a shot. If it were a shot it would be an attempted dunk, and those had been outlawed with the Alcindor rule in high school and college basketball in 1966-67 through 1975-76.

Hmm, good eye, dj. I think you're right. Offensive rebound since he is concentrating on the rim so intently?

On the other hand, couldn't they drop the ball through the hoop without touching the rim?

[BillVol]

Update on the McMillen photo. I ran it by my dad, who is a former coach. He says it looks like he's going in for a dunk. Did the Alcindor rule apply to high schools?

[dj]

Update on the McMillen photo. I ran it by my dad, who is a former coach. He says it looks like he's going in for a dunk. Did the Alcindor rule apply to high schools?

Yes. High Schools had the rule for the same period as colleges.

[jhc68]

Waaay back in the day when Elgin Baylor and Jerry West were the dynamic duo for the Lakers it was a rarity to see either one of them dunk, although both were more than capable. Instead, they would drop the ball through the rim to make sure didn't blow the lay-up.

[runforlife]

Appropo of nothing, may favorite cover of all time remains January 1966.

Yeah, that one is a classic.

[no one]

not HS but my fav is I April 68. Always impressed w him

[dukehjsteve]

Best cover ever ( in my humble opinion of course) is I July 1971... when High Jumpers were high jumpers and not human cannon balls. Check it out.

[runforlife]

Best cover ever ( in my humble opinion of course) is I July 1971... when High Jumpers were high jumpers and not human cannon balls. Check it out.

Definately a good one. I have a home movie (super 8, before all the video devices we have today) of that jump. As soon as he made it everybody stood up in front of me. So it is a very short clip.