Five For Fighting - Masterpiece Theatre

Five For Fighting – Burney's All-Time Favorite ESPN 30for30s Dealing w/ Prep Sports

1 Unguarded – The story of charismatic former Massachusetts schoolboy hoop legend Chris Herren and his battles with drug abuse for over a dozen years in the decades following his rise to stardom and local cult status at the high school level in the early 1990s. After making it to the NBA and landing on his hometown Boston Celtics, Herren succumbed to a deep spiral into the throws of opiate addiction before finally having a reawakening a few years back and overcoming it all to become a coach, mentor and anti-narcotics spokesman. TRULY INSPIRING in so many ways!!!!

2 No Crossover – The tragic tale of the conclusion of future NBA Hall of Famer Allen Iverson's high school days in Virginia, when he was imprisoned and eventually pardoned following his alleged involvement in a race riot between teenagers at a bowling alley as a junior in 1993. Iverson, the state's top football and basketball player, in the Class of 1994 was deprived of his senior year in both sports due to the wrongful conviction. As a junior, he had led Bethel High School to state titles on the gridiron – electrifying opposing defenses and fans alike with his play at quarterback – and hardwood.

3 Fab Five – A profile of the best NCAA basketball recruiting class ever – until possibly this season's Kentucky group – that descended onto the campus of the University of Michigan in the fall of 1991 and set the college hoops landscape on fire for the next three years. Sadly, the Fab Five's impact on pop culture wound up far more significant than their impact on the floor, which never saw them raise a banner of any kind despite long tourney runs.

4 The Best That Never Was – Fascinating analysis of the ultra-heated college recruitment of Mississippi prep football legend Marcus Dupree back in 1981. Dupree was a flash in the pan on the college level at Oklahoma, however, put together one of the best single-season performances in NCAA history for true freshman, redefining the running back position in SOONERLAND. Voluntarily leaving the program early in the following year, Dupree eventually ended up in the USFL, where he would blow out his knee and after a cup of coffee in the NFL a couple of years later, retire with little fanfare.

5 (tie) Pony Excess – The outright ridiculous recruiting practices of the upstart SMU college football program in the late 1970s and first portion of the 1980s are the focus of this fascinating documentary on the results of greed gone wild and a scandal that reached all the way to up to the Governor of Texas.

5 (tie) The Marinovitch Project – Incredibly introspective look at former prep football phenom Todd Marinovitch, who was molded to be a pro quarterback from practically the day he left the womb by his fanatical father, but following knockout starts burned out quickly at the college and pro level and rebelled by turning to drugs.