In hindsight, Burney probably should have given the Oak Park Knights early-90s prep cage regime a little more love in his 50-in-50 boys basketball countdown of the top hoopsters in the OC over the last half-century.
Howard Golding and his "Big 3" of Ryan Perryman, Jamie Arnold and Rodney Hampton deserved a little better. It's not like Burney doesn't remember watching those guys ball out like rock stars on the hardwood back in the day...oh I do,…....they were hooping Houdinis, high-flying and fun to watch, no doubt, all three. The fact that they all saw time in the pros overseas speaks to that fact. Perryman and Hampton teamed to lead OP to a Class B district crown in 1994, right over and past future NBA'er and college All-American Shane Battier and his Detroit Country Day squad.
Perryman was simply a freight train of a power forward and an elite finisher on the break - not to mention a total monster on the glass in the college ranks at the University of Dayton, leading the NCAA DI field in rebounding in 1998 with almost 13 boards per night.
Arnold was a force to be reckoned with in the post as well, a shot-blocking prodigy if you will with his crane-like arms and length, and had a solid college career at Wichita State.
Hampton was a silky-stroking marksmen who played in the Big 12 at Iowa State, starting in the Cyclones backcourt in the 1999 Campaign
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