Mick McCabe: I’ve covered boys basketball for 50 years. Here’s my all-time team
Dumbest list in the history of lists. No Chris Webber. C’mon Mick have a clue.
If Webber is on list and I overlooked, shame on me
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Here is McCabe’s explanation for why he did not include Webber.
I didn’t see him either. I see in the comment just above this an explanation as to why McCabe left Webber off. Regardless of his reason, or Jack Roberts’ reason, for leaving off Chris Webber it obviously isn’t a list of the best high school players from Michigan. In addition to no Webber there is no Vashon Leonard, no Howard Eisley, no Tim McCormick. I’m not saying any of them belong on the Dream Team but with some of the players from Classes C and D whose names are on the list, I think it’s fair to say there are some omissions.
Were these players selected among just those who played high school basketball after after 1970? How about George Gervin. or Spencer Haywood, or Chet Walker, or Dave Debusschere? How about Rudy T? Dan Roundfield. Yeah, must be that he only selected players after 1970. Oh, here’s another one he missed, Jeff Grayer was a pretty darn good player. But it IS just one man’s opinion, and maybe why it’s always a good idea to have a panel or a committee of selectors. But, hey, McCabe has been around a LONG time and he’s seen a lot of GREAT players. He just missed out on some of the greatest. 
EDIT: OK, I see from another article I read that Mick started with the Freep on Jun3, 1970 so I’m certain now this is his 50th Anniversary edition of the Greatest Michigan Basketball Players he has covered over that 50 years. Still, it’s a bit curious that there are some pretty glaring omissions and a little disagreement among some over the order in which he has placed some of the players. Full disclosure, I’ve never been a big fan of McCabe, but that’s also just a personal opinion, and not worth a whole lot. I’m sure there are those who love the guy. 
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No Eric Turner, either. Or Robert Traylor.
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What a lame cop out to decide to exclude Webber for that
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Seems clear he just wanted to be controversial to generate more clicks. Webber’s accomplishments are his accomplishments. It’s not like he took PEDs that helped him cheat the game. Extra benefits had nothing to do with the product on the court. Webber was one of the top 2-3 Michigan HS players in history. He was the #1 player in the country coming out.
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It’s a silly, silly list. Even leaving aside Webber, the guys he does include and the choices he makes between them are bizarre. Morris Peterson is on the list for high school performance and literally dozens of guys, including Jason Richardson, LaVell Blanchard, Kelvin Torbert, Terrance Greene, Marcus Taylor, Robert Traylor, Anthony Roberson, Voshon Leonard, Eric Turner, Anthony Pendleton, Anderson Hunt, Tim McCormick, James Young and Jeff Grayer among many, many other are not? Antoine Joubert was not as good in high school as Michael Talley? Dan Majerle was a better high school player than Terry Mills? Tory Jackson over Brandon Cotton strictly as high school players? Todd Lindeman over Durrell Summers? I realize that different people can rank order players they’ve seen differently, but some of his choices are egregious.
And his explanation as to Webber is equally strange. Webber hired lawyers, and the high school association “folded,” so the ultimate decision on Webber doesn’t count–only the view of Jack Roberts (and McCabe), which was reversed. Prosecutor, judge and jury all rolled into one, and appellate review be damned. He must hate lawyers even more than he hates certain players.
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Yeah, just glancing at this list, even if just going back to 1970, it looks pretty bad. Obviously some great players will always be excluded since it’s a numbers game. But the ones that were included over the snubs are what makes this somewhat baffling. Nothing against guys like Sam Vincent or Denzel Valentine just to name a couple, but I wouldn’t put them on this list. Think I’d rather have Tony Smith of Saginaw, Terry Deurod or some of the names you guys have already mentioned. Does bring back a few memories, though, especially one Larry Fogle. Probably should’ve been on the first team 
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Based on his reasoning, he shouldn’t include any private school players, just to be safe. They’re known to “recruit” when you’re technically not supposed to for high school.
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The irony is, a bunch of guys on his list probably also took "improper " benefits and just didn’t ge t caught.
Garde Thompson from EGR, and as I lay in bed last night I realized I hadn’t mentioned in those pre-1970 players the great Richie Jordan of Fennville! I also can’t believe I forgot to include LaVell Blanchard in the list of omissions. What a glaring omission that is, and we were just talking about him on here recently!
Yeah, over all the list is a curious one.
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McCabe is an a**, who has always ignored out-state teams and players, and was the Graham Couch of the Detroit Catholic Leagues. And Jack Roberts ran the MHSAA as his own personal fiefdom.
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I will never have any sympathy or regard for Webber. He is a convicted liar who has ZERO respect for the University of Michigan. And let me be clear, my opinion of him has NOTHING to do with the fact that he took money from Martin. I am all for college athletes getting compensated in some manner beyond their scholarship.
I have no respect for Webber because of the horrible way he has handled everything since the investigation began. His repeated lying and obstinance only hurt the University for a decade or more, and then he had the gall to try and play the victim.
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Respectfully, all of this has zero to do with whether or not he should be on a list of the top 50 high school players in Michigan over the past 50 years (and in the top 2 at that). Mateen Cleaves has had numerous legal issues, both during and after college. I have no respect for him. Nonetheless, he deserves to be on the list. If I go down McCabe’s list, I’m sure I’ll find others–possibly many others–who haven’t exactly been model citizens.
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The shorter 93 grad: I don’t like him and therefore he doesn’t belong on a list of the greatest players? How could that possibly follow?
Thanks everyone–especially Ernie–for a reminder of all these great players. That is what makes this site truly special.
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Has BJ Armstrong been mentioned? Tarpley?
Yea that is a fair take. Talent wise he is clearly one of the best. But it is kind of like the baseball HOF voting and steroids. I have no problem with writers keeping those players out.
I get it that this is not totally the same and why people disagree.
Yes, BJ Armstrong, Third Team Class A, but no Roy Tarpley.
What I find interesting is that McCabe seems to base it on John Roberts’ opinion, an opinion that fell apart like a house of cards when the Webber family got lawyers involved. Of course, with the MHSAA’s history with lawsuits, it’s not surprising that he would drop it. The MHSAA lost a lot of money fighting the change of seasons lawsuit and, in the end, lost anyway. That and the fact that there is a good chance that there may be others on the list with the same or similar indiscretions as Chris Webber, really make it all rather curious to me.
Then, too, as I have said elsewhere, it really is just one man’s opinion. Yes, he is a guy who has covered and written about high school sports for fifty years, and he has some knowledge, even expertise, and perhaps a lot of it, that others of us (me) certainly don’t possess, but…it’s one man’s opinion.
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