1992-93 Oak Hill Academy

1992-93

Oak Hill Academy Warriors, Mouth of Wilson, VA

Coach: Steve Smith
36-0
USA Today national champions

Starting 5:
G 6-4 SR Jeff McInnis (UNC/NBA)
G 6-2 SR Jermaine “Sunshine” Smith (UNLV)
C 6-8 SR Makhtar N’diaye (Michigan/UNC/NBA)
F 6-6 SR Jerry Stackhouse (UNC/NBA)
F 6-7 JR Alex Sanders (Louisville)
Key reserves:
7-0 SO Mark Blount (Pittsburgh/NBA)
6-8 JR Michael Brittain (Memphis)
6-6 JR Tavares “T.J” Johnson (Xavier)

Led by the McDonald’s All-American tandem of McInnis and Stackhouse, the Warriors won the 36 games on their schedule by a 32 point average margin of victory.  Their interior muscle was overwhelming, as Sanders, N’diaye, and Johnson each tipped the scales at 240+ lbs, and Stackhouse’s athletic ability on the wing was overwhelming.  Oak Hill won the Holiday Prep Classic in Las Vegas, besting a field that included prep legend Felipe Lopez and his Rice HS squad from NYC, as well as many of the best teams from California.

If Oak Hill had a weakness, it was the lack of reliable perimeter shooting.  With their size, however, they could pass over the top of most zones, and they generally dominated the backboards at both ends, meaning many missed jump shots wound up in the basket anyway.

Breaking the Warriors down defensively was no mean feat.  Smith was a tremendous on the ball defender, McInnis’ long arms and quickness resulted in countless deflections, and the bulk and depth Oak Hill employed inside made the paint a place where angels feared to tread.

A legendary win that season was the 96-8 destruction of Virginia’s John Battle High in December 1992, chronicled here – http://www2.tricities.com/sports/2009/jan/30/boys_basketball_92-93_oak_hill_team_was_legendary-ar-248470/

Only a handful of high school teams have produced as many as 3 future NBA players on the same roster.  This team had 4.  I watched this team dismantle the field at the Holiday Prep Classic, and I’ve yet to see a better high school team.

Since Oak Hill isn’t eligible to play for a Virginia state championship, the Warriors enjoyed no cherry on the sundae, so to speak, but there remains little doubt they’d have beaten any and all comers that season.