EAST ORANGE, NJ — Voting is underway for the East Orange High School Basketball Hall of Fame. The following are the nominees for the inaugural class:
- 1960s: Briscoe Belcher, Luther Bowen, Harry James, Hassan Greg Ali James, Billy Lovett, Ken Macklin, Roger Marshall, Ken Moss, Bob Pierce, Billy Raye, Bobby Sheffield, Gary Turner, Morris Turner, Myron Turner and Lenny Williams.
- 1970s: Cathy Baker, Reggie Baker, Charles Blue, Mike Booker, Clyde Bradshaw, Towan Butler, Mike Dabney, Ken Daniels, Cleveland Eugene, Kim Fisher, James Gist, Daryl “Juice” Gregory, Wayne Groves, Ron Harris, Floyd Jefferson, Warren Melvin III, Tyrone Miles, Dennis Motley, James Pitchford, George Ramsey, Daryl Roberts, Dave Roberts, Dennis Ross, Jimmy “Mack” Saunders, “Leapin’” Ray Smith, Rodney “Hot Rod” Williams, Ken Young, and Craig “Moochie” Euston.
- 1980s: Paulette Bigelow, Erroll “Pearl” Flanigan, Tony George, Troy Glover, EOHS all-time leading scorer Mark Gray, Shawn Jackson, Greg McLaughlin, Joe Parham, Russell Scott, Brooklyn Smith, Janice Walker, Billy White, Wallace Williams and Jamal “Peanut” Williamson.
- 1990s: Rodney Brutton, TJ Frazier and Eric Watkins.
- 2000s: One-thousand-point scorer Aaron Nelums.
These nominations are based solely on players’ careers at EOHS and consider a player’s overall contribution to his team’s success; awards such as all Oranges, all county, all state and all conference; and a player’s character on and off the court.
As of Dec. 16, there were 584 votes cast. To vote, go to eohsbballhalloffame.com.
The inductees will be announced on Jan. 18. People can vote until the day of the announcement. The induction ceremony location will also be announced on Jan. 18; the ceremony is being planned for the first quarter of 2022.
Photos Courtesy of Rodney Williams