Mike “Bad News” Barnes of Peabody High School was named the winner of the NFL top defensive lineman in 1977, however as a freshmen in 1965, he was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter Disease and thought he would never play football again.
The affliction, an inflammation of the knee ligament and was unable to play football until his senior year.
“Being inducted into the Hall of Fame is quite an honor, and I’m very proud of coming from East Liberty, which is a special melting pot,” Barnes said. “To play for George Radesovich was something special. And I was just over-whelmed by the people of East Liberty. There were so many guys who were stronger, more athletic, better academically than me. So I had no trouble staying humble.”
Lenny Morant, Will Macon, Darrin Walls, Charles Franklin, William Herndon, Dr. James Lightfoot, Reggie Duke, Dominique Kelly and Tamica Hunter were all great basketball players.
“The City League All-Star Hall of Fame was a hit out the park home run and you had to be there to know what I’m talking about,” said coach Randy Reed. “Two of my favorite legends were inducted. Nelson Reed and Lenny ‘Sky Walker’ Morant. This was an event that everybody needs to see. Last but not least there was a standing room only crowd.”
One of the all-time great leapers in city league history was, 5-foot-11, Lenny “Sky Walker” Morant.
“What made Lenny so good was me and my brother always took Lenny (baby brother) with us when we played basketball and told everybody if Lenny couldn’t play we didn’t play,” said Bryon Morant, Lenny’s oldest brother. “So Lenny always played with older guys so when he played with kids his own age they couldn’t handle him.”
Will Macon played on a state championship basketball team as a Perry High School senior before moving on to DePaul University.
“Will was a high school All-American basketball player in high school. One of the top 50 players in the country,” said coach Chuck Franklin. “He was 6’7 or 6’8 and was being recruited by coach K and I wanted him to go to Duke. He would have played there with Grant Hill. I believe Will could have played in the NBA.”
Former Westinghouse track star Yvonne “Voni” Ferguson broke a lot of records in her career. She broke a 20-year old record in the 400 meters with a time of 55.95 and the record still stands today.
“I came from a family of outstanding athletes,” said Ferguson. “When I first started running track I was told that I could get a scholarship. I didn’t even know what a scholarship was. I did get a scholarship and I ran track for Marshall University and Ball State and earned my college degree.”
Westinghouse, Schenley, Brashear or Perry seems to get the bulk of the inductees every year but other schools in the city had talent too.
“We had a lot of really great athletes at Langley, but the three who are most deserving are Bobby Howard, Ronnie Stevenson and Sean Gibson. Howard is probably the greatest all-around athlete that I ever coached. He was great in football, basketball and baseball,” said coach Pat Carmack. “Baseball was his best sport. Bobby, was a catcher and could have gone right from high school into professional baseball but he promised his mother that he would get a college degree so he went to Indiana University back when the Big 10 was a great conference from top to bottom. He established himself as a tough dominate 1,000 yard rusher and he got drafted by the NFL.”
In addition to the City League Hall of Fame inductions, the standing room only crowd was able to see the Connie Hawkins 2016 Hall of Fame class; Legends of the Game and a tribute to the last Master Jacquet Bazemore; Emmy Award winning television personality Darieth Chisolm; The 2016 Pittsburgh City League Junior Hall of Fame Inductees; The Eddie Jefferies Media Award and The Judge Dwayne Woodruff High School Student Athlete Scholarship Awards.
“The city of Pittsburgh has much talent and rewards to offer,” said model and rising star Christina Reed, of Atlanta. “It just has to continue to be brought out and recognized by the right people.”
Neal and Achieving Greatness plans to continue to do just that.
The 2016 Pittsburgh City League Hall of Fame Inductees:
Ray Zellers, Oliver; Charles Franklin, coach, Perry; Michael Booth, Brashear; Will Macon, Perry; Darrin Walls, Peabody; Ramon Robinson, Westinghouse; Lisa Faloon, Brashear; Larry Anderson, Schenley; William Herndon, Allderdice; Bobby Howard, Langley; Lovie Venson, Westinghouse; Rodney Brown, Schenley; Bryant Salter, South Hills; Jon Istik, South Hills; Cleveland Edwards, Fifth Avenue, Dr. James Lightfoot, Fifth Avenue; Reggie Duke, Westinghouse; Albert Jacks, Peabody; Howard Dimps, Schenley; Eugene Harris, Schenley; Yvonne Ferguson, Westinghouse; Keith Key, Peabody; Lenny Morant, Westinghouse; Angela Cox, Westinghouse; Henry Ford, Schenley; Timothy Hefflin, Peabody; Dominique Kelly, Peabody; Tamica Hunter, Westinghouse; Michael Barnes, Peabody; Ronald Wabby, Brashear; Pete Neft, Peabody; 1976 Fifth Avenue State Championship Basketball team.
Class of 2016 Posthumously City League All Sports Hall of Fame Inductees:
Ted Andrews, Fifth Avenue; Jonathan “Boo” Bailey, Westinghouse; Coach Pro Burton, Westinghouse; Tommie Costa, Westinghouse; Frank Delio, Westinghouse; Robert Dixon, Westinghouse; Calvin Fowler, Oliver; Leroy Freeman, Westinghouse; Scott Hamilton, Perry; Chappy Hill, Schenley; Troy “Assassin” Jackson, John Connell Johnson, Carrick; Frank Lockett, Westinghouse; Wilbur Mack, Westinghouse; Leo Martin, Westinghouse; Derrick Moore, Allderdice; Sam “Bam Cunningham” Morris, Westinghouse; Coach Rudy Musulin, South; Joe Natoli, Peabody; Levi Portis, Westinghouse; Principal Edward Ray, Fifth Avenue; Nelson Reed, Westinghouse; Dorian “D-‘Nutt” Reid, Peabody; Theodore Schmitt, Carrick; Derrick “Buck” Taylor, Westinghouse; Albert Wiggins, Allderdice; Ralph Young, Westinghouse; 1936 South Hills Championship Football Team.
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